7 Best Things to Do in Port Angeles Wa
1. Olympic National Park →
3002 Mt Angeles Rd, Port Angeles, WA 98362, map
Olympic National Park is a diverse national park with the moody PNW coast, rainforests, lakes, and mountains. It gives you year round access to the outdoors and transports you to another world. Before visiting, I had no idea rainforests existed in the US.
Olympic Hiking Co picked us up from our hotel (we stayed at Red Lion Hotel) and customized our itinerary. Our guide, Betsy, was so knowledgeable with birds, animal tracks, and plants that it gave us a fun, new perspective into the park. Should we become birders now?
- Visitor Center – I always like to pick up a Junior Ranger book and stamp my national park passport.
- Hoh Rain Forest (Hall of Mosses) – If this is your first trip, you can’t miss the Hoh Rainforest. There isn’t anything quite like it in the US. The moss blankets everything in a saturated green and looks otherworldly. Keep in mind for the summer, there’s a line if you don’t go early enough.
- Sol Duc Falls – Easy 1.8 mile round trip hike to a beautiful 50 ft waterfall. It’s one of the most photogenic waterfalls we’ve seen in the Pacific Northwest (we did a lot of waterfall chasing). If you’re a photographer, you’ll want to photograph it. We extended our hike to Lovers Lane, which is much quieter.
- Lake Crescent – A remnant of the last ice age and the second largest lake in Washington. We had a picnic lunch at Lake Crescent Lodge. Olympic Hiking Co packed us lunches from Country Aire Market, and the sourdough bread was so delicious. If you have a National Park passport, you can also get a stamp at the Lodge.
- Salt Creek Recreation Area – We love the rocky PNW coast, and tide pooling was a nice way to slow down and appreciate nature. We saw crabs, anenomes, sea urchins, and more. Occasionally, you can spot nudibranch, but we didn’t see any this time.
- Hurricane Ridge – A scenic drive that takes you to 5242 ft elevation with panoramic views of the Olympic Mountains. Unfortunately due to rockfall, it was closed again, but maybe third time’s the charm? Fingers crossed for our next visit.
Pro Tip: Pack a lightweight raincoat even if you don’t see rain in the forecast. As you may expect from a rainforest, it tends to rain a lot. We love this Patagonia one that packs up really small into its pocket. This is a cheaper alternative.
See More: 15 Things to Do in Olympic National Park
