Olympic National Park. All photography is ours.
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Washington with Kids
If you’re planning Washington with kids, fly into Seattle, rent a car, and give Olympic National Park a long weekend. You get mountains, rain forest, and wild Pacific beaches in one park, and it’s the favorite national park of both Carrick and Carrie. We did it over Memorial Day weekend in 2024 and spent three nights, moving to a new motel each night around the peninsula.
Olympic is the kind of park where every day looks like a different state. That’s why it’s the one we’d send a family to first.
Destination guide · Updated November 2026 · Last visited May 2024
Best months
July–September
National parks
3 + 12 NPS sites
Fly into
SEA
How long
3 nights for Olympic, a week with Seattle and Rainier
Book ahead
Lake Quinault and Kalaloch lodges · Hurricane Ridge in summer · Mount Rainier timed entry
We landed in Seattle on a Friday evening and drove straight out to Forks so we’d wake up on the west side of Olympic. We spent the next day on the coast and in the Hoh Rain Forest, and the day after that at Hurricane Ridge, where it snowed on us at the top. On Memorial Day we drove back to Seattle for breakfast and Pike Place Market before our flight home.
Late May was early in the season, but that’s also when the park looks the way it does in the photos. Keep reading for the Olympic essentials and the loop we’d drive again.
Your Washington guide
Enjoy exploring Washington with kids!
Keep scrolling for the essentials, three Washington road trips, and where to stay on the peninsula.
Essential Washington
Why we love Washington
We think you’ll love it too.
Washington is where we’d send a family that wants three national parks’ worth of scenery in one. Olympic gave us snow at Hurricane Ridge, moss hanging off the trees in the rain forest, and beaches piled with driftwood logs, all in the same week. It’s Carrick’s and Carrie’s favorite park. Mount Rainier and the North Cascades are still on our list. Scroll down for the Washington essentials.
Olympic National Park AftT Visit
The park covers nearly a million acres of mountains, temperate rain forest, and 70 miles of wild coast. There’s no road through the middle, so US-101 loops around it and you drive in from the edges. Give it three days minimum.
Hurricane Ridge AftT Visit
Hurricane Ridge is the mountain side of Olympic, 17 miles up from Port Angeles. On a clear day you can see across to Canada, and the snow sticks around well into spring. It snowed on us at the top over Memorial Day weekend. The day lodge burned in 2023, so check what’s open before you go.
The Hoh Rain Forest AftT Visit
The moss-draped maples and spruces here get 12 feet of rain a year. We stopped at the visitor center and walked the Hoh River Trail the same day as the beaches. The Hall of Mosses leaves from the same lot and is a short, flat loop that’s perfect for little kids. Go early in summer, since the parking lot fills by mid-morning.
The Olympic coast AftT Visit
The coast has sea stacks, tide pools, and driftwood logs the size of trucks. We went tide pooling at Rialto Beach and Second Beach, planned around a low tide, which is the trick. Ruby and Kalaloch are the beaches farther south. Check the tide tables and watch the surf.
And the rest we’d cross the Sound for
Lake Crescent AftT Visit
This deep glacial lake sits right on US-101 between Port Angeles and the rain forests, and the water is clear enough to see the bottom. We stopped at the lake and walked the short forest trail to Marymere Falls, which is an easy one for kids.
Sol Duc Falls AftT Visit
Sol Duc Falls splits three ways in the Sol Duc valley, off US-101 west of Lake Crescent. We hiked the Sol Duc trail out to the falls on the same day as Hurricane Ridge. The hot springs resort is on the same road.
Mount Rainier National Park
Rainier is the volcano you see from Seattle, with wildflower meadows at Paradise and timed-entry reservations in summer. It’s two hours from the city.
North Cascades National Park
Jagged peaks and turquoise lakes line WA-20, three hours northeast of Seattle. Diablo Lake is the overlook everyone stops at.
Seattle AftT Visit
We ended the trip with fancy coffee and breakfast at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Capitol Hill, then Pike Place Market. We skipped the line at the original Starbucks in the market. The Space Needle, the Museum of Pop Culture, the ferries, and the free Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park visitor center are all downtown for a longer stay.
Lavender Connection in Sequim AftT Visit
Sequim calls itself the lavender capital of North America, and the farms sit in the rain shadow east of Port Angeles. We stopped at Lavender Connection before our night in town. Peak bloom is July, so late May was early, but the shop and the fields are still a nice break from the car.
Mount St. Helens
You can see the 1980 eruption up close from the Johnston Ridge Observatory, an hour off I-5 in the south of the state. Check the road status before you go.
The San Juan Islands
Ferries run from Anacortes to Friday Harbor, where you can look for orcas, and San Juan Island National Historical Park has sites on both ends of the island.
Leavenworth
Leavenworth is a Bavarian-themed town in the Cascades, two hours east of Seattle. It’s big at Christmas, with tubing and sleigh rides.
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
This Hudson’s Bay Company fort sits across the river from Portland. It was on our Oregon itinerary and we ran out of time, so it’s still on the list.
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Routes
Three Washington road trip itineraries
The Olympic loop is the trip we did, west side first, over a long weekend. The other two add Rainier and the Cascades. See all the best stops on a map.
Start
Seattle to Forks
Land in the evening, get the car, and drive four hours out to Forks so the first full day starts on the west side. We stayed at the Forks Motel.
