Wild and almost otherworldly, Ruby Beach is where the PNW shows off everything it does best…read more From the moment you take the short walk down from the parking lot, you know you're in for something special. Massive sculptural sea stacks rise along the shoreline, rugged and dramatic. The beach is strewn with driftwood, some pieces arranged so naturally they feel like art instillations. Its name comes from the subtle reddish mineral flecks in the sand, which glow beautifully when the sun hits them. We loved exploring this area, and it's absolutely a must-stop if you're anywhere near Forks. Vault restrooms are available just off the parking lot; they're basic and don't have running water. Because this beach is part of Olympic National Park, you'll need to pay the daily entrance fee or better yet, grab an America the Beautiful Pass for access to all national parks. I wouldn't recommend walking barefoot or swimming here. The water stays around 45-55°F year-round, the waves are powerful, and the surf can be unpredictable. This is a place to admire, wander, and soak in the wild beauty of the coast.

Awesome beach. Parking can be tough. There's a hike down to the beach where you'll be able to see…read moresea stacks, driftwood, and after a walk, cool wildlife in tide pools. The beach is very expansive. Despite the crowds there's ample space

This beach has some really beautiful sea stacks. These sea stacks rise straight out of the water…read more It is a pity that it doesn't have a proper name other than Second Beach. The hike to the beach is around 0.7 miles one way. There are a lot of switch back stairs through a forest that lead down to a coastline. There are three parking lots that you can park at just outside of the town of La Push. The closest lot doesn't hold a lot of cars, but the overflow lots have more room to park if you don't mind walking a little ways to the beach. Second Beach is usually partially enshrouded with fog. It was also a little chilly at the beach for late summer. But overall I enjoyed my stroll to this beautiful beach.

Highlight of our trip!…read more Try to visit during low tide so you can see all the tide pools and marine life. Also the earlier you get there the easier it is to park. The parking lot starts about a mile trail through picturesque forests to the beach. The trail is beautiful with lots of ferns and other plants to see. When you pop out on the beach you are amazed by the view. The beach is large with so much to explore. You can easily spend an afternoon here so bring a lunch and stay awhile.

LaPush Beach is located on the Quileute Reservation. It's 3.5 hrs from Seattle, and a beautiful…read morebeach, but quite a distance. While I'm not exactly a fan of Twilight books, I was glad we made the drive. It's a beautiful beach full of driftwood. A great place to have a picnic but be prepared to climb over a lot of that driftwood to get to the beach. There are a couple of porta-potties near the beach, but no public bathroom facilities. Plenty of parking and at least as of 8/25 there is a food truck nearby

Came for sunset but it was too foggy to see it. Cool rock islands with trees growing on it just off…read moreshore. Lots of driftwood washed ashore. It was pretty windy so only stayed briefly then left.

We camped here for the first time 10 years ago and stayed in D Loop. The first thing our littles…read moredid was climb the super tall trees! 10 years later, and we stayed in the same spot we reserved and the first thing our (now ) teenagers did- climb the super tall trees! I got a little emotional as I recalled them being so small, and cut to now, how fast time flew. Their memories of this place were so fond. We checked off a bucket list item though- we told ourselves that the next time we come back, we'd have a bonfire on the beach and that's exactly what we did! We stayed out until 11 at night on the beach and it was pretty dark! Core memories made. We will definitely return and it won't be in 10 years, more like 2. We love you, Kalaloch!!!

This pretty beach in Olympic National Park is also a campground. There is a ranger station nearby…read morethat you can stop at for information about the area. A park ranger is on hand to answer any questions that you may have. Kalaloch and Ruby Beach are located on the southwest coast of the Olympic Peninsula right off the 101. This is one of the most visited areas of Olympic National Park. Kalaloch Campground is one of the only places for camping on the southern coast of Olympic National Park. There are over 170 campsites that have a picnic table and fire ring. Make sure you reserve early as they fill up quick during the summer season. Kalaloch Lodge is also located right by the beach and has rooms and cabins available. Kalaloch Beach is a great place for tidepooling and bird watching. I enjoyed a short stay here. I was able to walk on the beach and take in some fresh air after being in the car all day. Nearby is the Tree of Life spruce tree if you want to check that out. Just follow the Kalaloch Beach Nature Trail from the Kalaloch Campground parking lot. Once you are on the beach, it is a short walk away.

