Olympic Peninsula - Mt. Ranier Park advice

[jayz]

i'll be heading across the country to spend around 3 weeks in washington with my family and my brother's family.  I'm looking for some advice on best locations for the Olympic and ranier NP areas.  between us we are going to have 7 kids aged 1.5 to 11, which means we will proably be able to sneak off for sunrise and sunset for shooting, but will be restricted to kid friendly hikes most of the time. Would appreciate some advice on locations and best timing for both Olympic and Ranier.

[RobSaecker]

Jay,

what kinds of things are you interested in? For vistas, you can drive up to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic NP and get great views across the Straight to Canada and east across the Sound. Panorama Point on Mt. Rainier is also fabulous, on a clear day you can see St. Helens and Mt. Adams, maybe even Mt. Hood, but it's hardly a kid friendly hike. There are lots of trails around Paradise, but it can get really busy there (especially on weekends), so try to go early. And Rainier can be clouded in at any time, so watch the weather reports to try to find a good day.

[Lisa Nikodym]

Don't miss the Hoh rainforest in Olympic.  You can't get any greener, mossier, and lusher than that.  I imagine the kids would probably enjoy it too, and you don't need to hike far to enjoy the "good stuff".

Lisa

[jayz]

Jay,

what kinds of things are you interested in? For vistas, you can drive up to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic NP and get great views across the Straight to Canada and east across the Sound. Panorama Point on Mt. Rainier is also fabulous, on a clear day you can see St. Helens and Mt. Adams, maybe even Mt. Hood, but it's hardly a kid friendly hike. There are lots of trails around Paradise, but it can get really busy there (especially on weekends), so try to go early. And Rainier can be clouded in at any time, so watch the weather reports to try to find a good day.

For Olympic, I'm mainly interested in the beaches that are easy to access with toddlers and I've heard about the Hoh rainforest, but don't know what locations to hit there.
Ranier I've heard about reflection lake and am interested in getting shots of the mountains with reflections, as wel as wildflowers.

[jayz]

Don't miss the Hoh rainforest in Olympic.  You can't get any greener, mossier, and lusher than that.  I imagine the kids would probably enjoy it too, and you don't need to hike far to enjoy the "good stuff".

Lisa

thanks Lisa.  I've seen photos from there, just wasn't sure if there hidden places, or if all the locations are well known.

[Lisa Nikodym]

The Hoh rainforest is pretty much all similar, as far as I could tell.  Just park at the visitor center there and start wandering down the trails.  I don't know of any specific locations in it, just all of it!

Lisa

[larryg]

Also Sol Duc Falls  and the stream (usually with moss on rocks)  alothough a flash flood pretty muched washed away but should be back in good condition by now. Iconic images from that trail

Rialto Beach is nice
Quinalt Rain Forest ok too.


On the road as you pass the lakes look for the trees reflected in the water  under right cloud cover it could be good

I concur on the Hurricane Ridge  (before sunrise)


have a great trip