Staff Spotlight: 2-Week West Coast Road Trip
Day One: Olympic National Park, Washington
(Driving to Olympic National Park & Lake Crescent)
Olympic National Park is in Washington state on the Olympic Peninsula just two hours outside of Seattle. This beautiful National Park was the first main destination on our road trip and where we spent our first 3 nights/3.5 days. It is the northernmost destination on this road trip of ours.
What is Olympic National Park? Olympic National Park was established on June 29th, 1938, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This 922,651-acre park consists of 56 mammal species (including 24 marine mammal species), 300 bird species, 37 native fish species, 20 reptiles and amphibian species, and 22 species listed as threatened or endangered. There are few parks with such diverse climates and varied geography as this one. Olympic consists of four distinct ecosystems and you can easily visit all four in just one day! There over 73 miles of Washington coastline and beaches, forests are found all over the park with huge trees older than 200 years also consisting of over 3,000 miles of rivers and streams, 60 named glaciers, more than four large temperate rainforests are found on the park’s west side, and mountain ranges that completely dominate Olympics' central zone with its tallest peak sitting at 7,980 feet (Mt. Olympus). These are just a few reasons why Olympic National Park had been on our “Domestic Travels Bucket List” and the next 3 days’ worth of stories and pictures will have you adding it to yours!
We began our trip by flying (VERY early) into Seattle where we landed early afternoon and immediately went to pick up our rental car to begin our adventure! We have visited Seattle several times already so figured we could skip a visit to the beautiful city for this trip, but do not think Seattle is worth skipping, because it most certainly is not!
Lake Crescent - The drive from the airport to our first destination, Olympic National Park, was breathtaking! Beautiful mountainous hills and fall colors surrounded us on every corner. After about 2.5 hours of driving and a quick stop at a local grocery store for road trip essentials, we arrived at Lake Crescent. The arrival at Lake Crescent was something that I will always remember. We took a turn around a bend in the road and out of nowhere this beautiful lake was presented to us. All our jaws dropped at the beauty that seemed to have come out of nowhere!
What is Lake Crescent? Lake Crescent is nestled in the northern foothills of the Olympic Mountains and is the second-deepest lake in Washington with an official maximum depth of 624 feet. It is known for its vibrant blue waters and exceptional clarity that is caused by a lack of nitrogen in the water which inhibits the growth of algae. Residing on the lake itself, is Lake Crescent Lodge where we were fortunate enough to spend our very first evening.
Lake Crescent Lodge was built in 1915 and has a variety of cabins, cottages, and rooms available to stay in, and pets are welcome! In addition to their various types of accommodations, Lake Crescent Lodge also has a restaurant, lounge, bar, and gift shop! Also included in your stay is, of course, lake and beach access right on the property. Kayaks, paddleboards, and fishing supplies were all available to rent as well! We unfortunately didn’t get a chance to participate in any of these activities because the tide of the lake was too high while we were there. We did get to enjoy the restaurant and bar both for dinner and breakfast and all our meals were delicious! The rest of the evening was spent enjoying dinner and watching the sunset over the lake and heading off to bed early as we had an early day planned for day 2.
Day Two: Olympic National Park, Washington
(Hurricane Ridge, Sol Duc Valley & Forks)
Hurricane Ridge - On the morning of day two, we woke up early to pack up our bags and depart from the beautiful Lake Crescent Lodge to spend our day hiking at various locations within the park and ending up in Forks for our next 2 nights. The drive from the lodge to Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center was about an hour, but the drive was incredible. The drive itself could have been the destination!
What is Hurricane Ridge? Hurricane Ridge is nearly a mile high and offers great hiking with many trails to choose from. The best place to start is at Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center where bathrooms are available year-round and you can even speak with a Park Ranger about the best trail for you. You can also pick up some maps as well. During the summer, a hike to Hurricane Hill on a clear day can offer a 360-degree view north across the Straits of Juan de Fuca to Victoria, Canada, or the southern view of the glacier-clad Mount Olympus.
