There are several ways to get from Seattle to Olympic National Park, we chose the fun route that included a Ferry crossing from Edmonds to Kingston. This ferry also can save you a couple hours of driving time if there is a lot of traffic in the city. Here is the map of all of today’s destinations.

We arrived a few minutes ahead of the next departure around 9:00 am. The whole process is very organized and costs around $30 per car and passengers. They let you in and direct you to your parking spot for the ride.

You can leave the car and go to the passenger deck to enjoy the views. The ride was about 45 minutes only, but we really enjoyed the break in driving and the pretty views.

A few more hours got us to Port Angels, the biggest city in the Olympic Park vicinity. The first stop was the National Park visitor center. There’s not much to see in this one, but we enjoyed a couple of the displays.

Ariela learned how to know the age of a tree!

From driving around town, we realized that finding a good restaurant was going to be challenging as this was not the most exciting city, so we opted for a quick, cheap, and delicious meal…. McDonalds! Ariela got a happy meal that she loved.

We shared a caramel Sunday, and by “share” I mean Ariela didn’t share it.

The drive offers spectacular views and many viewpoint parking lots, which Eitan of course stops at almost every single one of them.

Many lakes along the way, but the biggest one is Lake Crescent.

With an official maximum depth of 624 feet (190 m), it is officially the second deepest lake in the state of Washington (after Lake Chelan).

The next stop, about an hour away, was deep into the forest. The Sol Duc Trail was our first hike stop, which is around 1.6 miles roundtrip.

Ariela did great, but did not like getting dirty with mud. Eitan, like a seasoned father, changed the narrative telling Ariela that this is magical sparkly mud that makes you very strong and fast. Since then, Ariela was jumping on pools of mud.

Depending on water volume, Sol Duc Falls splits into as many as four channels as it cascades 48 feet into a narrow, rocky canyon. There are various viewpoints of the waterfall, both upstream and down—as well as on the bridge that crosses the river.

After a few photos and some relaxing time at the waterfall, we headed back to the car for our next destination.

The Ancient Groves Main Trailhead is a quick 1-mile circle around one of the most magical places we have ever seen. We happened to also somehow be alone during this walk, so that added to the spectacle.

Within moments, you are immersed in the deep green of classic Olympic Old Growth. The Olympic Peninsula lowlands, with their mild climate, deep soils and generous rainfall, grow giant trees. These old survivors record centuries of history in their massive trunks.

When scientists use the term old growth, they are usually referring to Douglas-fir/western hemlock forests with trees older than 200 years, abundant downed wood on the ground, a multi-layered canopy of small plants, shrubs and trees, and standing dead trees called snags.

This place looks like it was straight from Lord of the Rings or any fairytale.

She found a magical wand!

Ariela took a couple photos of us!

The next stop was a quick one, but a rewarding one. Ariela and Sarah stayed in the car to rest while Eitan went down to explore the Salmon Cascades.

In the late summer and early fall, salmon can be seen leaping from Salmon Cascades on the Sol Duc River.

The Sol Duc River serves as a key highway for coho salmon, running through the river valley and ascending to lakes and headwaters in the surrounding mountains. All these anadromous fish are born in the Sol Duc River but spend most of their lives in the Pacific Ocean before returning home to spawn.

Luckily Eitan was able to capture a jumping salmon!

We then headed back to our Airbnb, but not before stopping at a gas station for Subway sandwich’s to take to go to eat at the Airbnb.

Our tiny cabin was the cutest place. With incredibly dangerous stairs climbing up the stairs, Sarah ended up sleeping on the couch as she did not trust her ability to go down to pee in the middle of the night. Ariela and Eitan shared a bed upstairs!

There was a very cute cat Ariela loved who was always waiting for us outside the cabin.

The next morning, after a quick oatmeal breakfast, we drove through the town of Forks into the rainforest. Forks is very famous due to being the location of the movie Twilight. Besides that, the town offers absolutely nothing else. If you are not attracted to very pale people and werewolves, it’s safe to say you can skip the town. Here is the map of the second day!

 We headed towards the famous Hoh Rainforest. The Hoh Rain Forest, pronounced “Hoe”, earns its name from the ever-flowing Hoh River that carves its way from Mount Olympus towards the Pacific Coast.

Counted the rings to see how old the tree was. We stopped at 12.

The Hoh Rain Forest is in the stretch of the Pacific Northwest rainforest which once spanned the Pacific coast from southeastern Alaska to the central coast of California. The Hoh is one of the finest remaining examples of temperate rainforests in the United States and is one of the park’s most popular destinations.

The Hoh is home to some of North America’s giants. As you traverse the trails, you may feel miniscule in comparison to the Sitka Spruce, Red Cedar, Big Leaf Maple, and Douglas Fir that thrive here.

The hike was about 1.2 miles roundtrip, and Ariela did great. We even saw a Banana Slug.

And many mushrooms.

Right across the parking lot, the other 1-mile hike is around the Hall of Moses area. Which is nice, but not as nice as the other previous hikes.

Still, we enjoyed it a lot.

We went back to forks to eat at one of the restaurants that looked decent. It was bad but in a funny way. It was so bad, which made us realize McDonalds was actually a great choice the previous day. Ariela did enjoy her pesto ravioli though.

The next stop, around 45 minutes’ drive, was Rialto beach. Olympic National Park offers several beautiful beaches, but only had time to visit one. So, we chose the main one, which happened to be the shortest drive.

And what a magical place that was. The beach offers stunning views of coastal forests and rock formations.

It is a rocky beach, but it offers something unique, with rocks of multiple colors that pop when the water touches them.

Ariela was in heaven collecting these rocks and could have spent hours there choosing the most beautiful ones.

Rialto Beach also features a tree graveyard, with hundreds of tree trunks deposited by storms.

We would want to come back here, and apparently, there is a great cabin to stay overnight around here.

We drove back towards Sequim, which is where we would be spending the night, but luckily Eitan’s FOMO kicked in after he saw a photo of Hurricane Ridge.

During August, the sunset is very late around here, which gave us more time to drive up the mountain, another 45 min deviation from the main street.

The views from the top of the mountain did not disappoint. It was truly beautiful.

We did a little hike on top, that took us to the other side of the mountain. From there, we could see Victoria Island in Canada! We were also very lucky with the weather and how clear it was.

After taking the view in. We stopped at Walmart for some frozen meals, and we finally headed back to the car to drive to our Airbnb for the night. What an exhausting but beautiful day.

Bonus pic of the day:

In Washington, the state highway symbol is a white silhouette of George Washington’s head!! Very fun easter egg that took us a few days to notice!