Day Hiking in Olympic National Park

Olympic National Park, described as “three parks in one”, can take you from the rocky shores of the Pacific Ocean, to lush rain forests, to windswept alpine areas. It’s varied, gorgeous, and enormous.

With no roads going through the park, it takes considerable time getting from one part to another and takes a bit of planning. Below are 84 day hikes that I’ve identified and ranked for my Day Hikes of Olympic National Park Map Guide.

The ranking is my recommendation based upon what I feel gives you the most “bang for your buck” starting with the high alpine areas that give you expansive views over the park followed by the sweet mixture of coastal areas and rain forests.

Click each trail name to learn more about the hike. All of this information and more is included in the Day Hikes of Olympic National Park Map Guide that I put out in the spring of 2014. It’s the best map for hiking in Olympic National Park that includes distances between junctions and color coded trail segments denoting slope steepness and much more on one side and a guide on the back of the map. Pick one up to take with you on the trail!

Areas are as follows:

Click to Enlarge

Click on table headers to sort by those columns!

Jake’s RankHike NameDistance GroupArea
1Hurricane Ridge to Klahhane Ridge5-10North
2Grand Ridge5-10North
3High Divide Loop15+Northwest
4Royal Basin10-15North
5Grand Valley Loop5-10North
6Cape Alava and Wedding Rocks5-10North Olympic Coast
7Rialto Beach/Hole in the Wall0-5South Olympic Coast
8Hoh River Trail10-15North Temperate Rain Forest
9Second Beach0-5South Olympic Coast
10Switchback Trail0-5North
11Lake of the Angels5-10East
12Sol Duc Falls0-5Northwest
13Shi Shi Beach5-10North Olympic Coast
14Lena Lakes10-15East
15Appleton Pass and Oyster Lake15+North
16Queets River10-15South Temperate Rain Forest
17Heather Park5-10North
18Madison Falls0-5North
19Sand Point Trail5-10North Olympic Coast
20Marymere Falls0-5Northwest
21Hall of Mosses Trail0-5North Temperate Rain Forest
22Ruby Beach0-5South Olympic Coast
23Geyser Valley Loop5-10North
24Pony Bridge5-10South Temperate Rain Forest
25Spruce Nature Trail0-5North Temperate Rain Forest
26Browns Point0-5South Olympic Coast
27Mount Storm King0-5Northwest
28Third Beach0-5South Olympic Coast
29Hurricane Hill0-5North
30Flapjack Lakes15+Southeast
31Wynoochee Pass and Lake Sundown10-15Southeast
32Meadow Loop Trails0-5North
33Beach 40-5South Olympic Coast
34Moments in Time Nature Trail0-5Northwest
35Kestner Homestead Trail0-5South Temperate Rain Forest
36Oil City Trail0-5South Olympic Coast
37Maple Glade Trail0-5South Temperate Rain Forest
38Sam’s River Loop0-5South Temperate Rain Forest
39Rainshadow Loop0-5North
40Little River Trail5-10North
41Staircase Rapids Loop0-5Southeast
42North Fork Quinault River10-15South Temperate Rain Forest
43North Fork Sol Duc River10-15Northwest
44South Fork Hoh River5-10North Temperate Rain Forest
45Bogachiel River10-15North Temperate Rain Forest
46Graves Creek5-10South Temperate Rain Forest
47Deer Lake5-10Northwest
48Lake Angeles5-10North
49Boulder Lake10-15North
50West Elwha Trail0-5North
51Three Forks5-10North
52Deer Ridge10-15North
53Low Divide10-15Northwest
54Glines Canyon0-5North
55Dosewallips River Road10-15East
56Spruce Railroad Trail5-10Northwest
57Griff Creek Trail5-10North
58Three Lakes10-15South Temperate Rain Forest
59Aurora Ridge and Eagle Lakes10-15Northwest
60Happy Lake10-15North
61Pyramid Mountain5-10Northwest
62Barnes Creek10-15Northwest
63Big Log Camp10-15Southeast
64PJ Lake0-5North
65Mink Lake5-10Northwest
66Aurora Creek and Sourdough Mountain10-15Northwest
67Irely Lake0-5South Temperate Rain Forest
68Peabody Creek Trail5-10North
69Shady Lane Nature Trail0-5Southeast
70South Snider – Jackson Trail10-15North Temperate Rain Forest
71Olympic Hot Springs5-10North
72Living Forest Trail0-5North
73James Pond0-5South Olympic Coast
74Cascading Terraces Trail0-5South Temperate Rain Forest
75Kalaloch Nature Trail0-5South Olympic Coast
76Lover’s Lane Loop5-10Northwest
77Smokey Bottom Trail0-5North
78Hurricane Hill from Elwha10-15North
79Cascade Rock Trail0-5North
80Heart O’ the Forest Trail0-5North
81Fairholme Campground Trail0-5Northwest
82Wagonwheel Lake5-10Southeast
83Ancient Groves Nature Trail0-5Northwest
84Quillayute River Slough0-5South Olympic Coast