Then head to
The rain forest and the coast, then Port Angeles
Hit Rialto and Second Beach at low tide for the tide pools, then walk the Hoh River Trail. Stop at Lake Crescent on the way to a night in Port Angeles, then drive up Hurricane Ridge the next morning and see Sol Duc Falls and Marymere Falls after.
Finish
Sequim and back to Seattle
A lavender farm stop and a night in Sequim put you an hour closer to the airport. Back in Seattle, have breakfast at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery and walk through Pike Place Market before the flight.
Home base
Seattle
Give it three nights for Pike Place, the Space Needle, the waterfront, and a ferry to Bainbridge.
Then head to
Mount Rainier
Make it a day trip or spend a night near Ashford. Go to Paradise for the meadows and Sunrise for the views. Reserve a timed entry in summer.
Add on
Mount St. Helens
It’s two hours south of Rainier. The eruption story is a good one for kids.
Start
Leavenworth
Head east over Stevens Pass to the Bavarian town and spend a night.
Then head to
Lake Chelan and WA-20
Drive north to the lake, then west on the North Cascades Highway past Diablo Lake.
Finish
Anacortes and the San Juans
Head back to the coast and take a ferry to Friday Harbor to look for orcas.
When to go
Time your visits with the weather and the region
We went over Memorial Day weekend, which was early for Hurricane Ridge and gray on the coast, and the summer crowds hadn’t arrived yet. July through September is the dry window, and it’s when the Hoh parking lot fills by 10. Pack a rain shell in any month.
Swipe the chart sideways to see the full year.
April – May
This is when we went, over Memorial Day weekend. It was cool and damp, snow was still on Hurricane Ridge, and the crowds were light. It’s fine with layers and low expectations for sun.
June
The rain tapers off and the high roads open. Rainier’s Paradise road is usually clear by late June.
July – September
This is the dry season and the only reliable sun on the coast. Crowds peak at the Hoh and Hurricane Ridge, so start early.
October – March
It rains on the west side and snows in the mountains. Hurricane Ridge opens for skiing on winter weekends. The rain forest is at its greenest.
Where to stay
Pick a good base to start your Washington adventure
Olympic has no road through the middle, so you’ll move at least once. We moved every night, west to east, in plain motels. Here’s how that worked, plus the city.
Olympic north
Port Angeles and Lake Crescent
We spent our second night at the Quality Inn in Port Angeles and our third at the Quality Inn in Sequim, half an hour east. Port Angeles has the road up to Hurricane Ridge, and Sequim is a drier, quieter town with lavender farms that shortens the drive back to Seattle. Lake Crescent Lodge is the park lodge 20 minutes west, open spring through fall.
- Quality Inn Port Angeles, where we stayed
- Quality Inn & Suites Sequim for the last night
- Lake Crescent Lodge for the lake out the door
Olympic west
Forks, Kalaloch, and Lake Quinault
Our first night was the Forks Motel, after the late drive out from the airport. Forks is the town closest to the Hoh and the beaches, and a motel is what you get. It’s also the Twilight town, which older kids will either love or roll their eyes at. Kalaloch Lodge sits on a bluff over the ocean, and Lake Quinault Lodge is the historic one in the south. Both book up a year ahead for summer.
- Forks Motel, where we stayed
- Kalaloch Lodge cabins for the beach
- Lake Quinault Lodge for the rain forest
Seattle
Downtown Seattle
Stay near Pike Place and the waterfront and you can walk to most of it. Points hotels are everywhere downtown, and the Bainbridge ferry leaves from Pier 52.
- Downtown for walking
- Hilton and Marriott points hotels near the market
- A ferry ride is the cheapest tour in town
Good to know
Questions families ask us about Washington
Three nights is the minimum, because the park has three different sides and no road between them. We did it over Memorial Day weekend in 2024: a night in Forks for the beaches and the Hoh Rain Forest, a night in Port Angeles for Hurricane Ridge, Sol Duc Falls, and Marymere Falls, and a night in Sequim before a Seattle morning and the flight home. Olympic took the crown as Carrie and Carrick’s favorite national park.
Yes, it is. The Hall of Mosses in the Hoh is under a mile and flat. The beaches are all about driftwood forts and tide pools. Hurricane Ridge has paved paths with big views. None of it requires a serious hike, and the variety keeps kids from getting bored of one kind of scenery.
Pack rain gear, layers, and waterproof shoes, even in summer. We went over Memorial Day weekend and it was cool and gray on the coast with snow at Hurricane Ridge. The west side gets 12 feet of rain a year. A beach towel is optional. A thermos is not.
Olympic doesn’t require timed entry, but the Hoh parking lot fills early in summer and the park lodges book a year out. Mount Rainier has required timed-entry reservations for the Paradise and Sunrise corridors in peak summer, so check the current rules before you go.
Fly into Seattle. From SEA it’s about two and a half hours to Port Angeles, either by road around the Sound through Tacoma or by the Bainbridge or Edmonds ferry. We rented a car at the airport on a Friday evening and drove straight out to Forks, then worked our way back east along US-101.
Washington has three: Olympic, Mount Rainier, and North Cascades. It also has 12 other National Park Service sites, including Lake Roosevelt, San Juan Island, and Fort Vancouver. We’ve been to Olympic. Our Washington national parks guide has all 15.
Map
Essential Washington, mapped
Keep exploring
Where to go next
Idaho with Kids
Sun Valley and Craters of the Moon are east over the mountains.
