Explore Olympic National Park with guided day trips from Seattle or self-paced driving audio tours. Choose from temperate rainforest hikes, coastal beach walks, and subalpine sightseeing to experience the park's diverse ecosystems.
Free Cancellation Explore Olympic National Park's lakes, old-growth forests, and rugged coast on a guided day tour capped at 10 travelers.
Free Cancellation Cross Puget Sound by ferry to spend a full day exploring Hurricane Ridge and Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park.
Free Cancellation Spend 12 hours hiking six miles across Olympic National Park's subalpine ridges, rainforest, and rocky coast.
Free Cancellation Hike the Hoh Rain Forest loops and explore Rialto Beach on a full-day guided trip from Port Angeles.
Free Cancellation Head from Seattle to the Olympic Peninsula on a full-day trip across coastal rainforest trails and Ruby Beach.
Free Cancellation Hike Sol Duc Falls, stop at Lake Crescent, and climb by road to 5,242 feet atop Hurricane Ridge in a single day.
Free Cancellation Ferry across Puget Sound from Seattle to hike or snowshoe Hurricane Ridge, Lake Crescent, and Marymere Falls.
Free Cancellation Drive Olympic National Park with offline audio narration covering Hurricane Ridge, the Hoh Rainforest, and the coast.
Free Cancellation Walk to two waterfalls and explore Lake Crescent on a half-day trip from Port Angeles.
Free Cancellation Hike the Hoh Rainforest, Ruby Beach, and Hurricane Ridge with a guide tracking local wildlife and champion trees.
Read what travelers share about their experience visiting Olympic National Park — from practical tips to personal highlights.
Tours of Olympic National Park cover up to three distinct ecosystems in a single day. You cross Puget Sound by ferry from Seattle or drive directly from Port Angeles into glacier-capped mountains, old-growth temperate rainforests, and wild Pacific beaches. Expect long driving days since no roads cross the park's 922,651-acre interior.
Vans climb 18 miles south of Port Angeles to a 5,200-foot subalpine ridge. You step out of the vehicle to immediate views of the snow-capped Olympic Mountains and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Winter tours often include snowshoeing here.
Guides lead walks along the 0.8-mile Hall of Mosses loop. Massive bigleaf maples drip with thick green club moss. The canopy filters sunlight into a dense, wet environment that receives 12 feet of rain annually.
Tours stop at Ruby Beach or Rialto Beach to navigate massive driftwood logs and rocky tide pools. You will see sea stacks rising from the surf and spot anemones at low tide. Sneaker waves are a constant threat, so keep an eye on the water.
This glacially-carved lake sits right along Highway 101. Many itineraries include a stop here for the 1.8-mile round-trip hike to Marymere Falls. The water is famously clear and deep blue.
A two-mile guided hike follows the river through old-growth hemlock to Sol Duc Falls. The river drops 50 feet into a narrow rock gorge. Some routes allow time to soak in the nearby hot springs.
Booking an Olympic National Park tour requires choosing your departure point and transportation style. Seattle departures involve 10- to 13-hour days with ferry crossings, while Port Angeles starts offer shorter 4- to 9-hour trips.
Seattle-based tours take 11 to 13 hours and usually include a Washington State Ferry ride across Puget Sound. Port Angeles tours skip the ferry and cut transit time significantly. Pick the Port Angeles option if you are prone to motion sickness.
Small-group van tours cap at 10 to 15 passengers and include a naturalist guide. Self-guided audio tours cost under $20 per vehicle and trigger GPS narration as you drive. Private tours offer flexible routing based on weather and tides.
Guided van tours include the $30 per vehicle park entrance fee in their base price. Self-guided audio apps do not cover admission. Buy your digital pass ahead of time at recreation.gov to skip the line at the entrance station.
Summer tours run reliably to all three ecosystems. Winter tours (November to April) often swap high-elevation stops like Hurricane Ridge for lowland beaches due to snow closures. Pack water-resistant shoes if booking a winter date.
Most guided itineraries stick to flat, short trails like the 0.8-mile Hall of Mosses or the paved Madison Falls path. Some full-day Seattle trips cover up to six miles of walking on uneven terrain. Read the specific mileage before booking.
A few premium Seattle tours provide lunch and snacks like craft chocolate and pistachios. Most standard itineraries stop at a grocery store in Port Angeles or Forks for you to buy a picnic lunch. Pack your own water bottle regardless.
