The Hoh Rain Forest at Olympic National Park Washington

The Hoh River Rain Forest, a part of the Olympic National Park in western Washington, is damp, soggy, cloudy, and remote - and worth every mile of the drive to get there. The rain forest is not around the corner and it's not a day trip.

The rain forest visitor's center is approximately 30 miles from Forks, Washington (yes, the Forks in the Twighlight books and films) and Forks is about 100 miles from Seattle (using the Seattle - Bainbridge Island ferry and US Route 101). It takes about 4 hours to get to the visitor's center from Seattle - the speed limit is 35 mph in the vicinity of Lake Crescent for 12 or so miles (and you need to drive 35 - if you go faster you'll either get a ticket or end up in the lake). Other areas also have reduced speed limits.

There is lots of camping at the rain forest and there are several other campgrounds in the area. There are some small motels in Forks. There are no restaurants at the rain forest and no vending machines - so plan accordingly. There are several small roadside restaurants along Upper Hoh Road (the road that takes you to the visitor's center from US 101) that serve burgers; some have attached RV campgrounds.

Three trails start at the visitor's center:

Hall of Mosses Trail - an easy 1 mile loop through moss laden trees
Spruce Nature Trail - an easy 1 mile walk through giant spruce and other trees
Hoh River Trail - a 17 mile trail that varies from easy to difficult (we walked 5 miles of this trail - all easy to moderate)

The Hoh River Trail parallels the Hoh River for most of the 5 miles we walked on it. The Hoh River is a spectacular waterway - the water has a unique aquamarine color from the glacier silt it carries - expect to see elk standing in herds in the shallows. The waterfall in the photos above is at the 5 mile point on the Hoh River Trail - an excellent place to stop, rest and turn around for the return trip. It took us 2 hours to walk to the waterfall - so - if the waterfall is your goal - it's a 4 hour round trip without rest or photo time.

The Hall of Mosses Trail and the Spruce Nature Trail take about 30 minutes each. You can easily spend 6 hours at the park hiking the three trails - hence the suggestion to stay somewhere overnight (you really don't want to drive the 101 by Lake Crescent at night).

All of the photos above, except the first, were taken on one of the mentioned trails - that moss covered pay phone is at the visitor's center.