Quinault Rain Forest & South Shore Trails

The Quinault Rain Forest is situated in parts of the Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest and is just one of many beautiful areas in both the park and forest that one can explore. We’ve traveled the loop around and through both parks (Hwy 101) while visiting and camping at a number of sites along the way, but it was many years ago and we decided it was time to add this stunning PNW area to our hiking list.

Once we arrived at the park, we found a place to park near the Lake Quinault Lodge and wandered the area. The day was cloudy, but it wasn’t raining and when you consider the rain forest receives something like 140 inches of rain in an average year, we were just happy to have a clear day.

We visited the beach along the lake, where canoes can be used to access the water, before moving up the hill toward the hotel. A wedding was taking place this day (it’s a popular location for celebrations) so some of the lodge wasn’t available to us, but we enjoyed what we were able to explore of this historic building, which was built in 1926.

Jozee wasn’t able to explore inside the hotel, so she was more than ready when we hit the South Shore Trails which we accessed across from the lodge. The area must be visited in person to truly feel the magic of the rain forest. We enjoyed every bit of our hike as we wandered from trail to trail.

After our walk, we ventured on and took the Quinault Loop Drive. We didn’t miss the nearby star attraction, the World’s Largest Sitka Spruce and while we’ve seen bigger trees, we couldn’t help but be impressed with its age…a mere 1,000 years!

The loop drive was a nice little adventure where we could stop to get out and explore further whenever we wished. We saw waterfalls...

Enjoyed a river walk...

Found a nice pond where Jozee could play near the river...

Spent time on a nice quiet beach along the lake...

And enjoyed the beauty of the forest along the way...

This area made for an enjoyable adventure and only validates how beautiful the PNW is, rain or shine. We look forward to exploring more of the areas around the Olympia National Forest and eventually the National Park.