Many full-day guided tours require passengers to be at least 10 years old due to the long driving hours. Self-guided driving tours have no age restrictions and allow families to stop whenever necessary.
Tours operate in the rain, which falls heavily here between October and May. Operators do not refund for bad weather unless roads close completely. Bring waterproof layers.
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| Seattle Small-Group Van Tour | Port Angeles Guided Hike | Self-Guided Audio Tour | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration | 11-13 hours | 4-9 hours | Flexible |
| Starting Point | Downtown Seattle & Sea-Tac | Port Angeles | Anywhere on Highway 101 |
| Includes | Ferry tickets, park fees, guide, snacks | Park fees, van transport, guide | GPS audio app, offline maps |
| Price from | $188 | $110 | $17 |
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Olympic National Park is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You can enter the park at any time, but facility hours vary by season and location.
The main Olympic National Park Visitor Center in Port Angeles operates daily from 9 am to 5 pm. It closes entirely on Thanksgiving, December 24, and Christmas Day.
Road access changes drastically in winter. The road to Hurricane Ridge typically opens only on weekends from late November through March, weather permitting, and closes to all traffic during heavy storms. Always check the park's road hotline (360-565-3131) before driving up.
Port Angeles is the primary gateway to the park's northern entrance. From Seattle, the drive takes 2.5 to 3.5 hours. Most drivers take the Washington State Ferry from downtown Seattle to Bainbridge Island (a 35-minute crossing) or from Edmonds to Kingston, then drive west across the Hood Canal Bridge.
If you prefer to skip the ferry, you can drive south through Tacoma on I-5 and loop up Highway 101. This route covers 140 miles and takes roughly three hours.
Public transit is available via Clallam Transit. Their buses connect Port Angeles, Forks, and Lake Crescent, and they run a seasonal summer shuttle from downtown Port Angeles directly to Hurricane Ridge.
June through September provides the most reliable access to the park. The weather is mild, all roads and visitor centers are open, and daylight lasts from 5 am to nearly 10 pm around the summer solstice. Midday waits at the Hoh Rain Forest entrance station can stretch to two hours during July and August.
May and September offer a good compromise. You get similar access to the summer months but deal with significantly fewer crowds on the trails.
November through March is the wettest period. The Hoh Rain Forest receives the bulk of its 12 feet of annual rain during these months. High-elevation roads close frequently, and daylight hours are short. Skip this season unless you specifically want to snowshoe at Hurricane Ridge or watch winter storms on the coast.
The park maintains several paved, wheelchair-accessible trails. The Madison Falls Trail in the Elwha area is a 0.1-mile paved path with a gentle slope leading to a 60-foot waterfall. The Hoh Rain Forest offers a 0.1-mile paved mini-trail, and the Spruce Railroad Trail at Lake Crescent features a 6.5-mile paved extension.
Drive-up viewpoints make the park manageable for visitors with limited mobility. The parking lot at Hurricane Ridge looks directly out over the Olympic Mountains, requiring no hiking to see the peaks.
The main visitor center in Port Angeles and the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center provide accessible parking, restrooms, and a limited number of wheelchairs available for checkout.
Port Angeles and Forks serve as the main supply hubs. Buy groceries, gas, and hiking gear in these towns before heading into the park interior.
Inside the park, lodging is available at the historic Lake Crescent Lodge and Lake Quinault Lodge. Both fill up months in advance for summer dates.
Campgrounds at Hoh, Kalaloch, Fairholme, Mora, Sol Duc, and Staircase require advance reservations through recreation.gov during the peak summer season. Sites cost between $15 and $24 per night. Unreserved sites at other campgrounds operate on a first-come, first-served basis.
Half-day tours starting in Port Angeles cost around $110. Full-day trips departing from Seattle range from $188 for standard van tours to $368 for premium small-group experiences. Self-guided audio apps cost about $17 to $19 per vehicle.
Yes. Most full-day guided tours from Seattle include round-trip tickets for the Washington State Ferry. The ferry ride takes about 35 minutes and crosses Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island.
Guided van tours include the $30 Olympic National Park vehicle entrance fee in your ticket price. If you buy a self-guided audio tour, you must purchase the park pass separately.
Some Seattle tours visit the Hoh Rain Forest, but it requires a very long day of driving (12+ hours). Many Seattle itineraries stick to closer areas like Hurricane Ridge and Lake Crescent. Check the specific route details before booking.
