🥾 ActiveLong weekend · from Seattle, WA
Sea Stacks, Ancient Rainforest & Wild Pacific Shore
The Olympic Peninsula's wild Pacific coast is among the most remote and dramatic coastline in the lower 48 — black sand beaches, sea stacks, and forest growing to the tide line. Day two plunges into the Hoh Rainforest, North America's largest temperate rainforest. Day three completes the loop at Lake Quinault's ancient cedar groves.
Day 1 — Rialto Beach, WADay 2 — Hoh Rainforest, WADay 3 — Lake Quinault, WA
Day 1 — Rialto Beach, WA
Day 1 — Rialto Beach, WA
🚗 4 hr 30 min driving📍 5 stops
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Morning
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Drive
Seattle, WA → Rialto Beach
3 hr 35 min8:00 AM → 11:35 AM
Drive south via I-5 to Olympia, then west to Aberdeen and north to Forks.
Rialto Beach
★ 4.8A mile of black sand and driftwood backed by old-growth Sitka spruce — the most photogenic stretch of the Olympic coast. The Hole-in-the-Wall arch is 1.5 miles north along the beach, accessible at low tide through tide pools teeming with sea anemones, sea stars, and purple urchins.
11:35 AM📍 See location
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Lunch
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Drive
Rialto Beach → Second Beach Trail
5 min12:35 PM → 12:40 PM
Second Beach Trail
★ 5A 1.4-mile round-trip trail descending through Sitka spruce to a sea stack–studded cove where the forest meets the Pacific surf line. At low tide, the sea stacks become accessible — the rock formations include arches, spires, and tidal islands.
12:40 PM📍 See location
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Afternoon
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Drive
Second Beach Trail → Kalaloch Lodge Restaurant
25 min1:40 PM → 2:05 PM
🍽️ Lunch2:05 PM
Kalaloch Lodge Restaurant
The dining room of the only lodge directly on the Olympic coast, 25 miles south of Forks, with ocean views from the restaurant windows and a menu built around Pacific Northwest seafood. The salmon chowder and Dungeness crab are sourced from the coast directly west.
2 options · tap to switch
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Evening
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Drive
Kalaloch Lodge Restaurant → Forks, WA
25 min5:00 PM → 5:25 PM
Forks Outfitters
★ 4.5Stock up on supplies at the working-town store before the Hoh Road morning. Forks itself — logging capital, Twilight filming location — has a genuine timber-town character a world away from the tourist coast.
5:25 PM📍 See location
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Stay overnight in Forks — Dew Drop Inn or Olympic Suites Inn are reliable; the town is the base for all Hoh Rainforest and Rialto Beach access.
Stay overnight in Forks — Dew Drop Inn or Olympic Suites Inn are reliable; the town is the base for all Hoh Rainforest and Rialto Beach access.
Day 2 — Hoh Rainforest, WA
Day 2 — Hoh Rainforest, WA
🚗 1 hr 30 min driving📍 5 stops
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Morning
🚗
Drive
Forks, WA → Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center
45 min8:00 AM → 8:45 AM
Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center
★ 4.9The Hoh receives 140 inches of rain annually — the result is a rainforest where every surface is colonized by 23 species of moss, and Sitka spruce trees reach 300 feet. The Hall of Mosses Trail (0.8 miles) loops through the most dramatic grove; Roosevelt elk are reliably visible in the meadows near the visitor center.
8:45 AM📍 See location
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Lunch
Hall of Mosses Trail
★ 4.8The 0.8-mile loop is one of the most extraordinary short walks in the Pacific Northwest — big-leaf maple trees draped in club moss, Sitka spruce with 12-foot-diameter trunks, and a forest floor carpeted in wood sorrel and ferns. Walk it twice: the light changes dramatically as the morning mist lifts.
9:45 AM📍 See location
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Afternoon
Hoh River Trail
The first 5 miles of the Hoh River Trail follow the river through old-growth floodplain forest with the best chances of spotting Roosevelt elk — herds of 50 or more are common on the river gravel bars. The trail surface is well-maintained; the forest understory opens in sections to views of Mount Olympus's glaciated north face.
12:00 PM📍 See location
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Evening
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Drive
Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center → Pacific Pizza
45 min5:00 PM → 5:45 PM
🍽️ Dinner5:45 PM
Pacific Pizza
A Forks institution in a town that otherwise has limited dining — wood-fired pies with Pacific Northwest toppings, local beer on draft, and an ambiance that reflects the town's resilient character. The smoked salmon pizza is the move.
4 options · tap to switch
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Second night in Forks — rest up for the Lake Quinault loop and the drive home via US-101.
Second night in Forks — rest up for the Lake Quinault loop and the drive home via US-101.
Day 3 — Lake Quinault, WA
Day 3 — Lake Quinault, WA
🚗 4 hr 20 min driving📍 3 stops
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Morning
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Drive
Forks, WA → Quinault Rain Forest Loop Trail
1 hr 30 min8:00 AM → 9:30 AM
Quinault Rain Forest Loop Trail
★ 4.8A 4-mile loop through the largest known specimens of several tree species — the world's largest red cedar (1,000 years old, 174 feet), Sitka spruce, and western hemlock grow in the Quinault valley. The route crosses the Quinault River twice and the terrain is gentle throughout.
9:30 AM📍 See location
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Lunch
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Drive
Quinault Rain Forest Loop Trail → Lake Quinault Lodge
5 min10:30 AM → 10:35 AM
Lake Quinault Lodge
★ 4.2Franklin Roosevelt stayed here in 1937, the same trip that led to Olympic National Park's creation. The 1926 lodge on the lake's south shore still serves the Roosevelt Room's signature recipes — pan-seared trout, clam chowder, huckleberry crumble — in a dining room with original Arts and Crafts furniture.
10:35 AM📍 See location
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Afternoon
Lake Quinault
★ 4.8The lake itself — 3.5 miles long, surrounded by old-growth forest — is worth an afternoon on the water. Kayak and rowboat rentals are available from the lodge; the south shore trail circles the lake in 4 miles. The water is calm, clear, and cold.
12:00 PM📍 See location
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Evening
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Drive
Lake Quinault → Seattle, WA
2 hr 45 min5:00 PM → 7:45 PM
Return via US-101 north to Olympia, then I-5 north to Seattle.
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