Olympic National Park Itinerary: A 3-Day Ultimate Experience
Olympic National Park is one of the most diverse and beautiful parks in the United States. With three distinct ecosystems, Olympic National Park offers something for everyone.
Whether you’re interested in hiking, camping, or just taking in the natural beauty of the Olympic Peninsula, a visit to Olympic National Park is a must-do for any nature lover. This Olympic National Park 3-day itinerary will help you make the most of your time in the park.
To make the most out of your time in Olympic National Park I suggest you head to your starting point the night before instead of in the morning. It takes at least 3 hours from Seattle to get to Olympic National Park.
By leaving the night before, you can be ready to start exploring first thing in the morning and not fight with Seattle traffic and the long distance of getting to the park.
You should start the night before by staying in or near Port Angeles. Port Angeles isn’t big, and it isn’t fancy, but it is the biggest town around the park and offers the most places to stay, stock up on supplies, eat, and is a pretty decent starting point on your Olympic National Park Itinerary.
Olympic Lodge by Ayers is my favorite place to stay in Port Angeles. It is clean and has a pool to relax in. There is also a golf course next door.
✅ Click Here To Book Olympic Lodge
Olympic National Park Itinerary: Day 1
Morning
Hurricane Hill
Distance: 3.4 miles
Hike Type: Out and back
Difficulty: Moderate
Approximate Time: 2 hours
Set your alarm and get an early start today, you’re heading to one of the most epic and picturesque locations in Olympic National Park, Hurricane Ridge. You can also visit the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center while you are there.
➡️ Drive time from Port Angeles to Hurricane Ridge – 40 minutes
Hurricane Ridge is one of the most popular and busy areas in Olympic National Park so getting here early is key, especially in the summer months.
I suggest that you hike to Hurricane Hill. Note that during the winter, this area will be snowy and the road may be closed.
Stop and eat at Blackberry Cafe or Grannys Cafe on your way to the next stop.
✅ Don’t worry about parking and book a guided hike of Hurricane Ridge here
Afternoon
After you’ve finished your hike at Hurricane Ridge, you’ll head to Lake Crescent. This deep, glacial carved lake, is a gorgeous blue and crystal clear. It’s absolutely beautiful, and very cold year-round.
➡️ Drive from Hurricane Ridge to Lake Crescent – 1 hour 30 minutes
You have a few options on how to spend your afternoon at Lake Crescent. You really can’t go wrong here, all the options are gorgeous it just depends on what you’d like to do and your energy level.
Lake Crescent Option 1 – Marymere Falls
Distance: 1.7 miles
Hike Type: Out and back
Difficulty: easy
Elevation Change: 298 feet
Approximate Time: under an hour
This is a low-energy, high-reward option. A beautiful hike that starts at the historic Mount Storm King Ranger Station. You’ll walk near the beautiful Lake Crescent, and then through a forested area to one of the most iconic waterfalls in Olympic National Park.
✅ Click here to Try a guided hike to Marymere Falls
Lake Crescent Option 2 – Spruce Railroad to Devils Punchbowl
Distance: 2.4 miles
Hike Type: Out and back
Difficulty: easy
Elevation Change: 144 feet
Approximate Time: 50 minutes (plus swim time)
This is another reasonably easy option that ends in you being able to jump off a bridge and swim in the crystal clear water of Lake Crescent. If you don’t want to hike, you could also rent kayaks or canoes from Lake Crescent Lodge or Log Cabin Resort and paddle to Devils Punchbowl.
Tip: Bring bug spray
Lake Crescent Option 3: Mount Storm King
Distance: 4.1 miles
Hike Type: Out and back
Difficulty: difficult
Elevation Change: 2106 feet
Approximate Time: 3.5 hours
Tip: Consider bringing gloves for the rope section.
This hike option is the most time-consuming and difficult activity level of the Lake Crescent options, but if you’re up for it might end up being one of your favorite hikes in Olympic National Park. The views from the top are amazing! The hike has some more challenging parts, including a rope section, so be aware that this is more than just a walk in the park.
Mount Storm King shares the first part of the trail with the Marymere Falls trail, so you could combine them both if you are feeling ambitious!
