7/20/2023 0 Comments Tidal pools olympic national parkJust beyond the lake’s western end, a side road leads to Sol Duc Hot Springswith its outdoor mineral pools (the hottest averages 104☏) and massage treatments. Get out on the water with a rental boat from Fairholme Store, hike or bike the north shore via the 10.5-mile Spruce Railroad Trail, or take a refreshing dip at East Beach. Heading west from Port Angeles, Highway 101 makes a beeline for blue-green Lake Crescent, renowned for both its beauty and indigenous trout species. During winter, snow-shoeing and cross-country skiing take over the Hurricane (equipment rentals are available at the gift shop). ![]() Hikers have plenty of choices, from the short, flat Big Meadow Loop (a quarter mile) to challenging treks like the 8-mile Wolf Creek Trail to Whiskey Bend. Mount Angeles Road meanders 17 miles south into the heart of the park and a popular spot called Hurricane Ridge, where another visitor center offers exhibits and ranger-guided activities during the summer. Two short nature walks, the Living Forest Loop (0.4 mile) and Peabody Creek Trail (0.5 mile), are a good introduction to the nature that lies ahead. ![]() The city’s Olympic National Park Visitor Center provides the usual range of information, books, and maps, as well as hands-on exhibits on the park’s human and natural history. 101), the most popular is via Port Angeles on the peninsula’s north shore. While it’s possible to enter the park from more than two dozen spots off the Olympic Highway (U.S. In 1938, Olympic was designated as a national park, after an act of Congress that was signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt. That set the stage for a struggle between the timber industry and conservationists that segued into the ecological wave that later swept the Pacific Northwest. ![]() Olympic is one of the places that President Teddy Roosevelt recognized as an endangered national treasure, protecting the area’s snowcapped peaks and lush forest with national monument status in 1909. While the typical image of the park is a dark, damp, and overwhelmingly beautiful temperate rainforest, the park also shelters alpine highlands, tranquil lakeshores, and a wild Pacific coastline that seems totally untouched by humans. One of the most primeval parts of the lower 48 states, Olympic National Park covers nearly 1 million acres of the eponymous peninsula in Washington State-95 percent of which is designated wilderness. Visitor Centers: Port Angeles, Hurricane Ridge, Hoh Rain Forest, Lake QuinaultĮntrance Fee: $25 vehicles $10 individuals
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