Wanderlust Traveler: Lake Quinault, Washington

Lake Quinault, as viewed from July Creek Picnic Area in Olympic National Park.

We spent three days visiting Pacific Beach, which is located south of Olympic National Park and north of Ocean Shores on the Washington State coast. During this weekend getaway we spent one of our days driving up to Lake Quinault, which is located on the southern edge of Olympic National Park. The lake happens to be located within the Quinault Rain Forest and provides ample hiking and outdoor opportunities.

I also have two other entries from the trip that discuss our time spent in Pacific Beach and our visit to the town of Ocean Shores.

The drive from Pacific Beach to Lake Quinault took about an hour. Upon arrival, we immediately headed to the Lake Quinault Lodge where we hoped to eat an early lunch.

The regal lodge was built in 1926, was styled after Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. President Roosevelt happened to visit the lodge in 1937, and, evidently, the topic of establishing a National Park occurred over lunch. Nine months later, the bill creating Olympic National Park was signed by the president.

The lodge offers visitors rooms in the main part of the lodge and in several outlying buildings. Guests will enjoy relaxing on chairs spread throughout the property, most of which feature a beautiful lake view. The lodge also offers boat rentals and fun games to play including horseshoes.

Lake Quinault Lodge

Interior of Lake Quinault Lodge

Lake Quinault Lodge

The view from the deck of Lake Quinault Lodge

Liz and Adam at Lake Quinault Lodge

Shyawn and I at Lake Quinault Lodge

Lake Quinault Lodge

The view of the lake walking down from Lake Quinault Lodge.

Lake Quinault at Lake Quinault Lodge.

Yes, my fiance is a socks and sandals kind of guy!

Lake Quinault Lodge

We arrived at the lodge around 10:30 am and had been hoping to eat lunch, but the Roosevelt Room Restaurant was still serving breakfast. Since we were all quite hungry, we decided to go ahead and have breakfast. Fortunately, that ended up being a good decision.

The Roosevelt Room Restaurant at Lake Quinault Lodge.

Liz, Shyawn, and I all ordered the Portobello Eggs Benedict (Grill Portobello, Two Cage Free Eggs, Canadian Bacon, Hollandaise, Charred Tomatoes, Basil Pesto served with Breakfast Potatoes). Liz and Shyawn ordered the dish as listed above but I substituted an English muffin in place of the portobello mushroom. Adam ended up selecting the All American (Two Cage Free Eggs, Apple Wood Smoked Bacon, and Breakfast Potatoes). All the dishes were wonderful, but my substitution proved to be a wise choice as my plate was proclaimed to be the best of the meal.

Eggs Benedict from the Roosevelt Room Restaurant at Lake Quinault Lodge.

All American from the Roosevelt Room Restaurant at Lake Quinault Lodge.

After we finished our meal at Lake Quinault Lodge, we began several hours of hiking in the Quinault National Recreation Trail System. The first hike we completed was to Cascade Falls, which was about a mile round-trip over fairly even terrain and also took us over Falls Creek.

Cascade Falls hike in the Quinault Rain Forest.

Falls Creek along the Cascade Falls hike in the Quinault Rain Forest.

Cascade Falls hike in the Quinault Rain Forest.

Our second hike was to the World's Largest Sitka Spruce, which was an extremely easy and completely-level .6 mile round-trip hike. The large tree was quite impressive but so much so that I had difficulty photographing the entire tree in a single frame, even when positioning myself on the ground. The tree is estimated to be about 1000 years old and is 191 feet tall!

World's Largest Sitka Spruce hike in the Quinault Rain Forest.

World's Largest Sitka Spruce in the Quinault Rain Forest.

Shyawn posing atop the root system of the World's Largest Sitka Spruce in the Quinault Rain Forest.

World's Largest Sitka Spruce hike in the Quinault Rain Forest.

World's Largest Sitka Spruce in the Quinault Rain Forest.

World's Largest Sitka Spruce hike in the Quinault Rain Forest.

Our third hike of the day was the .5 mile round-trip Rain Forest Nature Trail Loop, probably the most popular trail in the entire Quinault National Recreation Trail System. The trail is wheelchair accessible and provided some of the most beautiful scenery out of all the hiking we did that day, especially the small waterfall along Willaby Creek.

Rain Forest Nature Trail Loop hike in the Quinault Rain Forest.

A nurse log along the Rain Forest Nature Trail Loop hike in the Quinault Rain Forest.

Willaby Creek along the Rain Forest Nature Trail Loop hike in the Quinault Rain Forest.

Rain Forest Nature Trail Loop hike in the Quinault Rain Forest.

Willaby Creek along Rain Forest Nature Trail Loop hike in the Quinault Rain Forest.

Rain Forest Nature Trail Loop hike in the Quinault Rain Forest.

Next, we headed into Olympic National Park to the ONP Quinault River Ranger Station. At this location there are two intersecting trails that you can walk along (Maple Glade Nature Trail and Kestner Homestead Trail). We just to do the shorter loop, which was Maple Glade Nature Trail. This hike was also very easy with completely flat terrain. The scenery along this trail was incredibly beautiful with lots of soft moss hanging from the trees and bushes with the sunlight filtering through the leaves. It was definitely my favorite trail of the day.

Maple Glade Nature Trail in Olympic National Park.

Before heading back to Pacific Beach and leaving Olympic National Park, we drove a few miles away from the ONP Quinault River Ranger Station to the July Creek Picnic Area. After parking the car we headed down an embankment until we reached the edge of the lake. Unlike our earlier morning visit to Lake Quinault, this time the sun was shining, making the lake appear completely different than when it was under cloudy skies.