Winter weather is milder at lower elevations, and rain and wind often lash the coast during the winter, offering inspiration for those willing to brave the elements.ĭramatic changes in elevation within the park-from sea level at the coast to the summit of 7,980-foot Mount Olympus -can reflect big differences in weather conditions from one region to another, so come prepared for warm, cold, and wet conditions no matter what season you visit. Hurricane Ridge offers snow play from late December to late March. While rain is common most of the year in Olympic National Park (they call Hoh a rain forest for a reason), precipitation is lowest in July, August, and September.įall foliage starts to turn in September and draws many visitors, as do early-season wildflower blooms in June. July and August are the most popular months, when the weather is reliably warm and often fairly dry. Summer high temperatures generally hover in the 65-to-75-degree range. Some roads close seasonally, however, as do several campgrounds and other park facilities. Olympic National Park is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year-round. When’s the best time to visit Olympic National Park? 101, take I-5 south from Seattle, Tacoma, or SeaTac airport to Olympia, Washington. There is no loop road or “main road” within the park boundaries, and no direct way to drive from one region of the park to another, which requires a return to U.S. Route 101 encircles Olympic National Park on the Olympic Peninsula, with access roads leading into various parts of the park. In British Columbia, Canada, Victoria International Airport is about 2.5 hours from Port Angeles but requires a ferry ride and crossing the U.S.-Canada border.
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SeaTac) near Seattle, Washington, is approximately a 2.5- to 3-hour drive to Port Angeles, where the park headquarters is located, and 4.5 to 5 hours to the Hoh Rain Forest, one of the park’s most popular destinations. In addition to convenient air links and roads, there are several bus routes and ferries that will get you onto the Olympic Peninsula and within range of the park. Olympic National Park is one of the more accessible national parks of the U.S. Fake news! (For now, at least.How to get to and around Olympic National Park No one knows how long the massive trunk can stay suspended on its remaining earthbound tendrils, but every year or so a rumor goes around that it’s been toppled by the battering coastal winds. The sandy beach beneath one Sitka spruce tree’s roots on the Olympic National Park coast has almost completely eroded away, earning the Kalaloch Campground sentinel the nickname Tree of Life (and substantial Instagram fame). Waves are brutal on this coast don’t forget these beaches are lined with memorials to Chilean and Norwegian sailors who perished in these gnarly waves. Much of First Beach near La Push is part of the Quileute Reservation, but the tips of the mile-long stretch are parkland. But the jagged peak of Mount Cruiser in the park’s southeastern corner can get crowded with climbers and is the best-known route in the mountain range. There’s little climbing on the Olympic Peninsula due to the rock quality-scrambling up the brittle rock on the coast’s big sea stacks isn’t recommended. Boaters have paddled from the sprawling Lake Crescent Lodge since 1916, which now sits next door to the educational Olympic Park Institute campus. Rustic dirt roads line the north end of the lake, while Highway 101 skirts the south shore there are boat launches at Storm King Ranger Station and Fairholme.
Local legend claims the blue-green Lake Crescent just west of Port Angeles is bottomless. Come winter it’s a congenial scene of skiers and snowshoers from the local community. In summer, films and exhibits inside the park’s most panoramic visitor center are a break from the jaw-dropping view outside of alpine meadows and a crescent of peaks. What to Do Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center Today it cradles forest creatures you won’t find anywhere else, rare temperate rain forests where winters drown in up to 14 feet of rain, and the largest unmanaged elk herd in the world. It took two Presidents Roosevelt to preserve the nearly one million acres of Olympic National Park. Visitors stream into the meadows of Hurricane Ridge, the sands of Kalaloch, and the forest canopies of Hoh-or all three.
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