Experience the best of Olympic National Park

Olympic National Park takes in the Olympic Mountains at the centre of the Olympic Peninsula, with the highest peak, Mount Olympus, rising to about 2,400 metres. The park was established in 1938 and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1981, along with its wilderness coast.

The Hoh Rain Forest on the western slopes is among the wettest places in the lower 48 states, and its moss-draped maples and spruces are striking. Lake Crescent, a deep lake fringed by forest, lies to the north, and Hurricane Ridge above Port Angeles looks across the mountains. The Elwha River, once blocked by two dams, flows freely again after the dams were removed between 2011 and 2014. The Pacific coast has sea stacks at Ruby Beach and tidal pools at Rialto Beach.

Seafood fills the menus around the park: salmon, Dungeness crab, oysters from the Hood Canal and summer berries. Port Angeles, on the north side of the peninsula, is the main town for visitors. The park is wet in winter and drier from July to September, which is the best time for hiking the high trails.