Olympic National Park

Olympic National Park is located in the U.S. state of Washington, in the Olympic Peninsula. Olympic National Monument was established in 1909 and up-graded to the status of national park in 1938. It was further designated as an International Biosphere Reserve in 1976, and evolved into a World Heritage Park in 1981. Currently, nearly 96% the Olympic National Park is incorporated into the Olympic Wilderness.

Get around by car is really the only way in or out. Most people visit either the park's beach section, which is accessible only on US-101 between Forks and Aberdeen, or Hurricane Ridge, which is accessed from a road out of Port Angeles.

Access points from the more remote east side are Staircase (turn west off 101 in Hoodsport) or Quilcene (closer to the Hood Canal Bridge).

The best way to see the park is to drive from Aberdeen on northbound US-101 and "do the loop", ending in Olympia, taking three or four days to visit the coastal section (Kalaloch Campground or Lodge are great places to stay), the rainforest (Hoh), Ozette (an easy three mile hike in, or do the easy nine mile loop, tides permitting), Hurricane Ridge, and Staircase.