We entered Olympic National park from south at Kalaloch entrance at around 4PM. On our way, we stopped at Quinault lake for a lunch with lake view.
Camp sites at Kalaloch facility was filled up completely. However, 5-minutes drive from visitor center there is another campsite called South Beach with no fresh water. We got a campsite for $10/night and slept to the sound of the ocean.
On a clear day, sunset would have been spectacular with rocks in the background. But, we were not lucky this time. The same evening, we drove through Fork and walked around in the beach area. It was a very warm day but foggy for sunset view.
The next day morning, we drove through the coastal line, which is very scenic, to lake crescent. Having already been to RedWood National Park and St.Helen, the forest area of the Olympic National Park didn’t appeal to us as much. So, skipped on hiking there.
A very short hike from Lake Crescent is Marymere Falls, which is very pretty and a picture worthy stopover.
As we decided to only spend a 24-hours at this park, due to the much required recovery from St. Helen, we mostly drove through the scenic parts of the park and stopped as pleased for pictures.
Hurricane ridge drive and view point is a must do irrespective of whether you want to hike the trails or not. The scenery is breathtaking even from the visitor center.
When we visited the park, most of the trails had heavy snow.
Essentially, we circumnavigated the park. From Hurricane Ridge, we drove through Port Angeles and then on to Kingston Port area to catch a ferry to Edmonds.
The 24 hours in Olympic National Park, driving through scenic views and stunning landscape will remain as one of our favorite, especially due to the majestic Hurricane Ridge Mountains.