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Olympic National Park
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Family is looking at making a trip out to Olympic National Park in June. Any recommendations for a base camp (VBRO), hikes, things to do with young kids? I know for sure we will bring our rain jackets.

We will have a 3 year old and 10 month old with us. We do have a hiking backpack so we can haul the younger one around for an hour or two at a time.

Plan is to fly into Seattle and rent a car for the week. The crummy part will be hauling the car seats through the airport.
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Re: Olympic National Park [AndysStrongAle] [ In reply to ]
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We have hiked the Hoh River Trail up to the Blue Glacier. One of my favorite places on the planet. First part of that is wide and flat, good for kids.

Ruby Beach is really cool, definitely worth the stop and kid friendly. Here's my obligatory Ruby Beach pic taken 20 some years ago scanned from an old and faded pic.



Hurricane Ridge is a good place to drive to. Great views.

If you like old house Port Townsend is knid of cool, but the concentration of cool houses was less than I expected.

I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.
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Re: Olympic National Park [AndysStrongAle] [ In reply to ]
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Been once, and will definitely go back. A bit difficult of a national park to visit. Not many in roads. Long ring road. I'd say to stay near to Port Angeles. Gives you access to the visitor center and the road where you can drive up to the snow. j p o's recommendation for the nearby Hoh River Trail ... my gf is gay for trees and the fuzzy trees had her wow'ing and woh'ing. Port Angeles also gives you the ability to take a day trip over to Victoria, Canada. Not far from Lake Crescent, and a bit further drive gets you to the Pacific.

Gnothi Seauton.
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Re: Olympic National Park [Ready4Launch] [ In reply to ]
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Ready4Launch wrote:
j p o's recommendation for the nearby Hoh River Trail

the Hoh river trail is 18 or 20 miles one way to the blue glacier. If you have a 3 year old and 10 month old you probably aren't going to be able to see a lot of this trail.

As suggested, best bet is probably Port Angeles, drive up to Hurricane ridge and do some short walks. Try to avoid getting attacked by goats.
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Re: Olympic National Park [AndysStrongAle] [ In reply to ]
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You can try to spot us. There is a trade show towards the end of June that I want to attend. If possible, I will take my family and that park is high on the list of places we want to visit.
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Re: Olympic National Park [AndysStrongAle] [ In reply to ]
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+1 on port Angeles.

We rented a place just outside with horses. The kids loved it and it was so peaceful.

Hoh rainforest is out of this world and hurricane ridge is amazing.

Have fun!
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Re: Olympic National Park [AndysStrongAle] [ In reply to ]
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some day.

sometimes
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Re: Olympic National Park [AndysStrongAle] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah PA is probably as good a base camp as any. If you can get away on a bike Hurricane Ridge is a fantastic climb, 5,000' in a 19 mi shot with a picture perfect descent. Beautiful drive too but best done on a bike. Once you get to the west side of the park things can get kind of remote. Hoh rainforest is beautiful.
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Re: Olympic National Park [AndysStrongAle] [ In reply to ]
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I passed through there on a cross country trip with my kids. We went all the way to Neah Bay, hiking to Cape Flattery. It's a short but beautiful hike to the very most nw corner of the U.S. If your going that far, why not go all the way. Then you can try and do the other three corners of the U.S. later. We camped at Hobuck Beach and did a hike in Olympic National Park too. We came from the ferry from Victoria and landed in Port Angeles. Victoria was nice, like a little Europe town in an Epcot sort of way. Once we left Port Angeles to Neah Bay, it was scarce for food other than a burger or diner food. So stock up your cooler with some decent fruit, snacks and alcohol.
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Re: Olympic National Park [JesseN] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks everyone. It actually sounds like my wife has friends who live in Port Angles. Do you guys think there is enough to do there with kids for a week? We might end up making a trip to a few other parks, Mt. Rainier or downtown Seattle.
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Re: Olympic National Park [AndysStrongAle] [ In reply to ]
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Worth the trip.

If you are not from the Pacific North West and have never been, a trip to the Olympic Park will let you see the best of the coastal PNW

- Big trees
- Big expansive beaches
- Lot's a green - from the trees, the moss . . .
- Potentially lots of rain, depending on time of year
- A number of cool funky little towns
- Opportunity to jump over to Victoria, BC (Canada), or check out Seattle if you want a big city experience.


Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog
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Re: Olympic National Park [AndysStrongAle] [ In reply to ]
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Definitely plan on making trips around there. Not sure you could stay busy for a week in just the one spot but that's me. Other (close by) notables include Dungeness Spit and the many old decommissioned forts around Puget Sound, several of which are close by to where you are staying. These are now generally huge parks with great views, lots of history and old barracks/bunkers, etc for the kids to run around in.

If you plan to visit Rainier (you should) or other spots inland plan for a lot of driving/traffic. Ferry lines can be really long (2+ hours) on summer weekends so it is good to travel early. That being said, riding a ferry across Puget Sound is one of the quintessential local experiences and well worth doing.
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Re: Olympic National Park [AndysStrongAle] [ In reply to ]
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Some free maps of ONP to help plan your trip:

http://npmaps.com/olympic/

Brett

"Du or Du not-there is no Tri" - Yoda
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Re: Olympic National Park [JesseN] [ In reply to ]
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JesseN wrote:
Yeah PA is probably as good a base camp as any. If you can get away on a bike Hurricane Ridge is a fantastic climb, 5,000' in a 19 mi shot with a picture perfect descent. Beautiful drive too but best done on a bike. Once you get to the west side of the park things can get kind of remote. Hoh rainforest is beautiful.

It can be a truly epic ride/climb, BUT ~ depending on the timing from year to year, Spring thaw = mosquito season, and riding up a steep grade at 6-7mph you can't outrun 'em. Bad combo, just sayin'...
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Re: Olympic National Park [AndysStrongAle] [ In reply to ]
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Well, realized this weekend we will need to set our expectations really low for this trip.

Went hiking this weekend with our kiddos, our 3 year old was entertained for a total of half a mile (which took about an hour). I figure we will start hiking with her every weekend to get her used to it a bit more.

Also made the decision to go to Mount Rainier. Four hours in the car is tough with kids that age, but next time we make a trip like this will be several years so might as well try to make the most of it.
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Re: Olympic National Park [OneGoodLeg] [ In reply to ]
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OneGoodLeg wrote:
JesseN wrote:
Yeah PA is probably as good a base camp as any. If you can get away on a bike Hurricane Ridge is a fantastic climb, 5,000' in a 19 mi shot with a picture perfect descent. Beautiful drive too but best done on a bike. Once you get to the west side of the park things can get kind of remote. Hoh rainforest is beautiful.


It can be a truly epic ride/climb, BUT ~ depending on the timing from year to year, Spring thaw = mosquito season, and riding up a steep grade at 6-7mph you can't outrun 'em. Bad combo, just sayin'...

Good lord, that sounds awful! As if the climb isn't a challenge enough. Also, weather can be an issue in to summer. Snow up there in late May isn't uncommon I hear.

We usually go at the height of summer, and even then you need to bring a jacket for the descent. The last few years we have been going up summer solstice weekend. The ferry from Victoria is just packed with cyclists going for the ridge. Makes for an awesome day. First ferry over and you're back down in PA in time for a patio lunch and pint before taking the afternoon ferry back. Doesn't get much better then that.

Long Chile was a silly place.
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