Yes. Audio tour apps like Action Tour Guide and Shaka Guide work offline. You download the tour while on Wi-Fi, and the app uses your phone's GPS to trigger the narration automatically as you drive.
Yes, but itineraries change based on the weather. Winter tours often skip Hurricane Ridge due to snow closures and focus on lowland areas like Lake Crescent and the coastal beaches. Operators provide snowshoes if high-elevation trails are open.
Expect to walk two to six miles total on a full-day guided tour. Most walks are short, flat loops like the 0.8-mile Hall of Mosses or the 1.8-mile trail to Marymere Falls.
Pack waterproof outer layers and wear sturdy hiking boots. Temperatures can swing 20 degrees Fahrenheit between the coastal beaches and the subalpine ridges in a single day.
Premium Seattle tours sometimes include lunch and craft snacks. Standard tours usually stop at a grocery store in Port Angeles or Forks for passengers to buy their own picnic supplies.
Many full-day Seattle van tours require passengers to be at least 10 years old due to the 12-hour duration. Self-guided audio tours have no age restrictions and let you set your own pace.
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This all-day tour through Olympic National Park changes its route each morning based on tides, road conditions, and weather. Naturalist guides pick three or four stops that make sense for the day. You might walk the gravel shoreline of Lake Crescent, hike under giant hemlocks to Marymere Falls, or explore sea stacks along the Pacific coast. If heavy marine fog settles over the beaches, the drive shifts inland toward the sheltered river valleys around Lake Quinault. Groups cap at 10 passengers. Guides pack an organic lunch, served picnic-style outside when the weather holds, along with coffee, tea, trail snacks, and cold drinks throughout the drive. Pack a waterproof shell and shoes you don't mind muddying. Olympic's microclimates swing fast between the coast and the high ridges.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
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You'll leave Seattle on a morning ferry across Puget Sound, cross the Hood Canal Floating Bridge, and head straight into Olympic National Park. Park admission, ferry tickets, lunch, snacks, and bottled water are all covered. That leaves you free to watch for harbor seals during the crossing instead of dealing with navigation. The standard route climbs up to Hurricane Ridge at 5,242 feet, where you look directly across at the snowfields of Mount Olympus. From there, the van heads west to Lake Crescent, a glacier-carved basin with water clear enough to see submerged timber dozens of feet down. You'll have time to walk the shoreline trail before heading back. Mountain roads close when heavy rain or mudslides hit. If the ridge road shuts down, the itinerary shifts to the coast — specifically 30 minutes out on the sandspit at Ediz Hook, followed by a 30-minute stop at East Beach. Pack a windbreaker regardless of the Seattle forecast; temperatures at the ridge easily drop 15 to 20 degrees.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
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This 12-hour guided route covers roughly six miles on foot across Olympic National Park. The day starts with a ferry crossing over Puget Sound to reach the Olympic Peninsula, followed by a direct drive up to Hurricane Ridge. You'll walk ridgelines with open views across the valley floor to snow-capped peaks. Mountain fog rolls in fast at 5,200 feet—pack an extra layer. From the ridge, the route drops toward Lake Crescent and into the Sol Duc Valley when seasonal access allows. You'll track through old-growth temperate rainforest, over mossy hemlock roots and alongside glacial rivers, before heading out to the beaches along the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Check the tide pools here for sea stars and anemones. Six miles of mixed gravel, root-heavy dirt, and wet sand will wear out casual walkers, so skip the sneakers and wear sturdy waterproof boots.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
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This full-day trip leaves Port Angeles for a two-hour drive west into the Hoh Rain Forest. Once there, a naturalist leads the group along the Hall of Mosses and the Spruce Nature Trail. You can walk either loop or link both together for roughly two miles of trail. That's an easy route. Your guide covers canopy micro-plants, nurse logs, and how the valley's heavy annual rainfall sustains old-growth Sitka spruces. Wear waterproof boots. Even in dry weather, rain forest soil stays slick. From the Hoh, the shuttle stops in Forks for 20 minutes to grab food before heading to Rialto Beach. You'll spend the rest of the afternoon out on the coast, where piles of storm-tossed drift logs line the black gravel shoreline and sea stacks sit offshore in the surf. Walk north along the coastal forest line, or pull up a log and watch the Pacific breakers roll in. Bring a windbreaker—even in July, ocean air here bites.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
