Olympic National Park Hike and Explore

TYPE OF TRAVEL/DISTANCE: We will travel moderate distances each day (3-6 miles), with plenty of opportunities for exploration. The hiking is not strenuous, although one should expect to walk on uneven terrain. While no previous experience is necessary for this trip, it may be challenging if you are not comfortable walking 5 miles in a day. Other options may include shorter hikes or enjoying a good book by the lake if you wish.

WEATHER: Temperatures range from 45 F to 75 F. Rainfall can vary and you should expect some rain. The Hoh rainforest gets over 140 inches of rain annually while the coast gets significantly less. Good rain gear is essential.

YOUR GROUP: The group size ranges from 4 to 12 participants, plus 1 or more Wilderness Inquiry staff. Each group consists of people of various ages, backgrounds and abilities, including people with disabilities. Our trips are cooperative in nature. WI staff will assist you in whatever areas you need, however most people pitch in wherever they can.

ACCOMMODATIONS: You will stay in a scenic and comfortable Olympic National Park sponsored lodge on the north side of Olympic National Park. This lodge will have all modern amenities. Most cabins or rooms are double occupancy with two beds. Participants will be paired by gender or requests to room together.

MEALS: Eat breakfasts together at picnic tables looking out over the lake. During the days’ activities, carry trail lunches and snacks. Dinners will be at the resort, nearby lodges, or local restaurants. We’ll enjoy happy hours together, though the purchase of alcoholic beverages is not included in the trip fees.

EQUIPMENT AND CLOTHING: Wilderness Inquiry will provide all group gear and equipment. You will be assigned the same gear for the duration of your trip and it will be sanitized between trips. You will need to provide your personal gear as outlined in the packing list. If you are new to outdoor activities, you do not need to spend a lot of money. Wilderness Inquiry can usually arrange for you to borrow most items.

HEALTH PRE-SCREENING: Upon your arrival, we will perform a health screening that will include confirming that you have no COVID-19 related symptoms (for example: fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat) or have been in contact with someone with COVID-19 related symptoms within the last 2 weeks. We will also take each group member’s temperature daily. If COVID-19 related symptoms develop during your trip, the trip will end immediately and everyone must return home as soon as safely able. 

SAFETY WHILE ON TRAIL: All participants and staff will wear masks when social distancing is not possible (i.e. loading/unloading boats, cooking, etc.) or when requested by a WI staff member. Thorough hand washing and/or gloves and masks will be worn during meal preparation.

American Indians have lived here for thousands of years, both along the coast and in the interior reaches of the peninsula. Their primary form of subsistence came from the sea and rivers, as well as berries, roots, and land mammals. Cedar served as the most important material resource, used for everything from house planks to canoes. Cedar bark provided clothing and baskets, even towels and diapers.

In 1592 the first European, Juan de Fuca, may have come along these shores. Reliable information of European exploration, however, began in 1774 when Juan Perez sailed along this coast. In the next 25 years a bevy of British, American, and Spanish explorers visited the area. Robert Gray, an American, and George Vancouver, an Englishman, conducted the most enduring exploration work. Both men explored the area thoroughly, establishing rival claims to this land for their own countries.

Eight Olympic Peninsula tribes continue to recognize a relationship to the park based on traditional land use, origin, beliefs, mythology, and spiritual beliefs and practices. These tribes are the Lower Elwha Klallam, Jamestown S’Klallam, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Skokomish, Quinault, Hoh, Quileute, and Makah. It was the ancestors of the these tribes that lived throughout the Olympic Peninsula, but ceded their lands and waters to the federal government through treaties in 1855 and 1856 and now live on reservations along the shores of the peninsula.

Although American Indians utilized and traveled throughout the mountains of the peninsula, the first systematic documented exploration of the interior of the Olympic Peninsula did not occur until 1885. That year Lieutenant Joseph P. O’Neil led the first documented expedition into the interior. In 1889-90 the Press expedition led by James Christie made a north-south crossing in five and one-half months. In 1890 Lieutenant O’Neil returned and made an east-west crossing. Slowly a movement got underway to set aside some of the peninsula as a national park.

In 1897 President Grover Cleveland created the Olympic Forest Reserve, a portion of which President Theodore Roosevelt designated a national monument in 1909. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation creating the 922,651-acre Olympic National Park, and in 1988 Congress designated nearly 96 percent of the park, or 876,669 acres, as wilderness. Olympic remains a place for the soul to expand and for the mind to be refreshed with the beauty of life.

Olympic National Park contains a host of superlatives. Over 3,000 miles of rivers and streams flow through the park. Sixty named glaciers remain high in the mountains. Over 1,450 native plants thrive in the park. Olympic National Park harbors 16 species of endemic animals (meaning found nowhere else in the world but in the Park) as well as 8 species of endemic plants. The Park contains over 650 archeological sites, as well as one National Natural Landmark, Point of Arches. Over 300 bird species live in Olympic, as well as 56 mammal species (24 of which are marine mammals). Because of these spectacular natural features, Olympic National Park accounted for over 3 million recreational visits in 2005.