Olympic National Park

Pros: If you love natural areas, this is hard to beat.
Cons: I don't live there.

My husband and I visited the Olympic National Park in June of 2005. After flying from St. Louis to Seattle, renting a car, and seeing Mt. Rainier, the Columbia River Gorge, the Oregon coast and some of the southern Washington coast, we finally ...

Pros: Great diversity, many dayhiking and backpacking opportunites, not many crowds
Cons: The logging that is in the surrounding areas of the park,

I traveled a long way driving to reach the Olympic Peninsula. All the way from Buffalo, NY. And I was not the least bit disappointed. This place was just absolutely amazing and was such a diverse place. To discuss this place I will go through what we ...

Pros: Incredibly beautiful, quiet and peaceful
Cons: Remote and difficult to get to. Weather can be very bad.

Here I am sitting at home on the day after the big Seattle quake. At work our building is cracked and Boeing is closed for the day. Outside, it is cloudy and showers are threatening (surprise, surprise), and eventually my mind begins to wander….
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Pros: Very scenic, great family dayhike
Cons: bridge is out so it's not a loop

Staircase Rapids Trail is located just inside the Olympic National Park near Lake Cushman on the Olympic Peninsula. To get there, head to Hoodsport via Highway 101 on the Hood Canal. Stop at the ranger station there for current information and maps....

Pros: Spectacular, unique, temperate zone rain forests, the Olympic Mountains, animals, scenery.
Cons: Clearcuts right up to the border of the park.

I first visited the Olympic National Park in Washington state when I was 13 years old, with my older brother Rick.
I had flown out to Seattle from Chicago, and met him there as he had just come back on a ferry from Alaska and we hooked up to...

Pros: Absolutely stunning views
Cons: I've heard it rains a little

Ha! Bet you thought this was about international sports events. I'm writing about the REAL Olympics, those nearly unheard-of mountains on coastal Washington State.

The Olympics are best known for Olympic National Park, arguably the most...

Pros: Great for hikers of all ages and abilities
Cons: Very popular, lots of hikers on the lower trail

The Olympic National Park, that is. If you want to prepare your young for a lifetime of enjoying wilderness travel, the Skokomish River Trail near Lake Cushman is the place to start.

I can't remember the number of times I've hiked this...

Pros: Relatively easy trail, upper end gets steep
Cons: Is crowded from April to Labor Day

I wasn't expecting fish the size of my thigh! I'd taken a few days off work and hiked up the Hoh River trail, on the western edge of Olympic National Park. I'd brought along the obligatory lightweight trout rod, planning to pass the time casting small...

Pros: Absolutely spectacular, uncrowded
Cons: very steep, demanding backcountry

The weather was awful, my knee hurt like mad, both feet sported infected blisters, and now a bear wanted to eat my dinner. I was having a really rotten afternoon!

I'd been resting in an old wooden shelter called "bear camp" for...

Pros: Away from the busy city
Cons: Sometimes wildlife gets too close

I have lived in Washington all my life and even went camping when I was a young child. With living here I thought that I had seen everything to see in this state.

During the summer of 1994 I had found a place I had never been to, Staircase...

Pros: Gorgeous views, few people
Cons: Steep, rugged: even the access road!

A note about wilderness travel: for safety's sake, travel in groups of four. If one person gets hurt, a partner remains with the victim and the other two travel together to get help. Know your abilities and remain within them, be in adequate shape,...

Pros: Gorgeous land, stunning variety, and you can car camp the whole way through.
Cons: Mosquitos and fearless wild deer.

I went to Seattle a little over two years ago for a one-week vacation. About half of this was spent in the city, the other half driving around the Olympic Peninsula, visiting various points of interest within the National Park.

All I can say...

Pros: Probably the wildest part of the park
Cons: very difficult trip: not for the novice!

I'd been hiking the Olympic National Park for nearly a week. It was typical hot, dusty Labor Day Weekend weather and I'd just ascended Lost Pass, then Cameron Pass, while travelling from the Dosewallips River to Grand Ridge. I hadn't seen a bath in a...

Pros: Beautiful, subalpine lake
Cons: Getting there is Hell

I couldn't believe we'd be so thirsty. My brother and I were two miles up the steepest, driest, most switch-backed trail we'd ever seen in Olympic National Park. Even worse, it was a dry trail. Uncharacteristic for a park that boasts a rain forest,...

Pros: Beautiful. . .nature in its best form
Cons: Wet, soggy, raining.

Oh yes, there is a reason why it is called the rainforest. One must not forget that when planning a trip there. But nonetheless a beautiful place to be. The neat thing is if you've ever seen postcards which display mossy trees and beautiful streams...