Evening
Consider staying in Port Angeles tonight. You could stay at Olympic Lodge by Ayers again, or you could try Lake Crescent Lodge! There are camping and vacation rental options available nearby as well.
If you stay near Lake Crescent, you could fit another activity in today, such as paddling to Devils punchbowl in the afternoon and then hiking to Marymere Falls in the evening.
✅ Book your Port Angeles Hotel or Vacation Rental
Olympic National Park Itinerary: Day 2
Morning
This morning, you’ll be leaving the Port Angeles area and heading toward Forks, where you should stay for the next two nights. Eat breakfast at the hotel, and stock up on some snacks, you’ll be in the car a lot today.
➡️ Driving time from Lake Crescent to Sol Duc Falls 1 hour 10 minutes
Your first stop this morning is Sol Duc Falls, which is the most famous waterfall in Olympic National Park. You’ve got a few choices here depending on how much time you want to spend in the Sol Duc area.
✅ Click here for a guided hike to Sol Duc Falls
Sol Duc Option 1
Distance: 1.6 miles
Hike Type: Out and back
Difficulty: easy
Elevation Change: 226 feet
Approximate time: under an hour
You can hike to the falls overlook if you only want a short trip here and want to see the falls and then get on your way.
Sol Duc Option 2
Lovers Lane
Distance: 6.1 miles
Hike Type: Loop
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation Change: 590 feet
Approximate Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
You’ll still get to see Sol Duc Falls with this option, plus a few “hidden” waterfalls, incredible greenery, and, if it’s fall, you may see salmon too. Hike this trail for a bit more solitude than the easier hike.
At this point, you can choose to check out the Sol Duc Hot Springs or head on to the next adventure. The Hot Springs are pumped into pools, and you pay to use them at the resort, they aren’t like the hot springs you find naturally in other places in the PNW.
Afternoon
After you are done with the Sol Duc area, head to Forks. It’s time to see some of the Best Beaches in Washington!
Forks is a small town that became a name every teen girl learned while reading the Twilight Saga. Around Forks, you’ll see Bella’s truck and other Twilight memorabilia. You can also see the “Vampire-Werewolf Treaty Line” and Jacobs house and motorcycle if you head toward the LaPush Beaches on the Quileute Reservation.
You’ll want to check the tides before this part of the trip to determine what to do next. You can interchange the next two suggestions to make the tides work for you. Check the tides here.
Assuming it’s low tide, you should head to Rialto Beach next. If you don’t want to hike to the hole in the wall, the tide doesn’t matter as much.
➡️ Driving Time from Sol Duc Falls to Rialto Beach- 1 hour 7 minutes
Hole in the Wall
Distance: 3.3 miles
Hike Type: Out and back
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation Gain: 108
Approximate Time: 1 hour
Rialto Beach is one of the most interesting beaches in Olympic National Park. It’s such a unique vibe here. The beach is lined with driftwood, but instead of small pieces of wood, they are whole trees! The beach is rocky so you’ll want to wear good shoes here.
Hiking to Hole in the Wall is one of the most popular things to do at Rialto Beach, but you can only attempt this at low tide. The more negative the tide, the better for this! The Hole in the Wall is a huge rock that has a hole in the middle from erosion. There are also great tidepools here, where you can see starfish, anemones, crabs, and other fish. Keep an eye out for Bald Eagles, Seals, and Whales here too!
Stop for lunch at 3 Rivers Restaurant for burgers and shakes.
Evening
Head to La Push. There are a few beaches to choose from, but I recommend 2nd Beach. 2nd beach is gorgeous with incredible sea stacks to observe. You’ll have to hike to the beach here, but it’s one of the easier beach hikes.
➡️ Driving Time from Rialto Beach to 2nd Beach- 24 minutes
Hike to 2nd Beach
Distance: 4 miles
Hike Type: Out and back
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation Gain: 310 feet
Approximate time: 1.5 hours
You can spend some time exploring here. You can watch the sunset here, it is beautiful with the sea stacks in the background. If the tide allows, you can use driftwood to have a bonfire on the beach for a true PNW experience!
You’ll want to stay the night in Forks tonight. There are not many hotel choices, but there are quite a few vacation rentals and campgrounds to choose from.
My favorite place to stay in Forks is Mossquatch Glamping Resort. You won’t be disappointed if you stay here, its a great place!
