Next weekend (may 14-17) I'm going on a mini road trip around the Olympic peninsula and I'm looking for some advice on the must see outdoorsy stuff to see. I'm going down for a rally race on Sunday in Shelton but I plan to leave immediately afterwards and head towards Aberdeen and slowly make my way up the coast to Neah bay where I will camp out. On monday I will head to port Angeles and back around to olympia and then back home to Canada. Looking for some advice on sights to see and some awesome camp sites for sunday night near neah bay or anywhere north of Fork.
We can also make this a general Olympic peninsula guide or a Washington state general thread if there is interest. Was considering posting this on /trv/ but I'd be done the trip by the time I get useful information.
Look up how river trail. Probably the best through hike in Washington. Also the hoods port (North of Shelton) area is insanely beautiful with the biggest variety of great hikes. Lake chelan is beautiful! And I recommend Mt elinor for a day hike (can be tough if you're not conditioned) staircase is also amazing.
Lena Lake is a great place to hike to as well for a day hike. Even better to camp at. If you're really adept at hiking, you can make it to upper Lena Lake and back in a day. Roughly 20 miles round trip with 6k in elevation.
On the eastern coastal side, I recommend visiting kalaloch beach. It's way more Beautiful than lapush which gets all its fame from twilight. Go to beach 4 at kalaloch. Try for low tide if you can. The tide pools are breathtaking. It's a black sand beach. I've seen sting rays whales, tons of Eagles and deer, sea enenomies, starfish, etc.
The only good part about port Angeles is the seafood restaurants, and the ferry to Victoria... If you make it as far south as Olympia, I'd be willing to have a beer with ya!
>>758415
Corrections, it's hoh river trail.
And kalaloch is on the western costal part, not eastern.
Ocean shores is meh. A touristy town. I'd go on a weekend day if you do.
Aberdeen sucks. Sucks big balls. Don't waste any time there. It's only thing it ever did was produce Kirk Cobain. If you. Need to go through it, just keep driving. Ask any local around any place outside Aberdeen. You'll get the same response.
Also, if you drive through Bremerton, it's amazing to see the naval aircraft carriers. They're so much bigger and more impressive in person.
>>758388
take hwy 112 form neah bay towards joyce, drive through Pillar Point, Salt Creek rec area (nice campsite with direct adjacent access to strait of juan de fuca beaches), Striped Peak, Freshwater Bay. Then double back on hwy 112 just a few miles and, via olympic discovery trail road, *head up to the north shore of Lake Crescent* (beautiful lakeside /mountain scenery) . from there you can proceed east on hwy 101 to Port angeles.
FYI Ocean beach locations around oly pen can be sort of meh and take lots of time to get too but nice if you have the time.
Klaloch is awesome, if you go to Lake Quinaul you can see the worlds largest Sitka Spruce, Western Red Cedars, huge doug firs, yellow cedars and so forth
>>758388
Cape Flattery at sunset is pretty great.
Shi Shi Beach and Five Mile Island are good hikes.
Are you staying at Hobuck Beach?
>>759486
Just looked into Hobuck beach and it looks like a pretty awesome place to camp sunday night.
>>758418
Thanks for the heads up on aberdeen, I'll just blast through and stop in Quinault to hike around a bit, stop in Kalaloch then end sunday in Neah Bay. Camp in Waatch that night. I'm definetly going to check out those ships in Bremerton. I was considering taking a ferry to bypass seattle on my way back but i'd like to check out some of the bridges on the eastern side of the peninsula.
>>758533
Do you suggest that I back track all the way to the east end of Lake Crescent? I can see that there's a campsite down there which might have a good view, not sure if it's worth it though.
Any suggestions for campsites around Shelton for saturday night? Would I get hassled if I slept in a rest area over night?
>>758415
I'll be passing around olympia on saturday, I'd be down for a beer! Might be hard to organize as I won't have cell service and my time table that night might be wacky.
Thanks all for the suggestions, should be a pretty nice way to spend a weekend.
2nding on Lena lakes and the Hoh River Trail. OMG, the gorgeous.
I had a really awesome experience at Crescent Lake. I was standing on the shore during dusk, way back in the wooded area and it was so beautiful that I just didn't want to leave even though I was pretty caked in mosquitoes. As the sun went down, I was suddenly totally surrounded by bats. They were flying so close to me that I felt their wings brushing against me. They hung around just long enough to eat all my mosquitoes and then flew off. Best experience ever. I freaking love bats.
If you stop in Oly for a beer, go to the Fish Tale. http://www.fishbrewing.com/brewpub/
>>759903
>Do you suggest that I back track all the way to the east end of Lake Crescent?
Not exactly. You actually head south from hwy 112 at Joyce to the North shore of Lake Crescent.
I was assuming you were going to be travelling East on Hwy 112, towards Port Angeles when you leave Neah Bay. This route will take you right smack through the little town of Joyce, which is very close to some interesting and beautiful beaches at Salt Creek rec. area (well worth a quick visit, it's only a few minutes from Joyce).
Then, from there, you make a short backtrack to Joyce (again it's only a few minutes, use your maps to avoid getting lost). Then from Joyce, head south on Piedmont Road towards Piedmont & Log cabin resort area of the north side of Lake Crescent.
From there you can go west a mile or so to a trailhead that is a beautiful walk along the north shore of Lake crescent.
Or stop for a quick visit to the Log Cabin resort which sits right on the north shore of the lake.
Or just proceed east along the main road along the north shore of Lake crescent and stop at one of the little pull outs and enjoy the lakeside mountain views.
Continue east on this north shore road and you can stop at Lake Crescents East Beach recreation area (from there you're only minutes away from Hwy 101).
Once you're on the north shore road you just continue east and it takes you to hwy 101, from there go east to Port Angeles.
You can always take the Ferry from Port Angeles to get back to canada (Vancouver island)
See pic related. Little warning, In case you're using your Cell phone for GPS navigation, cell coverage is spotty in places out there at the NW tip of Washington along the coast, so scout, plan your routes/alternate routes ahead of time and bring good maps with you.
Whatever you choose to do, it's a beautiful drive.
>>761389
Lake Crescent is beautiful
>>761389
>Salt creek rec area beach
>>761389
WWII Coastal Gun emplacements at Salt Creek Rec Area
>>760229
If he ends up meeting in oly, I was going to suggest tugboat annies. Great view of the sound, and boats/kayaks. Great Irish bar atmosphere, and probably the best food in town.
Though I do enjoy fishtail as well.
>>758388
2nd and Ruby beaches by Westport.
Do NOT pass up 2nd beach at low tide. You'll see some awesome shit in the tidepools anon.
>>761423
2nd beach is definetly on the list of places to stop. Might even camp there if it's getting late. Is it possible to hike over that arch? or hike up that island to the left?
>>761389
didn't know there was a road there, thanks for the heads up! I would have ended up going to the 101 then back tracking. I'll definitely make time for Salt Creek and Lake Crescent.
>>761404
I'm probably going to be getting into olympia area pretty late. If this tugboat annies place is open when I get there then I might look it up. I have a map of washington and a gps along with some pretty good senses for direction so I'm not all too worried about getting lost, and if I do then I just consider it a new little adventure.
If you have the gear for it, Salt Creek is intensely good snorkeling or diving. There are also other good spots on the Olympic peninsula, notably Neah Bay is one of the best cold water dives in the world.
I've snorkeled at Salt Creek (it's very shallow on the inside), and it was easily one of the coolest places I've seen. It is not exactly a beginner spot, though.