Planning for my 3 day visit to Olympic NP was no easy feat, but the many hours of deciding where to…read morecamp, which sites to see, which trails to hike and logistics for 6 people arriving from different states made for a wonderful and enjoyable trip. Offering attractions like the breathtaking coast, awe-inspiring rainforests, and majestic mountains, Olympic National Park has quickly become my favorite national park. After deciding on the campsites, booking campsites through recreation.gov was challenging. During the planning process, Hoh campground, near the Hoh rainforest, was not opened due to road closures. Moreover, recreation.gov releases campsites on a specific schedule so if you're NOT booking at the beginning of the year (like me), then you need to set a notification on the website to let you know when campsites open up. Initially, the campsite availability looked bleak at first, but campsites do open up and more campsites are released a couple weeks before you want to go so hover over the recreation.gov site to learn how to book a campsite. When planning, I wish the map of the park (the one given at the entrance of the park) was online so I could make better choices when planning. To help others plan, I've posted a photo of the map that I wish I had. You're welcome. As the dates of my trip approached, Hoh Campground opened up! Because spending time near the rainforest was important to us, we cancelled our other reservations (yes, you lose some $) and I booked two nights at Hoh. If you camp near the restroom, the dishwash station is nearby and the bathrooms have electrical outlets, but no soap. Bring your own. Since I knew ahead of time that there were no nearby showers, I brought a portable shower which was refreshing after enduring a hot and humid afternoon hiking to Marymere Falls. However, there is a cold stream that's fun to walk through right next to the campground to cool off during the heat of the day. One of the downsides of tent camping is that the mosquitos come out and if you're susceptible (like me), it's brutal even with insect repellant. Another downside is unaware campers like the women across from us in her Sprinter van who didn't turn her generator off at 10pm (quiet hours). By midnight, a brave soul in our party went to her van and rang her doorbell to let her know to turn off her generator. After spending a minute or two trying to communicate with her with her windows and door closed, she complied with no apologies. Early the next morning we headed off to Rialto Beach to see the tide pools (it was low tide at 8am) and hole-in-the-wall rock. Having seen lots of tide pools, I was initially not inclined to wake up early to drive 45 minutes to Rialto Beach, but the tide pools were fascinating as was the the hole-in-the-wall rock. Upon returning, we took an informative guided tour of the Hoh rainforest lead by an ebullient ranger. BTW, if it's a really hot day, spend time in the Hoh Welcome Center where the displays are interesting, you can refill your water bottle and there is A/C!!! After packing up the next day, we headed to Fairholme campground where the ground is uneven but bearable for tents. En route to Fairholme, we made a stop to hike up to see the thrilling Sol Duc Falls. Prior to that, you can make a stop to see the Coho jumping up the river (in August) which was totally mezmerizing and makes for great photos. Since Fairholme is right next to Crescent Lake, we all braved the cold water and played in the lake which was fun. For safety, there were FREE PFDs hanging near the sign which I took advantage of. Just like Hoh, Fairholme had a dishwash station near the bathroom which had electrical outlets, but no showers. Because it rained all night and my tent had lost its waterproofness, my sleeping bag was soaked by the next morning. While drizzling, we packed up to leave in all our wetness. Before saying good-bye to the park, we drove to Hurricane Ridge where we were able to hike to the peak (it had stopped raining) and see a deer walking through the parking lot, a marmot looking for food from tourists and a sooty grouse. Last but not least, if you entered the park and plan to exit the park through Port Angles to catch the ferry, it's another thing to be aware of as it's best to make reservations, especially if you're near a holiday. Despite our reservations, we asked if we could catch an earlier ferry than our 5pm reserved time. Although all ferry reservations were fully booked, we could give up our reservation and wait on stand-by which we chose to do, but it was a mistake. Looking back, it would have been better spending more time at the park or spending time in Port Angeles rather than giving up the reservation as there were no stand-bys while we were waiting and we ended up loading onto the ferry at the original reserved time. Phew! We made it without a reservation. With hours of prior planning, this park was memorable and enjoyable even with mosquitos and rain.

Better late than never! We made it to the Hurricane Ridge hike on 8/12/25 between 10am-12pm and it…read morewas too hot for me with barely any shade up top and throughout our way down. I would recommend going sooner 7-8am starting time. We camped the night before at HEART O' THE HILLS Campground without prior reservation. It was a quick drive up top to Hurricane Ridge the next morning for our hike. The hike didn't live up to our expectations! Not much to see and not much shade anywhere. Some decent views up top but you can get much better views without hiking up this way. What I appreciate is wheelchair accessible trails up to certain areas of the trail! Plenty of free parking areas up top. For me personally, the views, the landscape, the scenery aren't worth the hype and planning for me to make a trip out here during the second week of August. There are better choices for hikes elsewhere and in the next state, Oregon. The HEART O' THE HILLS campground was nice option for camping and I do appreciate they still offer spots without reservations as it should be as first comes first served instead of let people hoarding them way ahead of time because they have the means to do so and preventing available spaces for true camping spirit. The restroom was cleaned and maintained.

After my other shoes floated away by the rising tide, I had to walk the trail to and from Shi Shi…read moreBeach in my water shoes. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because that trail was an absolute muddy mess. While there are some constructed walkways, the vast majority of the trail is dirt and/or mud. The mess was well worth the beautiful beach though. I loved the tide pools and views of the pacific. Just dress for mud

A must do hike. It's muddy so wear good shoes. It's about a 9 mile round trip hike. Bring lots of…read morewater, food and sunscreen. We had a picnic at the end of the beach and explored the tide pools and cave.

I've been lucky enough to come her twice in four months and even luckier that the second was during…read morelow tide. My daughter and I laughed that we were having enrichment time because there was so much to look at! We spent an hour alone looking at all the cool rocks and sea glass. The area is absolutely stunning!

