Hoh River Trail Section Hike
Olympic National Park
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On the Olympic Peninsula of Washington you will find the beautiful and diverse Olympic National Park. One of the top attractions is the Hoh Rainforest, which is a temperate climate rainforest versus the more commonly known tropical climate rainforest. The Hoh Ranger Station serves as the starting point to explore many miles of trails through the rainforest and along the Hoh River. The Hoh River Trail is the most popular trail and meanders for 17 miles out to Blue Glacier at the base of Mount Olympus. This trip was the third time I had hiked on the Hoh River Trail but the first time I ventured beyond the tourists for a two day, one night, 10 mile backpack. This trip report only covers the first 10 miles, not the full 17 mile trail to Blue Glacier. Given this was a late October trip, the latter part of the trial had already experienced snow and below freezing temperatures, so I chose not to push further (on my to-do list for the future).
The first few miles of the Hoh River trail are highly trafficked with tourists strolling out from the Ranger Station on short walks or day hikes. The hike starts out in the dense old-growth forest. This area of WA receives a ton of rain, fog, and mist as the moisture rolls in right from the Pacific Ocean. It is impossible to capture how huge the trees are (over 300 feet) as well as how dense/lush the moss and ferns grow.
The first few miles of the Hoh River trail are highly trafficked with tourists strolling out from the Ranger Station on short walks or day hikes. The hike starts out in the dense old-growth forest. This area of WA receives a ton of rain, fog, and mist as the moisture rolls in right from the Pacific Ocean. It is impossible to capture how huge the trees are (over 300 feet) as well as how dense/lush the moss and ferns grow.
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After those initial miles deep in the rainforest, the views of the Hoh River start to appear and the foot traffic fades off. From there I encountered only four or five other parties for the next 24 hours. For the remainder of my hike, the trail meandered along the river (still staying within forest though) and past a series of campsites which were vacant this time of year. I should mention that rainforest = wet = mud. The trail was incredibly muddy and within a couple miles I'd soaked my shoes and tracked mud all over my pants.
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One benefit to this trail is that there are established campsites every few miles which gives a lot of flexibility to your route (if that is what you want). Personally, I was on the lookout for a stealth campsite on the gravel bank of the Hoh River. Around mile 10, near the Olympus Guard Station outpost, the sun was starting to sink and I decided to call it a day. Camping along the Hoh River bank is allowed, so I knew I just needed to find a good spot! After wandering around a bit I found the perfect place to pitch my tent - elevated a bit from the river, protected by an alcove of trees, and on durable surface...all with an amazing view. I spent the remainder of the evening exploring the river bank by my campsite and caught amazing alpenglow on the mountains at sunset.
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The overnight temperatures dipped below freezing, which was a little colder than I had expected, and I woke up in the morning with frost on my tent. However, I stayed warm thanks to my 20 degree sleeping bag and NeoAir XTherm sleeping pad. After a slow start that morning, not wanting to get out of my tent into the cold, I finally got packed up and made the trek back out to the Hoh Ranger Station. Overall, this was a nice late season overnight trip. On this part of the trail, the dense forest and mud can get a bit monotonous. But views of the Hoh River and stealth camping on its banks kept things interesting enough. I hope to go back in the future to complete the full trail and experience the most dramatic views leading up to Blue Glacier and Mount Olympus at the end.
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