Beautiful Olympic Peninsula

The amazing Olympic National Park dominates the Olympic peninsula, and offers attractions from glaciers to rainforest to Indian Reservations, while south of the national park, the Washington coast offers beaches galore, both rocky and sandy, to visitors. Some of the most visited areas are Port Townsend, the Hoh rainforest, the Makah Indian Reservation, Dungeness Spit, to name a few.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

There is not much choice if you want to cover even a small part of the peninsula: drive.

One of the most picturesque spots that you are likely to find in terms of accommodation is Kalaloch Lodge. The Lodge sits on a bluff high above the crashing surf of the Pacific Ocean directly below. It offers all types of accommodations, from rooms in the main lodge itself, to larger spaces in log cabins, complete with kitchenettes, 18 of whom sit directly on top of the bluff. The lodge has a dining room and lounge which also looks out to the Pacific Ocean, as well as a general store, gas station, and gift shop. Needless to say that the sunset view from any of the offerings, but particularly the lodge rooms and the units atop the bluff, is to die for. Prices are not too unreasonable--rooms for 2 run up to $150, while cabins housing a family of four or five go for a bit more than $200. The price also depends on the view, of course. The one drawback, if you tend to be like me, i.e., an impulse traveler, is that reservations have to be made way in advance. The lodge manager once told me that reservation for the popular summer months have to be made at least a year ahead of time. Or you can call a couple of days before you go there and hope that someone has canceled, which does happen occasionally. But try to stay there. You will feel like you are on top of the world.

Lake Quinault, located on Route 101 at the southwest corner of Olympic National Park, is a beautiful lake that offers a full selection of watersports. While there are many lakes in and around Seattle, Lake Quinault is most expensive because of its location within an old-growth forest. In fact, if I recall correctly, not far from Lake Quinault Lodge is an entrance to a small rainforest that can be explored at will.

Staying at the Lodge can set you back aplenty, but if you can afford it, try to get a lakefront room in the historic lodge itself. There is a newer wing with nice rooms, but for atmosphere, you can''t beat the lodge itself. The restaurant at the lodge faces a gorgeous lake surrounded by lush cedar forests. The seafood here is excellent, if a bit pricey. Near the lodge, and therefore taking advantage of the same gorgeous view, is a RV park, as well as campgrounds, both of which are cheaper options than staying at the lodge.

Port Townsend is usually a starting point for visitors, who had gotten there by cars from Seattle or Whidbey Island. Port Townsend is considered the most Victorian of all Seattle towns, and is worth a visit on its own. A visit to historical Port Townsend is best done on foot, and a tour of the town will uncover museums, as well as the state's oldest standing methodist church, and other points of interest. For example, you will see James House (Washington Street), built in 1889, with a commanding view of the harbor, and also reportedly the Northwest's first bed and breakfast. If you are lucky, you can stay at the Ann Starrett Mansion (Clay Street), which offers public tours, but which has often been called Port Townsend's premier B&B. We tried to get in in 1994, with no success. Now that it has gotten even more well-known, I don't know what our chances would be. Don't forget to see Fort Worden State Park, which was used in the filming of An Officer and a Gentleman. And finally, you can end your tour by strolling along the pier and looking at artist's galleries.

Nothing can quite describe the Hoh Rainforest, supposedly the only coniferous rainforest in the world. The Hoh Rainforest can be reached by traveling 13 miles south from Forks on Route 101, then 19 miles east on Hoh River Road. The average annual precipitation in this area is 145 inches, of which more than 100 fall between October and March.

We lucked out, in that the sky was spotlessly blue the day we drove into Hoh. I will never forget the approach to the rainforest. My mom had asked my stepfather to turn back on a prior trip, and I finally understood why. Before you even get close to the rainforest, the first thing you notice are large trees, covered with moss hovering over the roads and over the cars that enter their canopy. The moss generates this feeling of airlessness and listlessness, while the sunlight that filters through the thick forest canopy adds to the rainforest a spooky feeling. To make it short, the moss over the branches looks just like what I imagine ghosts to look like, those ephemeral beings in Chinese fiction who float around trying to free their spirits so that their soul can enter the other world and be reincarnated. Some have called it mythical--I truly agree.

The Hoh Rainforest Visitor Center is the best place to explore the forest, for convenient nature trails surround it. We took one of the two loop hikes that was about a mile long. A trail has been created for your convenience, but you can see that the rest of the forest floor is cloaked with mosses, ferns, and huge fungi, forming a soft and thick carpet on the forest floor. Enormous old-growth Douglas fir and other trees are shown to be hundred of years old. According to the brochure, some of the open areas are the grazing areas for elks and other wildlife, but I have to admit we did not see any.