Spending 5 Days on the Olympic Peninsula

Nov 25

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Introduction - Why the Olympic Peninsula is a Great Place for a Nature Lovers

Do you love the Pacific Northwest? Do you love dreamy temperate rainforests, beautiful hiking trails, mountains, waterfalls, and the ocean? When we decided we wanted to visit the Pacific Northwest this year, I tried to pick a location that maximized our access to all of these things. I landed on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington and it was a GREAT decision. I will admit, the Bellingham, Washington / North Cascades area was a close second. We will save that one for a future trip, though.

In this post, I share the highlights from our 5 days on the Olympic Peninsula. We visited in September 2022, which is a less busy time of year. The main park, Olympic National Park, gets over 3 million visitors a year with June-August and holiday weekends being the busiest times.

About the Olympic Peninsula

The Olympic Peninsula is located in northwest Washington. The peninsula is bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west, Strait of Juan de Fuca on the north, and the Puget Sound to the east. It is remote and beautiful, but is also close enough to major cities like Seattle that it is relatively easy to get to with one or two flights (depending on where you’re coming from) and a few hours’ drive. With its snow-capped peaks and pristine lakes, the Olympic Peninsula has some of the most beautiful landscapes in Washington.

The Olympic Mountains make up much of the peninsula, with the highest peak being Mount Olympus at 7,980 ft (2,432 m). The highest peaks are covered with snow and glaciers. Lush rain forest covers much of the western side of the peninsula. The coastline is made up of rugged cliffs, both small and wide sandy beaches, and sea stacks.

For more on the geologic history of the Olympic Peninsula, check out the Washington DNR website here.

Terrain Map of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington — Location of the Olympic Peninsula in northwest Washington (click image to enlarge)

Annotated Map of the Olympic Peninsula — Vital to planning our trips, are the custom maps that I make to help organize hiking trails and photography locations. I love making these and it really helps me both plan out destinations for each day and gives us options to pick from on days where plans change. AllTrails is one of my top go-to places to build out our options (Try a 7-day free trial!)

Day 1: Arriving in Port Angeles

We arrived by plane in Seattle from Iowa just before lunch and immediately picked up our rental car to start our drive to Port Angeles. The drive to Port Angeles was about 2.5 to 3 hours. We stopped in the town of Gig Harbor for a delicious lunch at Devoted Kiss Cafe. Upon arriving in Port Angeles, we still had a couple of hours before we could check in to our accommodations for the night. We drove out to Ediz Hook, which is a 3-mile-long (4.8 km) crescent-shaped, sand spit on the west side of Port Angeles. After a day of travel, it was nice to get our first real look at the Strait of Juan de Fuca and listen to the waves. We then picked up a few groceries in town, got checked in, and enjoyed the sunset from our AirBNB.

Flying by Mt Rainier into Seattle — Flying by Mt Rainier as we approached Seattle

Strait of Juan de Fuca — Looking out to the Juan de Fuca Strait from our AirBNB
44mm, ISO 100, f/13, 1/500 sec

Sunset near Port Angeles, Washington — Beautiful sunset for our first night

Day 2: Photographing Lake Crescent and Hiking to Sol Duc Falls

We started our first full day on the peninsula with an early morning stop at Lake Crescent. Lake Crescent is the largest lake in the Olympic Peninsula with an official maximum depth of 624 feet (190 m). It is a beautiful, glacially-carved lake with crystal-clear water. We walked about 0.2 miles (0.32 km) along the Moments in Time Trail which follows the lakeshore to Barnes Point. The lake was beautiful, calm, and we saw only one other person there while on our way back to the parking area.

Lake Crescent on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington — Early morning at Lake Crescent
25mm, ISO 100, f/9, 1/320 sec

Moments in Time Trail at Lake Crescent on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington — 24mm, ISO 400, f/4.0, 1/80 sec

We then drove about 40 minutes to the Sol Duc Falls Trailhead (47.955198, -123.835443) in Olympic National Park. It was about 10am when we arrived and we were pleased to see there was still parking available. The Sol Duc Falls trail is about 1.6 miles (2.57 km) round-trip. It is an easy, well-maintained trail that winds through lush rain forest and crosses several small streams before arriving at Sol Duc Falls. Sol Duc Falls is situated on the Olympic River. It drops about 50 feet (15.24 m) into a canyon surrounded by old-growth forest. We spent about an hour enjoying the beautiful falls before making our way back. The parking area was completely full when we returned, so we were glad we arrived when we did.