✅ Book your Hotel Stay in Forks Now
✅ Book Mossquatch Glamping
Olympic National Park Itinerary: Day 3
Morning
Today, you are heading to 2 of the most iconic attractions in Olympic National Park, the Tree of Life, and the Hoh Rainforest. You’ll drive from Forks to the Hoh Rain Forest this morning, and you’ll want to do this very early. The Hoh Rainforest is a temperate rain forest and is very popular and extremely busy. If you get there late (think after 9 am) you’ll likely have to wait a while to get in. You don’t have time for that, so get there early!
➡️ Driving Time from Forks to Hoh Rainforest – 56 minutes
At the Hoh Rainforest, there are two hikes that I recommend. Both are short, and both start from the same parking lot. You’ll want to hike the Hall of Mosses and the Spruce Nature Trail. This is one of my favorite areas, I always feel like I’m walking in a fairytale when I walk the Hall of Mosses. It is SO PRETTY!
Hall of Mosses
Distance: 1.1 miles
Hike Type: Loop
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation Gain: 78 feet
Approximate time: 30 minutes
Spruce Nature Trail
Distance: 1.4 miles
Hike Type: Loop
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation Gain: 16 feet
Approximate time: 30 minutes
Afternoon
Time to head back to the beaches! This time, you’ll be checking out the Kalaloch area beaches. Check the tides again before you go. You’ll want to go to Beach 4 at the lowest tide possible to see the tide pools. Tree of Life can be visited even at high tide. These 2 beaches are only a mile from each other so you can really choose which one to do first.
➡️ Driving Time from Hoh Rain Forest to Kalaloch Beaches – 50 minutes
Beach 4 is a great beach to explore, especially at low tide. Beach 4 has some of the best tidepools in Olympic National Park. You’ll have to park along the Hwy and then its a short hike down. You’ll want to spend a few hours here.
The Tree of Life is on Kalaloch Beach. Park in the lot near the lodge and walk down to the beach.
Evening
What you do tonight depends on your plans for lodging and where you are headed tomorrow. If you are leaving the park, then as I mentioned before, I would stay in Forks again. If you are planning to further explore then consider relocating as well.
If there is still daylight left and you aren’t too tired you can explore more of the beaches in the Kalaloch area, I would choose Ruby Beach. You can also drive further north to see more of the La Push Beaches on your way back to Forks.
Have more or less time in Olympic National Park?
If you only have one day in Olympic National Park, I recommend either picking your one MUST SEE destination for an Olympic National Park day trip, or booking a full-day private tour that can be customized by you.
✅ Click here to book your private Olympic National Park Tour
If you have additional days to spend in the Park I suggest one of these options:
- Check out some of the other beaches in La Push or Kalaloch, and stay the night at the Kalaloch Lodge.
- Head to Lake Quinault (you can stay at the Lake Quinault Lodge, it is gorgeous), you can kayak or paddle in the lake, explore the rainforest, and see some really HUGE Trees!
- Drive down to the often overlooked, but oh-so-pretty, Staircase area, and hike Staircase Rapids. You can camp in the Staircase Campground here as well.
- If you have extra time and want to see an incredible destination that’s not part of Olympic National Park, I highly recommend Cape Flattery. Located in Neah Bay, north of Forks, this is the furthest NW spot in the contiguous US and is absolutely gorgeous. If you can spare a day, add this to your itinerary during your Forks stay.
How To Get To Olympic National Park
Getting to Olympic National park isn’t as easy as just driving to a park entrance. There are many entry points, so how to get there depends on where you want to go within the park. I’ve listed drive times between the popular attractions throughout this post to help you get an idea of how much time to plan.
To get to the park from Seattle you can drive, or take the ferry. Ferry options can be found on WSDOT. A note about ferry travel in Washington, it can be a fun experience, but you need to know what you are doing.
Post-COVID, ferry schedules have changed and are very reduced. You’ll need to continually check on the schedules to be sure it hasn’t changed. Also, due to reduced sailings, you will want to be in line for the ferry early to ensure a spot.
Check the ferry schedule right here. You want the Seattle to Bainbridge Island ferry.
