An extraordinary range of ecosystems in one park — glacier-capped mountains, temperate rainforest, and wild Pacific coastline — connected by a single loop highway.

Park Pass

Join the National Parks Club

2 days covers a taste of each ecosystem, while 4 to 5 lets you properly explore the mountains, rainforest, and coast separately.

No special permit is required for general park entry.

Port Angeles and Forks are the main gateway towns, covering the north and west sides of the park respectively.

The entrance fee is $30/vehicle (7-day), or purchase a National Parks Yearly Pass.

Why Visit?:

Olympic packs an extraordinary range of ecosystems into one park — glacier-capped mountains, genuine temperate rainforest, and wild Pacific coastline — all connected by a single loop highway. Few parks in the system offer this much ecological variety within a single visit.

Because the park's sections are spread far apart, a real Olympic visit usually means picking two or three areas to focus on rather than trying to see everything — trying to do it all in a rushed day or two means a lot of driving and not much time in any one place.

Things to Do:

Hurricane Ridge offers sweeping mountain views and is the most accessible high-elevation area, reachable by a paved road right from Port Angeles. The Hoh Rain Forest, on the park's west side, is a genuinely otherworldly walk through moss-draped old-growth trees — one of the best examples of temperate rainforest in the country.

Rialto Beach and Ruby Beach both offer classic, wild Pacific coastline with sea stacks and driftwood — a completely different feel from the mountains and rainforest elsewhere in the park.

Get the Full Itinerary

Closest airports: William R. Fairchild International Airport (CLM) in Port Angeles has limited service; Seattle-Tacoma (SEA), about 2.5-3 hours plus a ferry crossing, is the more practical option for most visitors.

Nearby Attractions:

Mount Rainier and North Cascades are both a few hours away and commonly combined with Olympic on a broader Washington parks road trip, and the town of Port Angeles offers ferry access to Victoria, British Columbia if you want to extend into Canada.