Note: A parks pass is required for this trail, so be sure to pick one up at an Olympic National Park Visitor Center or purchase online ahead of time. If you are planning to visit any state parks while in Washington, I also highly recommend getting a Discover Pass.

Sol Duc Falls in Olympic National Park, Washington — Sol Duc Falls
24mm, ISO 100, f/18, 1/4 sec

Sol Duc Falls Trail in Olympic National Park, Washington

Located along the same road as Sol Duc Falls is the Ancient Groves Nature Trail (48.004019, -123.905484). This 0.5 mile loop (0.8 km) was a perfect place to explore after eating our packed lunch. The parking lot is small, so there won’t be many people walking the trail at any given time. The forests here were magical — so green and quiet.

Ancient Groves Nature Trail in Olympic National Park, Washington — 24mm, ISO 320, f/7.1, 1/50 sec

Day 3 : North Coast and Hiking to Cape Flattery

Day 3 was our big driving day with the main destination being Cape Flattery. Cape Flattery is the northwesternmost point of both Washington and the contiguous United States. Getting to Cape Flattery involves a 1 hour 45 minute drive from Port Angeles to Neah Bay, followed by another 15 minute drive to the Cape Flattery trailhead. The drive to Cape Flattery follows along beautiful coastline with multiple beach and shoreline access areas. We got an early start so that we could photograph sunrise along the shore. We also filmed the waves at sunrise for our Travel Atmos YouTube channel (what is Travel Atmos?). It was a really beautiful location. You can check it out here!

Strait of Juan de Fuca in Washington — 42mm, ISO 100, f/20, 1/4 sec

Cape Flattery is located in the Makah Reservation and access to trails requires a recreation pass. We purchased our recreation pass at the Makah Mini Mart in Neah Bay. We arrived at the Cape Flattery Trail parking area (48.384613, -124.715778) around 9am and there were just a few other cars there. The Cape Flattery Trail is 1.2 miles (1.93 km) round-trip. It descends steadily toward the coast, but is well-maintained with numerous boardwalks traversing parts of the forest floor.

As you approach the coast, the boardwalks become more numerous and make for great photo opportunities in the forest. The first overlook that we arrived at looked toward the coastline to the northeast. I highly recommend an extra wide-angle lens here. I had my 24-70mm and it was not wide enough for what I wanted to capture.

We continued down the trail and found 3 additional overlooks. Two of them pointed southwest and were nice spots to watch the waves crash on the rocks and to look for wildlife. The third overlook was at the end of the trail and gave us a view of Cape Flattery lighthouse on Tatoosh Island to the west. Cape Flattery lighthouse was built in 1854 and first lit in 1857. The light was decommissioned in 2008 after a light tower with a solar-powered LED light was installed on the island.

Cape Flattery Trail in Washington — Northeast facing overlook
32mm, ISO 250, f/5.0, 1/250 sec

Cape Flattery Lighthouse in Washington — Cape Flattery Lighthouse

Day 4: Exploring Hurricane Ridge and Madison Creek Falls

It was still dark when we left our AirBNB on day 4. We could smell smoke and saw bits of ash on our rental car. Smoke began pushing into the Port Angeles area from wildfires in Oregon and the Bolt Creek fire that had just started east of Seattle the day before. Our goal was to photograph sunrise, but we weren’t sure if we’d be able to see the sun or not. Regardless, we drove to an overlook along Hurricane Ridge Road in Olympic National Park and, through the thick smoke, we were able to get a glimpse of the sun.

Hurricane Ridge Road Sunrise in Olympic National Park, Washington — 48mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/640 sec

We continued up Hurricane Ridge Road to the visitor center parking area (47.969351, -123.498890) which is about 40 minutes from Port Angeles. From here, we took in the expansive views of the Olympic Mountains. It was a bit breezy and quite hazy from the smoke, but we were just happy to see the mountains! There are several nice hiking trails up there that follow along various ridgelines. We contemplated scoping out a sunset spot, but ultimately decided against it because the smoke was forecasted to worsen.

Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park, Washington

After exploring Hurricane Ridge Road, we drove about 50 minutes to the Madison Falls (Madison Creek Falls) trailhead (48.040877, -123.590043). The trail to Madison Falls is only 0.2 miles (0.32 km) RT and is wheelchair-friendly. We arrived between 9 and 10am. Although there were cars in the parking area, we had the waterfall to ourselves for the first 15 minutes or so. This was another location that we filmed for our Travel Atmos YouTube channel (check it out!)

The parking area for Madison Falls is located at the furthest drivable point on Olympic Hot Springs Road. The road beyond this point was closed due to a large washout in 2017. Because of this, the Madison Falls parking area serves as a starting point for several other trails that used to start further down the road.

Madison Creek Falls in Olympic National Park, Washington — Madison Falls (Madison Creek Falls)
16mm, ISO 100, f/13, 0.6 sec

We spent the rest of the day relaxing and avoiding being out in the smoky air. For sunset, we drove out to the Salt Creek Recreation Area, which has numerous spots for great landscape photography. The tide changes throughout the day are dramatic and completely change how the shoreline looks depending if you are there at high tide vs. low tide.

Salt Creek Recreation Area and Crescent Bay in Washington — Salt Creek Recreation Area
31mm, ISO 100, f/13, 1/60 sec

Raccoon bandits sign at Salt Creek Recreation Area — Local comedy, but also serious.

Day 5: Port Angeles and Point Wilson Lighthouse

For our final day, we wanted to check out a little more of the shore in Port Angeles before starting the drive back to Seattle. We first stopped at the Port Angeles pier. From the small public parking area, it was a short walk out to the Port Angeles Tower where we had expansive views of the area. Then we drove out as far as we could go on Ediz Hook which is just before the gates to the U.S. Coast Guard. The smoke was so thick that we could barely see Port Angeles across the water.

After a coffee stop, we said goodbye to Port Angeles and started our drive to Seattle. On the way, we took a nice detour to Point Wilson Lighthouse. Point Wilson Lighthouse is an important landmark for marine traffic traveling in and out of to the Puget Sound. The lighthouse was first lit in December of 1879. The light was automated in 1976 and up until 2000, the keepers’ quarters were occupied by the Coast Guard.

To visit the lighthouse, we paid for a day pass. Nearby Fort Worden State Park is also included with the day pass. If you have a Discovery Pass, you won’t need to purchase a day pass. We drove to the end of the road and parked here: 48.143187, -122.756601. It was somewhat busy when we arrived around 11am, but not overcrowded. We took a sandy path out to the beach to take in smoke-haze filled views of Puget Sound. We followed the shoreline around and approached Point Wilson Lighthouse. I think the best views of the lighthouse are from its east / southeast side. Visiting the lighthouse concluded our sightseeing for the day and we finished our drive to Seattle to prepare for our flight home the next day.

Port Angeles Tower at Port Angeles Pier in Washington — Port Angeles Tower

Smoke haze in Puget Sound, Washington — Puget Sound
59mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/500 sec

View from Port Angeles Tower at Port Angeles Pier in Washington — View to the west from Port Angeles Tower

View of Port Angeles from Ediz Hook — Looking toward Port Angeles from Ediz Hook
43mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/250 sec

Point Wilson Lighthouse at Puget Sound, Washington — Point Wilson Lighthouse
35mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/400 sec

Summary

It was easy to fill a few days on the Olympic Peninsula with a variety of activities. What we were able to see in 5 days just scratched the surface of what the Olympic Peninsula offers. Our favorite photography spots were Sol Duc Falls and the Salt Creek Recreation Area. Although I don’t go into Port Angeles food recommendations in-depth here, our favorites were Next Door Gastropub and Turnip The Beet. My favorite coffee spot was The Coffee Box.

If you are familiar with the Olympic Peninsula, you may have noticed that we did not visit the Hoh Rain Forest or places like Ruby Beach on this trip. Ruby Beach (and other nearby beaches) and the Hoh Rain Forest are incredible places to visit. We spent a couple of days in that area in 2016. For this trip, in September 2022, we wanted to focus more on the north side of the peninsula. Perhaps I will make a post that focuses just on that area in the future.

For more information on books and maps I used to help plan the trip, check below.

Thanks for reading!

Recommended Books and Maps for the Olympic Peninsula

When I plan out trips, I use a combination of hard-copy books and maps along with Google Maps and other online tools such as AllTrails (Try a 7-day free trial of AllTrails+!). Here are a few books and a map that I found useful for our visit to the Olympic Peninsula. Amazon links are provided.