Traveling to Washington (Olympia, Port Angeles, Aberdeen: where to stay, hotels, home)

[pronetoidiocy]

Hi.

I am taking a road trip this summer to Western Washington area, Forks, Port Angeles, and around there. I really want to see the forests and lakes. Can any of you reccomend any good ares in the Olympic National Forest? We don't mind hiking at all. It would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

[allforcats]

YUM OH YUMMMM!!!!! What a glorious, exuberantly sensory experience you are in for!!!

I have five recommendations. Last year, I put together by myself a 6-day roaming adventure all around the Olympic Peninsula including heavy use of the sites I've recommended to you. HAD A FABULOUS MEMORABLE TIME!

First is because I am enchanted by trees: the Quinault Rain Forest (and Lake Quinault) and the Hoh Rain Forest, or choose one. If you don't speak often to each other, the forests will transport you. You can hike, or amble, or engage a guide to help you hike safely and informatively -- and see some of the tallest trees on Earth. Breathtaking!

Second: The Pacific shore between Kalaloch and LaPush, where most of the really cool, unusual formations are -- seastacks, and tiny garnets in the sand at Ruby Beach, among others.

Third: Lake Crescent (not Lake Pleasant which is much larger), up in the northwest bend of Hwy101 between Forks and Sappho. If you've never seen a glacial lake, or if you want to see Alaska's or Montana's glacial lakes, or if you figure seeing one will tell you everything about all of them -- Lake Crescent is a beautiful teacher!

Fourth: Hwy 101, the main drag everywhere on the Olympic Peninsula, is usually a two-lane highway, twisty, often with blind corners and various-sized animals lurching out of the trees and logging trucks barrelling down the road toward you, and VERY DANGEROUS. Don't speed! Stay below the speed limit and pull over to look at anything. More advice: stay off the reservations, except to drive on the highways that run through them. Don't wander off onto side roads; if you're not a member of the specific Nation, you're not welcome so don't fool around.

Fifth: The best extremely detailed map of the Olympic Peninsula:
Olympic Peninsula Map with Olympic National Park

Check out TripAdvisor.com -- where real travelers report their real experiences at attractions, hotels, restaurants, everything there is. I TRULY recommend that you use it heavily to look up everything you can find for the Olympic National Park,
Search results: olympic national park - TripAdvisor
and the Olympic Peninsula,
Search results: olympic peninsula - TripAdvisor
and the towns and locations there, as the information available in TripAdvisor will prepare you for the surprises you don't want and the ones you do want, and offer concrete ideas about where to stay overnights.

There are trailheads throughout Olympic Peninsula. Hwy 101 goes in a circle around the west, north and east of the peninsula, and this link is one resident's industrious cataloguing of every trailhead, lake, tree, speed trap, waterfall, and whoknowswhat along and leading from 101. Fabulously informative! His home page is:
WINDSOX SHUTTLE - Olympic National Park (http://www.windsox.us/menu.html - broken link)
The beginning of his detailing of Hwy 101 starting at Milepost 100:
WASHINGTON'S HIGHWAY 101 & OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK - MILEPOST 200 TO MILEPOST 100

Have fun planning!

[pronetoidiocy]

Thanks so much! I am so incredibly excited to do this. We are driving from southern california up the coast, to give us freedom to stop anywhere we want. The trip is going to be about ten days, so yay for that!

I have ordered quite a few informational packets about the area, but I wanted to know about it from a more personal source. I definitely want to go into the Hoh rainforest. I have seen pictures and the moss growing on the trees is just beatiful. Thank you again for the suggestions, I will definitely add them into planning.

[allforcats]

You are so welcome. I expected to be enthralled by the Hoh Rain Forest, and approached from the south (Olympia, Aberdeen, Ocean Shores) and so got to the Quinault Rain Forest first -- and just lost my mind....... oh please, Life, can I please please please stay in here forever? I do hope you get to read my review (same ID) of the Quinault on TripAdvisor.

About accommodations: If you're going in spring-summer-fall, you might want to make some reservations (at B&Bs or motels) ahead of time. There is a pretty small population over there on the peninsula, and tourists are increasing yearly as the population increases and as people stay in the U.S. instead of paying much "higher" prices where the U.S. dollar has reduced in value. So accommodations fill up. Just a thought to keep in mind as you get closer to your projected timing.

If you're driving up the coast, be sure to roam around the Newport-Cannon Beach, OR area. Spectacular seastacks and unbelievable sunsets!

[pronetoidiocy]

You have been an incredible help, thanks. I went to that site and found the reviews very helpful. I was havving a hard time choosing where to stay, but I have it narrowed down now. Thanks for all the help, seriously. I am looking forward to this even more now.

[Fat Freddy]

If you plan to use any of the many hiking trails and campgrounds in the National Forest, call the ranger headquarters nearest to where you want to go to find out the current status.

We had some terrific storms this winter which resulted in thousands of acres of destruction and blowdown. Many trails and campgrounds have been destroyed or access is still blocked and will remain so for many months, possible years.

[bmsea]

If you're coming up highway 101, detour on 105 and climb Washington's tallest lighthouse! If you're in town during one of Westport's many festivals, try to take some time to visit for a while!

Grays Harbor Lighthouse
Discovering Westport: festivals

Definitely Lake Quinault is a great sight, and the trails surrounding it have some of the worlds largest fir trees.

Rain forest rhapsody at Lake Quinault (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/getaways/339506_quinault15.html - broken link)

Do take Freddy's advice and make sure the trails you are interested in are not closed.

I really love the hike that starts at Lake Ozette and takes you in a triangle out to the beach and along the coast to Cape Alava. It's a fairly easy hike, and if you're traveling with children, its great. Just be sure to do the coast portion during low tide, or you'll have to do some fairly difficult climbing.

http://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/upload/Ozette.pdf

Have fun!

[MaikeerinWA]

Good for you - so you don't have to stick with I-5. Don't miss the Oregon coast and northern California redwoods!

Originally Posted by pronetoidiocy

We are driving from southern california up the coast, to give us freedom to stop anywhere we want. The trip is going to be about ten days, so yay for that!