Hoh Rain Forest and the Quinault Rain Forest
The Hoh Rain Forest. One of Washington's wonders.
The Quinault Rain Forest
This rainforest is in Olympic National Park, but it seldom gets the attention the Hoh Rain Forest does. It's around the Lake Quinault Lodge.
First, the Lodge.
Lake Quinault Lodge is on the south shore of Lake Quinault off Highway 101. President Franklin D. Roosevelt stayed there in 1930 as he traveled through to view and create the Olympic National Park. This is a rustic, beautiful timber lodge with a brick fireplace in the lobby to gather around and visit. The ceiling beams are painted with Native American designs.
It's quite charming. A Pacific Northwest dinner overlooking the lake would be a great treat. It's open all year. We're casual out here in the northwest coast, folks, so don't worry about dressing. Jeans and a t-shirt or sweatshirt is fine.
Click on the link above for more information. There are a lot of campgrounds in the area, too, if you don't want to stay at the lodge. Also click on the Forks site, above, to find information that will be helpful in the neighboring lodging and camping areas.
Now, the Quinault Rain Forest.
What has not been well-advertised is the half-mile trail behind the lodge, the Quinault Rainforest Nature Walk. This gravel walk gives you a view of a rainforest from another point, though I don't think it is as dramatic as the Hoh Rain Forest. There are other loop trails to traverse there, too.
Why so much rain?
The rainforest area sits where cool ocean currents, westerly winds and the Olympic Mountains provide an ideal situation for moisture. When the wet clouds move east from the Pacific Ocean the rise sharply and cool down as they meet the mountains. Their moisture is then released back into the air as rain or snow. What's even more interesting is the dry climate on the other side of the mountains in Sequim. That's an article for later.
If you
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