The Olympic National Forest is not contiguous. You find it basically around the Outside of Olympic National Park on Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. It says Olympia is the closest city, but that would depend where you are in the Forest. Aberdeen, Port Angeles and Forks are all close.

Olympic National Forest has many reasons to visit. The Quinault Rain Forest and the "Valley of the Rainforest Giants" are two.

I am most familiar with the Quinault Ranger District. The historic Lake Quinault Lodge is found here and some the best nature trails found on the Olympic Peninsula. These trails follow cascading creeks, and traverse through giant Old Growth and even a record size evergreen or two.
If you are looking for information about traveling to the Olympic Peninsula, you may not find as much about the National Forest because the Olympic National Park gets the lions share of write ups in guide books about this area. I think it is sad that most guide books will mention the "Maple Glade Trail" on the North Shore in the Park, but say nothing about the "Quinault Loop trail" or "Gatton Creek Trail" on the South Shore because they are "only" in the Forest. I would recommend hike all these trails, but if you could only do one, Gatton Creek Trail would easily be my choice.
The Boundaries of the Olympic National Park and Forest are not helpful to tourists. These boundaries cause agencies to favor one place over another. Hoh and Quinault Rain Forests have trees, moss and ferns and rainfall enough to be Temperate Rain Forests. The Hoh has the Parks attention because of boundaries. While Quinault also has Lake Quinault, and Six record size trees, including the State's Largest Tree and the biggest trees found anywhere outside of California, but not wholly in the Park but also Forest, is overlooked again by many.

The Forest Service Campgrounds are the located on the Lake. These campgrounds are great for tenters or small RVs. There is a RV Park at the End of the Lake not in the Forest.


The Olympic National Forest has many opportunities that you can't do in the ON Park, like hunting and picking ferns or even buying Christmas Trees. You do need to have permits or pay fees.



Recommended: Yes

Best time to go: Anytime
Recommended for: Anybody
Review Topic: Hiking & Trails