I FINALLY Made It to This Mossy Dreamworld in Olympic National Park…Here are My Favorite Hikes in the Hoh Rain Forest
Everybody has a place that’s been on their bucket list to visit for ages right? You saw it somewhere…in a magazine, in a movie, on social media…and you just knew that you had to see it in person someday.
Well, mine has always been the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park. The first time I saw pictures of it, it didn’t even look real. It was hard to believe that a place like that existed, let alone in the US.
So I basically planned my first trip to the Pacific Northwest just to go to Olympic National Park and see the Hoh Rain Forest. (Pronounced “hoe”)
It turns out there’s a lot to like about the Pacific Northwest (read about my 7 day itinerary here), and I’ll definitely be going back.
And the Hoh Rain Forest didn’t disappoint!
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park:
The Best Hikes in the Hoh Rain Forest
First off, here’s the lay of the land: The Hoh Rain Forest is just one part of Olympic National Park. The park is large (it sweeps across most of the Olympic Peninsula) and very diverse (mountains, waterfalls, coastal areas, the rain forests, and an alpine lake).
The Hoh Rain Forest is accessed from the western side of the park about 13 miles south of Forks, WA. From the turnoff on 101, it’s about 18 miles back to the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center where all of the trailheads are.
From Port Angeles (the main town/gateway to Olympic National Park) on the north side of the park, it’s almost 2 hours to the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center.
On my trip, I spent two nights in Seattle, two nights in Forks, WA, and two nights in Portland.
We spent the whole day traveling from Seattle to Forks stopping at different spots along the northern side of the park (Hurricane Ridge, Madison Falls at Elwha, Lake Crescent, Sol Duc Falls, etc.)
We spent the night in Forks and then spent the entire next day in the Hoh Rain Forest and the park’s coastal areas.
If the Hoh Rain Forest is a big priority on your trip, I HIGHLY recommend spending the night somewhere on the western side of the peninsula so you can get an early start on the trails at Hoh. They’re very popular and can get really busy later in the day (especially in the summer) and if you’re driving over from Port Angeles, you’ll probably end up hiking with a LOT of people.
We stayed at the Woodlands Inns in Fork and I really recommend it. There are a dozen little cabins that are perfectly outfitted for a short stay.
Okay, onto the hiking!
There are three official trails in the Hoh Rain Forest. Two short ones and one really long one that most people just do a portion of.
Hall of Mosses Trail
(0.8 mile loop)
This short hike is the showpiece of not only the Hoh Rain Forest, but of Olympic National Park overall.
This is what you come to see folks!
It’s dramatic and otherworldly and don’t let that 0.8 mile distance fool you…we spent about an hour on this trail.
You’ll want to stop every little bit to soak it all in and take photos.
It’s not a difficult hike at all, and while it’s not paved it’s mostly flat and very easily walkable.
Spruce Nature Trail
(1.2 mile loop)
When you finish the Hall of Mosses loop, it’s really easy to hop over to the Spruce Nature Trail loop. It’s a tad bit longer, but similar to Hall of Mosses…mostly flat and very walkable.
As far as the scenery goes…it’s also pretty similar to Hall of Mosses, but not quite as dramatic. I see a lot of people recommending this trail over Hall of Mosses because it’s usually less crowded, but it just doesn’t have that over the top wow factor so I definitely wouldn’t suggest it as an alternative…it’s more of a you need to do both situation.
That the Spruce Nature Trail has is water. Part of the trail runs along the Hoh River which is beautiful, but one of the most stunning parts of this entire area was towards the end of the Spruce Nature Trail. This creek comes through and when the light hits just right it’s probably one of the most idyllic places I’ve ever seen.
Hoh River Trail
(18.5 miles out and back)
Since we only had limited time in the area and we wanted to explore the coastal areas, we only hiked the Hall of Mosses and Spruce Nature Trail, but if you’re looking for even more, you can tackle part of the Hoh River Trail.
It’s a long hike that goes all the way to Blue Glacier with views of Mt. Olympus (18.5 miles out), but if you’re not up for overnight camping, there are a few significant turn around points:
- First river access (0.9 mile one way / 1.8 miles round trip)
- Mineral Creek Falls (2.7 miles one way / 5.4 miles round trip)
- Cedar Grove (4 miles one way / 8 miles round trip)
- 5 Mile Island (5 miles one way / 10 miles round trip)
Which hike is best?
I’ve listed these hikes not just in order of popularity, but how I would prioritize them. If you’re super short on time, you must do Hall of Mosses. But really since they’re both so short, you should have plenty of time for Hall of Mosses and Spruce Nature Trail. And if you’ve got all day, you should be able to do those two plus make it to Mineral Creek Falls and back on the Hoh River Trail.
But if you’ve only got one full day on this side of the park, I would still recommend to do what I did: Hike Hall of Mosses and Spruce Nature Trail early in the morning and then spend the rest of the day in the coastal areas (Rialto Beach’s Hole in the Wall hike or Ruby Beach).
We arrived at the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center about 8:15 AM and left about 10:30 AM. We hiked at a very leisurely pace (I’d hesitate to even call it hiking ; ) and even spent some time trying to track down a park ranger to get our National Passports stamped since the visitor center was closed (it’s open daily in the summer but only on the weekends in the offseason).
And with this being a big bucket list thing for me, I felt like hiking those two trails and spending about two hours here was just right.
What to Wear Hiking in the Hoh Rain Forest
It’s a rain Forest so the odds of getting a little rain are pretty high…this area actually gets an average of 137.69 inches of rain a year!
We lucked out on our whole trip and had mostly sunny weather even if it was chilly in the mornings, but you definitely want to come prepared for all kinds of weather here.
In late May I wore: jeans and Chelsea boots, a tee and flannel shirt, insulated rain jacket, and a stocking hat. At 8:15 AM when we started, I was pretty cold, but after hiking the two trails and it warming up a bit, I was ready to shed my outer layer.
Want to read more posts about the area?
Pacific Northwest 7 Day Road Trip Itinerary
2 Days in Olympic National Park