![]() ![]() If you’re looking for a day trip, check out our guide to the best day trips from Seattle, which has a bunch of great options (including some good alternatives to Olympic National Park). If you want to get all the way out to the coast, it’s closer to four hours one way. If you just do that, you’ll be missing out on the biological diversity that really makes the park a special place. Even if you JUST focus on Hurricane Ridge, the closest area to Seattle, it’s still a three hour drive AT A MINIMUM that includes a ferry crossing. We don’t think a day trip makes sense here. ![]() Can You Do a Day Trip to Olympic National Park from Seattle? Below the main itinerary, we have ideas on how to spend more and less time in the park. The main guide below is written to help you explore the best of Olympic National Park in 3 days. If you want to do one of the many amazing overnight backpacking trips in the park, add 2-3 days.If you want to do a longer, full day hike, add one half day for each one.If you want to camp overnight on the beach, add one extra day.You can do this as your last day, and make this itinerary a loop by returning to the I-5 corridor along the southern border of the park through Aberdeen (where Nirvana is from!). If you want to add on the Kalaloch beaches and Lake Quinault, add a half day.Here are some other things to add, and approximately how much time to add. With 3 Days in Olympic National Park: Add the northwest corner of the park (Shi-Shi and Cape Flattery) in between the coast and Lake Crescent, and add more Pacific beaches to the itinerary.With 2 Days in Olympic National Park: Spend one day on the Hurricane Ridge / Lake Crescent area, and one day on the Pacific Coast and the Hoh Rainforest.Here’s an idea of what you can cover in 2 or 3 days in Olympic National Park. 3 days in Olympic National Park is even better, because it will give you some time to explore the northwest corner of the park – namely Ozette Lake, Cape Flattery, and Shi-Shi Beach. For that reason, we’d recommend no less than two nights in the park. Planning a trip to Olympic National Park? Don’t miss our in-depth guide to the best things to do in Olympic National Park, the best hikes in Olympic National Park, and our guide to choosing where to stay in Olympic National Park.ħ The Best Time to Visit Olympic National Park How Many Days Do You Need in Olympic National Park?įirst of all, we want to stress that Olympic National Park is massive. We’ve written this guide for 3 days, but we have plenty of suggestions on how to modify it if you have more or less time. In this guide, you’ll discover everything you need to know to plan the perfect Olympic National Park Itinerary – the best things to do, where to stay, how to organize your time – to help you plan an unforgettable adventure. Which is exactly why we’ve written this guide – to help you plan an amazing trip. Because of its size, you’ll want to be strategic about how you organize your trip to avoid multiple 2+ hour drives to get between areas. We’ve been to the park multiple times for 5+ days each, and still haven’t even scratched the surface (though we feel like we’ve done a lot!). Olympic is a gigantic park – the 13th biggest national park in the US – that deserves multiple trips to truly take in all that it has to offer. Having grown up in Seattle, it might surprise you to learn that the first time I, Matt, visited Olympic National Park was in 2020, in my 30’s. That biodiversity is what makes Olympic National Park special, and is why it deserves a visit, whether it’s as a weekend getaway from Seattle or as part of a broader Washington road trip. There are only a few places in the world where you can spend the first half of your day in an alpine paradise, surrounded by rocky peaks and sweeping views, and end your day on a beach, with your feet in the Pacific Ocean. The park boasts rocky alpine zones, perpetually moist rainforests, rugged coastal beaches, and more. Olympic National Park is one of three incredible national parks in Washington State, and is by far the most diverse and interesting of the three. ![]()
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