Since we still had more driving to do this day and another destination to visit, we opted for a shorter hike. We decided to take the 1.2-mile “Cirque Rim” hike. It was quite the trek and the elevation definitely got to us, but the destination was worth the journey! We had a beautiful view of Port Angeles and the Strait of Juan de Fuca! Next time I visit Hurricane Ridge (and there WILL be a next time) I will make sure to visit during sunrise or sunset because I would have loved to see these mountains and hills light up in the sun’s beauty.
Sol Duc Valley –
Around noon, we departed Hurricane Ridge and made our way back down the beautiful hills to drive back out of the park to make our way to Sol Duc Valley.
Side note: The only downside to visiting Olympic National Park is that driving through the park is not possible, as you can only drive around the park to visit its various locations. The 101 (main highway surrounding the park) is the only road that surrounds the park entirely, so that is the main road we drove during our visit in ONP and is the best way to get around this HUGE park and its various locations.
What is Sol Duc Valley? Sol Duc Valley is named the most beautiful falls in the entire park and is situated just a few miles from Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort and Campground.
From Hurricane Ridge, it took about 1.5-2 hours of driving to reach Sol Duc Valley. Once we reached the Sol Duc Trailhead, we took the 2-mile roundtrip hike on the Sol Duc Falls Trail to reach the beautiful Sol Duc Waterfall. The trail was absolutely stunning with views of bright green vegetation and creeks at every turn and towards the end, you could HEAR the falls before you even got to them.
We finally reached the waterfall, and the park provided the most EPIC way to view it. From this wooden bridge, you get to view the falls from ABOVE as it falls 50 feet into the slot canyon below you. The falls were spectacular and boomed and rushed just below us.
Forks, Washington - Once we hiked the mile back to the car, we departed the valley to make our way to the small town of Forks, Washington, where we rented the most adorable little Airbnb for the next two nights.
What is Forks? Forks, Washington, is a small town that is located right outside of Olympic National Park. It is named after the forks in the nearby Quillayute, Bogachiel, Calawah, and Sol Duc rivers. The town gained popularity in tourism after the book and movie series, Twilight was set in Forks. Twilight tours are available here, but there was no way I was going to convince my friends and husband to take these tours (even though I hate to admit that I am a huge Twilight fan and would have loved to take part in these tours).
Our Airbnb in Forks was the perfect location for us to reside for these two nights as it was central and provided us with a good grocery store, local restaurants, gift shops, etc. right in town. The rest of this day was spent exploring the small town and ordering food in (since in-person dining was closed due to COVID).
Day Three: Olympic National Park, Washington
(Hoh Rainforest, Third Beach, & Forks)
Hoh Rainforest - On the morning of day three, we slept in a bit and enjoyed our morning and had breakfast and coffee right in Forks. Around noon, we drove about 50 minutes to arrive at the Hoh Rainforest Visitor Center.
What is Hoh Rainforest?
The Hoh Rainforest (pronounced “Hoe”) gets its name from the ever-flowing Hoh River that has carved its way from Mt. Olympus towards the Pacific Coast forming from glacier runoffs. Known as one of the world’s lushest rainforests, the Hoh Rainforest gets as much as 14 feet of rain each year and the prevalent fog and mist contribute the equivalent of another 30 inches of rain each year! Mosses and ferns blanket the surfaces of the entire forest and its surroundings.
Upon arriving at the Hoh Rainforest Visitors Center, we immediately saw a large, beautiful elk just enjoying his time outside as we parked our car. After admiring the elk, we continued to the trailhead where we began our 1.2-mile hike on the Spruce Nature Trail. This trail is diverse and loops through both old and new growth forests.
We couldn’t imagine the amount of beauty that came with trees, moss and ferns alone. The amount of moss was more than I had ever seen in my lifetime and it all created a beautiful green canopy between trees and other plants. It was as if we had been transported into an entirely other planet or universe.
Each turn of our hike was the greenest of greens any of us have ever seen. Along the way, we passed a handful of rushing creeks and small rivers. About halfway through the trail, we reached the amazing, fast-flowing Hoh River with mountainous hills in the distance. This spot was so beautiful that we stopped here for a bit to enjoy the sounds and sights before continuing our hike and finishing our visit to this incredible rainforest.
Third Beach – You can never be ready to leave the sights of Hoh Rainforest, but once we were, we departed and drove about 1.5 hours to Third Beach.
