Quinault Rain Forest, Olympic National Park

About an hour north of Forks, Washington is the Quinault Rain Forest. After a short stop at the ranger station, you can take a very nice hike through the rain forest and see alpine lakes, streams and many old growth species of trees. Known as the "Valley of the Rain Forest Giants" because of the number of record size tree species found here, this area is in the second part of the Olympic National Park. This area receives an average of 12 feet of rain per year! Located on the western side of the Olympic Mountains this valley was carved out by a glacier. While the trail, at times, can be challenging, it is well worth the time and effort to make the hike. It's about 5 miles in length if you make the entire circle. Enjoy the pictures...I believe they speak for themselves and need very little input from me.





With 20+ pictures, I've posted them in a smaller format. For more detail, please double click on any picture for an expanded view. Enjoy !

The trail is, for the most part, pretty easy walking. There is some up and down and the path does disappear at times, but it's easily done.

We discovered many small waterfalls all along the trail.

Some unlucky parent is going to be in deep trouble once their child misses this parrot. We found it along the trail and I put it on one of the fallen trees. In spite of any argument from the little one, I'm sure the parents weren't about to retrace their path to retrieve it. It will be interesting to see how long it stays on this log. 

Anyone who takes this hike, drop me a note if you see it still there.

I hope you enjoyed looking at these pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them. If you are in this area, be sure to take the time to walk this trail. Even if you don't do the entire loop, there is an easy walk to a fabulous waterfall within 1/2 mile of the parking lot. You can also walk all the way to Lake Quinault although that trail is much more difficult.