What To Pack For Your 3-Day Olympic National Park
➡️ Lightweight rain jacket
➡️ Hiking boots, water shoes (I like Chacos for this), tennis shoes
➡️ Sunscreen, and bug spray
➡️ Layered clothing for the moody weather. Fleece is great for a top layer, with breathable cotton underneath.
➡️ Binoculars for spotting whales and eagles
➡️ Daypack
➡️ Reusable Waterbottles
✅ Click here to shop for your Olympic National Park Trip
Olympic National Park Itinerary: Tips For Your Trip
There are a few important things to keep in mind as you prepare to visit Olympic National Park in Washington State.
👉 The first thing to know is that this park is almost one million acres, that is a lot of ground to cover! You need to be prepared to drive for a few hours between each destination.
👉 There aren’t shuttles or public transportation. You’ll need to rent a car, camper van, or an RV to explore Olympic National Park.
👉You won’t want to have one base to stay in, you’ll need to move around a bit due to the distances you’ll have to travel.
👉 You’re in the Pacific Northwest, which means the weather can be moody at best. Be prepared for rain even in summer.
👉 I recommend you download the free NPS app before leaving and set Olympic National Park to be available offline. This way you have maps and information even when you don’t have service (which you won’t for most of the trip).
Click Here to Rent a Ride to Explore Olympic National Park
✅ Rental Cars
✅ Camper Vans
✅ RV Rental
Conclusion: Olympic National Park Itinerary
If you’re looking for an incredible, diverse national park to explore, Olympic National Park is the perfect destination. With three different ecosystems and plenty of activities to enjoy, you’ll be able to create a memorable trip itinerary that’s perfect for your family or group. We hope our suggested three-day itinerary helps get you started planning your own visit to this stunning park. Have you been to Olympic National Park? What was your favorite part?
Want to learn more about Olympic National Park? Check out these posts:
Olympic National Park sounds like a wonderful place – thanks for sharing this detailed itinerary!
Such a beautiful area. We got to whale watching in the area once. Didn’t see many whales, but got to enjoy the beauty.
Olympic NP is definitely on my list. Thanks for this great itinerary, we will look forward to following it when we visit!
OMG this is such good timing. Last week I was chatting to a friend (we were hiking in the Rockies) she told me that I really need to visit Olympic National Park as it’s a great option for epic views and fabulous trees. Now I can see what she meant! This looks sooo fun!
What amazing contrasts from mountains, waterfalls to rock pools. Looks like a really beautiful place to visit.
Loving this Olympic National Park three-day itinerary. It’s a great resource to fit in everything efficiently. Gorgeous photos…can’t wait to hike here!
Excellent guide! This itinerary is awesome. I cannot wait to get out to Olympic NP. Saving for later!
Love the hiking details you put in for the trails. I hope to visit this national park one day!
What a beautiful place to visit! I haven’t been explored that part of the US fully yet, but the hiking and waterfalls are always calling.
Oh no! Thats horrible! You’ll have to come back!
Olympic is on my bucket list. Thanks for a great post to help me start planning my trip there.
We planned on two days in Olympic NP last year, but ended up getting bad directions and only got one day!! As you point out, there’s so much to see! We’ll have to go back.
That is such a detailed post, Chantelle. National parks in the USA are fun.
Love this park so much! Thanks for the recommendations!
So many great tips. Hoping to get back to Olympic some day, Pinning for later. Also, we tried the Mt Storm King Hike not planning very well or realizing how intense it was… a handful of switchbacks up and we gave up. Hope to get back and do that hike some day!
This all sounds so awesome. Next time I visit the States I would love to get a Parks Pass and see as much as I can. Thanks for sharing so much helpful Information
Thank you so much Robin! I hope you can come back to the PNW for a visit soon! There are so many great places to explore.
I loved this post. I used to live in Seattle and recognized a few of the hikes near Port Angeles, but never made it out to La Push. You made me want to go so badly. There is nothing like the Pacific Northwest. I saved this for the next time I get up there!
It looks like there are a lot of great places to visit in this national park! I’d love to spend a few days wandering around.
Amazing Park! I love how detailed your post is and how many great tips you give your readers. It looks like a lot of fun, thanks for sharing!
What a sensational place to hike and those waterfalls look so powerful – the Olympic Park would definitely be on my list of places to visit if I got the chance, but maybe not the whole one million acres!