When I worked at Olympic National Park, most visitors arrived in Port Angeles exhausted and shocked that the drive had taken them as long as it had. Though it looks much closer on a map, the trip takes about three hours (more with traffic) from Seattle. Olympic is after all a peninsula, with water on three sides, and between it and the west the water pushes into the land like greedy fingers.
And these visitors, who maybe didn’t get the early start they were hoping for and are now dreading the long drive back, would ask me (often irritably) “What can I see of the park in a day?”
My honest answer would have been “Not much.” Or, “It’s already midday–you should just go home and plan better next time.”
From Port Angeles, the western entrance to the park, it was another hour’s drive to reach the mountains, two hours to the rainforest, or three hours to the coast. This is not a park that can be seen in one day, even if you’re not tacking on a six hour drive.
But then there were the visitors who had the time and enthusiasm to see it all, to explore the park and peninsula in all its glory. These people were most often looking for the park’s greatest hits, and why wouldn’t they be? Mountains, rainforest, ocean–the three-parks-in-one moniker is apt.
But sometimes, on occasion, someone would ask me about my favorite hidden gem, some place not many people go. And I would tell them to go northwest.
The most northwestern point of the contiguous US (the Lower 48, as we called it when I lived in Alaska), is Cape Flattery. It’s situated right at the tippy top of the Olympic Peninsula, and is not actually a part of the national park. It is a part of the Makah Indian Reservation, a place that–were I planning a trip to the OP–I would not miss.
Stop 1. Ozette Triangle Hike
In terms of Hours From Port Angeles–the unit of measure I used most often while living there–Ozette and Cape Flattery are at About Two. This is maybe the most remote area of the peninsula that you can drive to; the map shows nothing but white blank space for miles, except for the faint blue lines of the ever present waterways and a couple of red roads.
There is only one road to get to these sites, and little in the way of towns or restaurants or development of any kind. If this sounds like your kind of adventure, then keep reading.
Ozette Lake is beautiful, and worth a visit (or paddle) in its own right. But what I’m going to recommend to those with only a day or two to spend up in this remote corner of America, is to head straight for the Ozette Triangle hike.
The hike covers about nine miles–three miles out to the beach, three miles over rocky, intertidal heaven (remember to check the tides before you go!), and then three miles back to the start (hence the name Triangle).
The sections of trail that lead to the beach have plenty of boardwalks that navigate you over mucky, coastal forest. It’s a flat hike, but the scenic variety over the nine miles keeps things interesting. It is one of my absolute favorite hikes in Olympic.
The Ozette Triangle is a part of the national park. It is also one segment of a longer coastal backpacking trek. You may run into campers on the coast. You will certainly experience the rugged scenery of the Pacific coastline.
And while you are exploring this coast, the wind trying to steal the hat from your head, the air reeking of brine and life and decaying ocean-things, take a moment to think about what it would be like to not just visit, but to have inhabited this spot for thousands of years.
That is the only way to prepare for the next place you will visit.
Stop 2. The Museum at the Makah Research and Cultural Center
Often when people are traveling, they visit museums to learn more about the local people, culture, and history. It is not often, though, that when you are in one of the most remote parts of an already remote peninsula, that you stumble across one of the finest museums you’ve ever been to.
Of course, that distinction is yours to make. I’ll let you judge where the Makah Museum ranks among your best museums list, once you’ve visited. What I will say is that it ranks highly for me.
Near the Ozette Triangle beach, a Makah village once sat. The Makah inhabited the area for thousands of years, learning to live from the bounty of the ocean and forest. They constructed boats, homes, art, and a complex society that endures to this day.
And then one day a few hundred years ago, that village was consumed by a sudden and tragic event. A mudslide encased the community and all its possessions. And, like the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, the entire village sat preserved and waiting to be discovered for a very long time.
A winter storm in 1970 sloughed off layers of mud, and finally the bounty of artifacts was revealed. A few months later an excavation began.
But, unlike many excavations of ancient societies around the world, this work was undertaken under the care of the descendants of that society.
The Makah Tribe oversaw the dig and took possession of its artifacts. Tribal members trained to become experts in the excavation and preservation of their own heritage. They designed and, to this day, manage the museum. Unlike so many other indigenous peoples around the world, the Makah are able to tell their own story.
And what a story it is. The museum is small but impactful, simple but rich with complex history. There is nothing ostentatious about it or its artifacts, but their sheer number–more than 50,000 pieces were found–and impressive size–intact longhouses and boats–give you a sense of the pride that must have lived in the people that built such a village and such a museum to honor it.
If you took my directive and listened to the crashing waves, felt the smack of the wind off the Pacific, smelled the mud and muck of the Ozette Beach, then you will be reminded of it as you walk through this ancient coastal village. You will have explored a place and then learned about the people that cherished it for generations, not a bad day’s (or couple of days–don’t kill yourself) effort.
Bonus Stops: Cape Flattery and Shi Shi Beach
The most popular places to visit once you’ve made the long trek out to this pocket of the peninsula, are a remote beach only accessed by hiking and Cape Flattery. Both are special spots, both are worth the visit, and both require you to go to the Makah Museum for a permit (so why not take a look around while you’re there?).
Cape Flattery is a short out and back hike of about 1.2 miles (~2 km), fairly flat and easy. The payoff here is tremendous–the views at the end are stunning. Bring your binoculars to watch the birds swirling over the lighthouse on Tatoosh Island. Listen to the violent waves crashing against the cliffs below. Revel in the fact that you are in the northwesternmost point of the lower US, which is kind of cool, I guess.
Shi Shi Beach is a few mile hike (the distance depending on where you start and to which part of the beach you are headed) that plods through muddy forest and over lovely cliffs. The trail itself isn’t much, but the fact that you have to hike for miles to reach this beach makes it popular for its supposed remoteness.
In reality the beach is cramped most of the summer with tents and visitors. (And sometimes human waste. There are literally pit toilets–please use them.)
It’s worth a trip to see what all the fuss is about, but this is not a favorite destination for locals, what with the crowds. (And human feces–like, seriously, digging a hole in sand is not effective once the tide rolls in–there are three pit toilets!)
Essentially, whatever you do in this area will be special. But if you’re driving out all that way, take a moment to appreciate the people who’s home it is. Visit the Makah Museum.