Olympic didn’t feel like one place — it felt like five different parks put together. The first day was Rialto Beach, walking two miles along stones and driftwood the size of buildings, dried out like fossils. We tried climbing to Hole-in-the-Wall, but the rock face leading to the hole was nearly vertical and at an hour past lowest tide, we rerouted through the woods on an optional trail with a rope to help climb the hill.
From there, the Hoh Rain Forest felt like stepping into something prehistoric — huge trees dripping with moss, that deep green glow, the kind of place where you just stand there saying “wow” every two seconds.
We stayed at Olympic Lodge in Port Angeles for this part of the trip, and it ended up being the ideal base. Everything in Olympic is spread out in completely different directions, so having one hotel where you can easily drive to Rialto, Hoh Rain Forest, Hurricane Ridge, and Lake Crescent made the days way simpler. The lodge itself was clean, quiet, and comfortable — nothing fancy, but exactly what we needed after full days on our feet. It was the perfect starting point for covering the entire park without changing hotels every night.
The next day was Hurricane Ridge, which honestly blew me away. The road gets insanely narrow past Heart of the Hills, following the cliffside all the way up to the
Hurricane Hill trail. The views at the top were insane — 360°, quiet, huge. It felt untouched.
Then came Klahhane Ridge, which put my fear of heights and balance to the test. Narrow, steep, and exposed path with walking space only as wide as my two feet side-by-side. Switchbacks, loose dirt, scree slopes, nothing like the terrain back in the Adirondacks. Wildfire haze hung heavy in the air from multiple nearby blazes. By the time we got to the split toward Mt. Angeles, that was far enough before feeling as if I was going to fall off the side of the trail and tumble endlessly down the meadowy side. Still, it felt like an accomplishment getting that far.
The next day was Grand Ridge, starting all the way at the end of Obstruction Point Road — a long, slow dirt drive with no guardrails and steep drop-offs the whole way. The trail itself was even narrower than Klahhane in places, basically a dirt edge cut into the slope, with views on both sides. Switchbacks dropped into the valley and then climbed toward Elk Mountain. Loose dirt, low alpine plants, wildflowers, and birds gliding across the ridge. Mount Olympus was visible in the distance, and if you looked far enough, you could even see Baker. After Elk Mountain, the ridge finally widened and leveled out, which was a relief after the tighter sections. It definitely pushed my fear of heights again, but the hiking poles helped, and doing Klahhane first made this one feel more manageable.
Olympic was the perfect start — wild, moody, and nothing like home in the best way.