What is Third Beach? Third Beach is a tidepool beach located on the Olympic Peninsula Coast near Forks. This is one of the Olympic Coast’s famed wilderness beaches with excellent opportunities to view bald eagles and seals. The hike to Third Beach is known to hikers worldwide as it delivers wonderment in every season throughout the year.
Upon arriving at the Third Beach Trailhead, we parked our car and began the infamous roundtrip 2.8 mile hike through extremely tall Sitka spruce, western hemlock and red alder trees. Along the way, we could hear sounds of a nearby rushing creek and many birds in the trees above us.
As we went along even further, we could tell we were getting closer to the coastline because the ground underneath us became more and more muddy and we began hearing sounds of waves crashing. After about a mile, the wide flat trail becomes a steep, muddy and slightly switchback decline making it a bit more of a difficult hike but the views at the end are totally worth it.
From there, we used a rope and ladder assisted trail down to the beach and then climbed over piles of driftwood that accumulated thanks to the high tides. Once we navigated all of that, we were on the beach enjoying the stunning ocean waters and beautiful brown sand beach and climbing over slippery algae covered boulders as we walked up and down the beach.
In the distance, there were views of “Giants Graveyard” which is considered one of Washington State’s eeriest places. It is said by the elders of the Quileute Tribe to be the graveyard where giants were laid to rest in ancient times, a place where huge tombstones and totems dot the ocean’s surface just offshore.
The sun was beginning to set so we made the wise decision to begin our 1.4 mile hike back to the car to return back to the Forks Airbnb for our final night in Washington.
Day Four: Olympic National Park to Cannon Beach, Oregon
(Ruby Beach & Cannon Beach, Oregon)
Ruby Beach – We began our fourth day quite early as we were officially leaving Olympic National Park and Washington entirely to spend the second half of our day in Cannon Beach, Oregon. There was one last stop we had to make before leaving Olympic National Park for good and that was to the infamous Ruby Beach!
What is Ruby Beach? Ruby Beach is located on the Washington Coast and is part of Olympic National Park. It got its name from the reddish granules that gather on the shore. It is known for the many rocks, sea stacks and huge driftwood logs on shore.
We said goodbye to our adorable Forks Airbnb and drove 35 minutes to Ruby Beach. We parked at the main parking lot and began walking down to the shore. The walk was amazing within itself offering views of Ruby Beach from above with extremely tall trees surrounding us. Once we reached the bottom, we climbed over many large driftwood logs to reach the beach.
Once we reached the beach, we explored the many tidepools that had accumulated along the shore and walked up and down the coastline, navigating many rocks and pebbles along the way. The number of pebbles and rocks on the beach made for the perfect opportunity for a good ole’ game of skipping rocks.
Once we spent quite a bit of time enjoying the beach and its surroundings, we decided it was time to make our drive to Oregon!
Cannon Beach, Oregon – From Ruby Beach in Washington, we drove about 3.5 hours to Cannon Beach, Oregon.
What is Cannon Beach? Cannon Beach is located along the Pacific Coast of Oregon. It is a small, quaint beach town famous for the “Haystack Rock” that resides on the beach. Haystack Rock is a 327-foot tall sea stack that has tide pools home to many animals including colorful starfish, sea anemones, crabs, and sea slugs. It is taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa! The rock is also a nesting site for many seabirds and puffins. Low tide offers the chance to walk right up to the tide pools. This famous Haystack Rock can be seen in the opening scene of the 1985 movie The Goonies.
After 3.5 hours of driving, we arrived at our hotel. For our night in Cannon Beach, we stayed at Sea Sprite Guest Lodgings at Haystack Rock. We were lucky enough to stay in the “Sand Dollar Suite 2” that sleeps four and sat oceanfront with the most amazing views. If you’re lucky, one of the many black bunnies in the area will walk right up to you if you have a little something for them in hand.
We spent the rest of the afternoon walking up and down the beach and then into the evening we watched the sunset and had dinner and drank wine right on the beach that is located right in the front yard of our hotel suite!