We've been to this spot twice over the past five years. Once during the pandemic, and more recently…read morewith some friends while we were over on the peninsula. It was a nice play area for the kids, there appears to be a large amount of RV parking, there are a couple very acceptable port-o-potties, and most importantly there for some great rocky areas down by the water where the kids plus or minus you can go and explore! I've only been here when the tide has been in, but I can imagine what it is out, there are probably some pretty great tight pools. When we've been there, the small tide pools the form are great for looking for small fish, crabs, and see in enemies. It's basically going to the aquarium in real life! It takes a little bit to get here as it's about 10 miles off the main road, but the roads are nice and it goes quick. There's a more standard sandy beach just around the bend, but it's a private area and runs something like eight dollars a person to go enjoy it. We were more keen to hang out on the rocks after finding out!

Awesome hike with an easily accessible waterfall. Easy and short. This is also close to the…read moreentrance to the Mt. Storm King hike, so if marymere is too easy. There's also that hike available here as well

Anytime we get a chance to hike to a waterfall, we usually find away to make it happen! Marymere…read morefalls was our second hike of the day after we had a good meal in after hiking Mount Storm King. I generally like to embark on hikes early in the morning to get to see the sunrise and see everything wake up for the day as well as to beat the heat and crowds. But, Marymere hike was a much shorter hike and all descriptions stated it was pretty easy. We started from Lake Crescent lodge and headed our way there. The signs were somewhat easy to find and the map the hotel staff gave us helped us to find the trail head. The hike itself, though easy, had a lot to offer on the way to the waterfall. A clearing where there were river stones and sparkling water that birds seemed to wisp by, two wooden bridges to cross, one was a narrow one. Trekking across bridges like those are always a favorite for me, those bridges then lead you to a small loop trail that got you to a lower area to view the water fall and then you can head up further to a higher vantage point that pretty much took your breath away. The waterfall was so worth it to see and after doing such a strenuous hike in the morning this hike was a piece of cake. If you're heading to this area of Washington I highly recommend hopping out and hiking this trail. It's worth it!

Nice campsite. The WiFi did not reach our spot (66) but T-mobile did have some cell service here…read more The showers and bathrooms were pretty well maintained. A toilet did get clogged at some point but was promptly addressed by the next day. The beach is within walking distance, just across the road.

Inadequate sanitation for the number of tent campers…read more We stayed at Crescent Beach & RV Park August 2025. One of the two toilets in the tent camping area was out of order for our whole stay (2 days) and the Port-a-potty was full. Very full. For two days. This campground sells out *every summer*; it should not be a surprise to them that they are fully occupied and need to provide adequate sanitation facilities for the people in the 31 tent sites. And in fact, they know that the sanitation is inadequate, because they mentioned it in the notice on the the toilet door: "Due to high volume during summer months, our vault toilets may experience overuse. We schedule two cleanings a day but encourage guests to take full advantage of the flushable toilets, showers, and rinse station located at the east / RV side of the park." The RV side of the park provides a whopping 3 toilets for women, and 2 toilets and a urinal for men. Given the swarms of mosquitoes, its not a delightful walk over to the RV side. Nor is it delightful to have to use a full Port-a-Potty when you are paying $45 a night for a tent camp site. The location is not enough of a redeeming factor for us, we will not be back.

The three beaches of La Push are located on the southwest region of the Olympic Peninsula on the…read morePacific Ocean. La Push is about 20 miles west of the town of Forks. Once you arrive at this remote community, you will find one of the hidden treasures on the Olympic peninsula. First Beach has some beautiful coastal scenery. First Beach and Rialto Beach are the only two La Push beaches with drive-up access. La Push/First Beach is the home of the Quileute Nation. La Push was very crowded when I arrived because of a festival that was going on. So I wasn't able to find any parking near the beach. I ended up parking near the general store so that I could spend time exploring the area. The views of the sea stacks at this beach are gorgeous. Like many of the La Push beaches, First Beach is littered with large driftwood. There are some oceanfront cabins at the Quileute Oceanside Resort that are great for families that want to wake up to a view. River's Edge Restaurant is a waterfront restaurant that is popular for dinner.

We stopped here after visiting Rialto Beach, which is across the way. We visited at around noon in…read moremid-October and the weather was surprisingly sunny and clear! Ample parking as well. I much preferred Rialto, though First Beach might be better if you want to walk on/lay out on sand rather than pebbles. You will drive on reservation land to get to First Beach. As such, I would recommend adhering to the speed limit signs, especially since there are sometimes rez dogs roaming around off leash (including near the beach). A brochure at the Forks Visitor Center said well-behaved dogs can be off-leash at First Beach but signs at the beach said dogs must be on-leash so I kept ours on a long leash. There were a few other folks with dogs and they had theirs on-leash as well. This beach definitely had more of an ocean-y smell to it due to the amount of kelp washed ashore. There were a ton of sea birds both in the water and on shore! I wonder what draws them to the area--there were only a few on Rialto. We picked up some trash along our walk (including someone else's used dog poop bag) but overall, it seemed pretty clean, especially for being what I assume a major tourist destination for the area. There are dumpsters in the parking lot to throw away trash, along with a few porta-potties.