Unique, calming, and scenic place - Hoh Rainforest, Forks

Unique, calming, and scenic place - excellent for a short day trip! It's about two hours from Port Angeles.

We came during the summer and there wasn't any rain, just some clouds. There are two main trails, Hall of Mosses and the Spruce Nature Trail (empty, very little people). We hiked the Spruce Nature Trail first and had lunch next to the Hoh River on some fallen trees, a nice and memorable experience! After lunch, we walked the Hall of Mosses, where you can spot trees and organisms that are literally covered in mosses, nice for photos.

I guess for us, it was a lot more fun hiking and walking through the temperate rain forest than taking photos - everything starts looking the same (green) after a few photos. Hall of Moss area of this park was a easy hike which is kids friendly . It took about an hour, but my kid age 3.5 was able to do it without problem. 

Kudos as well to the staff in the visitor center -- they were friendly, informative, and helpful. Even more informative was the antiquated display/exhibit on the history of the area, which also explained how and why the total rainfall was near 6 feet (who knew climatology and meteorology could be so much fun?).

Special note: the road from 101 into Hoh is about 17-18 miles of beautiful scenery -- be sure to stop along the Hoh River and check out the steel-gray waters as the waterway cuts through the Hoh valley

Be warned, Highway 101 is where the Police Academy trains their rookies - the speed limit is strictly enforced and we almost got a ticket.... we were warned by our hotel staff as well. 

Picture Perfect - Hurricane Ridge, WA

We spent one full day in Olympic Nation Park and hit all three elements (Hurricane Ridge-mountain, Hoh Rain Forest-rain forest, Rialto Beach-ocean). Hurricane Ridge was our first stop out of three.

Hurricane Ridge is about an hour and a half drive up the mountains from Port Angeles. I'd consider the drive to be mountain driving, it's slow but very beautiful. The visitor center at the end of the road had plenty of park rangers, a nice gift shop, but was also very crowded. We spent about two hours here wandering the trails, and the views were almost too beautiful to be true. We visited in August and even then the Olympic Mountains were snowcapped.

 I'd definitely return to Hurricane Ridge, and I'd recommend you visit for yourself. In fact, of all the places that we visited in the Olympic National Park , this was probably my favorite.