The most amazing part of this whole day was laying on the beach looking up at the sky and stargazing for hours while listening to the sounds of the ocean. All of us agreed that we had never seen stars like that before. We could see the Milky Way so very clearly and caught glimpses of shooting stars once every 3-5 minutes. Lucky for me, the next day was my birthday! So yes, I got to wake up on this beautiful beach on my birthday.
Day Five: Cannon Beach & Bend, Oregon
(Cannon Beach, OR, and Bend, OR)
Unfortunately, this day and the next were the only two days of our entire road trip that we ran into roadblocks due to the forest fires that have devastated areas of Oregon and California. On this day, we planned to wake up early and make our way to Columbia River Gorge to spend the day there, but the fires had shut it down entirely. So, we now had more time to spend in Cannon Beach for the first part of our day and then we continued to Bend, Oregon, as planned for the evening.
We spent our morning enjoying coffee on the beach and watching the morning fog rise from the coastline. Come late morning, we left the hotel to explore the adorable small beach town of Cannon Beach. We had the most delicious crepes and eggs benedict at Pig ‘N Pancake right in town. It was the best crepe I think I have ever had. After breakfast, we walked around the town a bit, did some shopping, and stopped at The Wine Shack and bought some local wine to bring on the rest of the road trip with us!
Once we had done enough damage to our wallets, we made our way to Bend, Oregon, for the evening. We had originally planned on staying in Bend because it was central between the Columbia River Gorge and Crater Lake which we had planned on visiting the next day on Day 6. The visit to Columbia River Gorge was supposed to break up our drive to Bend but because we couldn’t go there due to the fires, our drive from Cannon Beach to Bend was a total of 4.5 hours!
Bend, Oregon - After the 4.5 hours of driving, we reached our beautiful hotel in Bend, the Riverhouse on the Deschutes River. This hotel is the perfect combination of rustic and modern sophistication with world-class amenities. The hotel sits on the banks of the Deschutes River, and we got to enjoy the views and sounds of the river right from our hotel room!
This evening, we had my birthday dinner at The Blacksmith Restaurant in the historic Pierson Blacksmith shop in Downtown Bend. My husband and I both agreed that it was the best meal we ever had and they celebrated us in such a special way with an amazing bread pudding dessert. Amazing food and even better company is the best way to spend your 27th birthday!
Day Six: Redwood National & State Parks, California
(Redwoods National & State Parks)
Unfortunately, the first part of day six was also hit with roadblocks due to the forest fires in Oregon. We were supposed to start this day with a drive to Crater Lake, Oregon, to experience the Crater Lake area but the park was closed due to the fires. So we continued straight to our second destination of the day – Redwood National & State Parks in California!
Redwood National & State Parks, CA – After driving 4.5 hours from Bend, Oregon we finally arrived at the beautiful Redwood National & State Parks in California.
What is Redwood National & State Parks in California? This is a National Park covering a total area of 13,983 acres. The trees are the biggest draw of the park, mainly for the Redwoods. The reason the Redwoods are so rare is because these trees depend on the coastal fogs for moisture in the dry seasons, so they are extremely limited as to where they can grow and usually where they can grow is a very narrow band of land. The Redwood trees are the world's tallest trees with the tallest reaching nearly 380 feet tall and the average lifespan of a redwood is 500-700 years! Though, they have been known to exceed 2,000 years in age!
We knew that we wanted to see the old-growth side of the forest, so we spent our day hiking near the Elk Meadow side of the park. We chose the Trillium Falls Trail, the 2.5-mile loop hike that had us bending our necks backward at every turn as we looked up to see just how tall these beautiful giants were. And let me tell you, pictures of the Redwoods do not do these beauties justice. They are HUGE!
For our one-night stay near the Redwoods (since we couldn’t stay in the park itself because of COVID) we booked a charming cabin that felt as if we were still in the park because we were surrounded by Redwood trees and constantly reminded by the fact that bears were very common near the house (to not leave ANY food, even gum, inside our car).
Our first week officially came to an end and our lovely friends departed us as we continued on to our second week. Stay tuned for next week’s blog to read about week two of our road trip! Next up: San Francisco, Yosemite National Park, Big Sur, and more!
Interested in planning a domestic road trip? Or visiting any of these destinations? Contact Christine Wolff to start planning your trip today! Call 314-439-5700 ext. 134 or email her!
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