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This full-day trip runs from Seattle to the Olympic Peninsula's rainforests and outer coast. It's the only single-day itinerary from the city that pairs the temperate forest with Ruby Beach. You'll walk beneath moss-draped Sitka spruce, then head to the gravel shore to check sea stacks and massive drift logs. Midsummer changes the logistics. From late June through August, car lines at the Hoh Rainforest entrance stretch past two hours, so the route shifts to an alternate old-growth rainforest trail nearby. You get the dense canopy and fern groves without wasting the afternoon idling in park traffic. The drive across the peninsula is long. To break up the miles, Max Travels keeps the van stocked with craft chocolate bars, snacks, and cold drinks. The company is fully licensed and insured in Washington state. Bring waterproof boots and a rain shell — coastal weather turns quickly even in August.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
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You'll cover three distinct environments of Olympic National Park in one day: old-growth temperate forest, a glacial lake, and high subalpine meadows. The morning starts with a 2-mile guided hike out to Sol Duc Falls, where the river drops 50 feet into a rock gorge beneath dense hemlock and cedar. Next is Lake Crescent Lodge, giving you time on the gravel shoreline before heading into town. Following a lunch stop in Port Angeles, the drive climbs from sea level straight up to 5,242 feet at Hurricane Ridge. The road winds aggressively through steep switchbacks—take motion sickness tablets beforehand if mountain driving bothers you. At the top, you'll take an easy guided walk through the meadow trails directly facing the Olympic Range. Bring a windbreaker and warm layers, even in midsummer. Temperatures at the summit regularly sit 20 degrees cooler than the coast, and mountain cloud can roll in fast.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
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This full-day trip leaves Seattle on the Washington State ferry to Bainbridge Island, then heads west by van into Olympic National Park. Morning pickup runs from several Seattle neighborhoods as well as Sea-Tac airport. The drive takes roughly three hours. Along Highway 101, your guide covers the peninsula's timber and tribal history. The core itinerary stops at Hurricane Ridge, Lake Crescent, and Marymere Falls. In summer, you'll hike dirt paths beneath cedar and hemlock trees to the 90-foot waterfall and walk the glacial shoreline at Crescent. Winter shifts the high-elevation hike to snowshoeing on the ridge. Thick fog can roll in at 5,200 feet and wipe out the mountain views without warning, though the lower forest trails remain sheltered. Lunch, snacks, and bottled water are packed in the van. Wear waterproof boots from October through May — trail mud and slush are inevitable.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
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You buy this driving tour once per vehicle, and everyone listens together through your car speakers. The main route follows Highway 101 past Lake Crescent and climbs over 5,000 feet to Hurricane Ridge. Detours branch into the Hoh Rainforest and out to the driftwood-strewn Pacific beaches. GPS triggers each story automatically as you reach the spot. That keeps your hands free. Install the Action Tour Guide app and download the tour files over home or hotel Wi-Fi before heading out. Mobile coverage drops out along most of the peninsula, so waiting until you reach the park entrance won't work. The tour comes with lifetime access — take it again next summer or whenever you return. The app doesn't cover your park entrance fee. Pay at the gate or display an America the Beautiful pass on your dashboard. Hurricane Ridge Road frequently closes for weather or construction, so check the National Park Service alerts page before you set off.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
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This afternoon trip cuts driving to under 30 minutes from Port Angeles by sticking to two nearby trailheads. You'll start in the Elwha River Valley with a flat 0.2-mile walk to Madison Falls. It's over in ten minutes. Lake Crescent takes up the rest of the outing. A guide leads the two-mile round-trip walk to Marymere Falls, a 90-foot drop tucked into the forest above Barnes Creek. The path is mostly gentle dirt, though the wooden stairs near the top can be slippery after rain. Use the remaining time at the lake however you want. Head inside the historic Lake Crescent Lodge for coffee by the stone fireplace, or wander along the pebble shoreline trails.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
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This tour takes you straight to Olympic National Park's three primary zones: Hurricane Ridge, the Hoh Rainforest, and Ruby Beach. You'll stop for short walks to forest waterfalls and stands of massive Sitka spruce. Along the trails, guides point out record-holding champion trees, watch for Roosevelt elk herds, and cover the history of early peninsula homesteaders. Total walking is roughly four miles on packed dirt. Fog often covers Hurricane Ridge by midday, which makes hitting the high meadows early essential. Rain is normal down in the Hoh—the valley gets roughly 140 inches of precipitation each year—so skip the thin windbreaker and pack an actual waterproof shell. Trail shoes with deep rubber lugs handle the slick cedar roots best.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
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