Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail (17 mile)
Along the rugged Washington State Pacific Coast within the bounds of the Olympic National Park sits one of the most remarkable and remote sections of coastline in the entire United States. For a 17 mile stretch of coastline stretching from LaPush to the Hoh River there is a rollicking adventure of a backpack trip that matches equal parts beach packing with cliff climbs into dense rainforest. By my count, over the 17 miles you will traverse eight different beach sections and slog through the mud of 7 treks through ancient rainforest that even in August had sections with mud that was at least shin deep along the trail so gaiters are recommended!
The photo that you see here is from a bluff overlooking the beach section toward Toleak Point. This is typical of the crescent beaches and rock stacks that dot the shoreline along the route as you alternate beach and rainforest for the 34 mile round trip epic journey. Pro tip - don’t forget your tide tables and be sure to follow them closely as there are some sections that are impassable around the bluffs when the tide is in and it is a long wait for low tide if you don’t do your homework! Trust me on this one… learned the hard way and had a nice long wait at one point.
There is really nothing like beach camping at night listening to the rolling of the waves and waking up to the beautiful mists over the ocean and early morning sunlight glistening off of the rock formations that silently guard this remarkable shoreline. Just be sure to camp well up the beach so the high tide does not come in during the night! Camping tip - a very nice campsite with excellent fresh water and swimming is found at Mosquito creek 12 miles into the trip. When my backpacking partners and I made this trip we camped here on our second night, left our campsite set up to day trip to mile 17 at the Hoh River and then returned for night three before making our way back North up the beach for one more night prior to packing out. It was a great way to accomplish the trip without carrying packs for that 10 mile round trip to reach the end of the trail.
If you decide to do this multi day pack you will need to obtain permits at an Olympic National Park Ranger Station and also bring a bear canister (for racoons, not bears) so make sure you plan this into your travels as the ranger stations are a significant distance away from this remote section of the national park. During this journey you can expect to see significant bird wildlife that is undisturbed by most human contact along with the sealife both in the water and in the tidepools during low tides. When we made this journey several years ago significant debris was present from the Japan Tsunami and since these beaches are extremely remote it is likely still there. You might also find many fishing floats of various kinds and sizes… fun story with these as we met some sea kayakers at Mosquito Creek and enjoyed a rousing game of beach bocci ball with these floats as we passed the evening together.
If you ever decide to make this journey, drive up highway 101 from Hoquiam area, stop at the Quinalt ranger station for permits. Continue North to Forks and just past Forks turn left onto highway 110 toward LaPush. Ten miles from the turnoff from Forks you will see the Third Beach trailhead on the left. Park here and it’s a 1.3 mile hike to this first stop with excellent camping options if you want to stay overnight or are doing the multiday trip. For a day hike this is a very easy out and back.
I hope that you find these travel and trail posts fun and interesting reads. My intention with these is not to necessarily provide a detailed “how to guide” for these places as there are many more sites that do this extremely well. My purpose is rather to spark your interest, share some stories and photos with you and if you ever find yourself visiting any of these places because of these blog posts let me know!
