The Quinault Valley Rain Forest in Olympic National Park

We spent three days in Olympic NP, during which we went on multiple hikes in several different parts of the park. Three days were barely enough to fully experience Olympic NP, as it is probably the most diverse national park in the US; it protects a rain forest, beautiful and wild coast and beaches, several lakes and mountains, as well as a variety of plants and animals.

The very first hike that we did in the park was the Maple Glade Rain Forest Hike in the Quinault Rain Forest, near Lake Quinault. It was a short (1 mile round trip), level, mostly boardwalk hike, that within seconds brought us to the heart of the temperate rain forest. The landscape there was dominated by Giant western hemlocks, Douglas-firs, and Sitka spruce trees, and forest floor was covered by ferns and moss.

Even though it was a short hike, both Anil and I enjoyed it a lot. We loved how lush green it was and how fresh the air felt. As a matter of fact, we loved it so much that we did not even mind that it was raining all the time we were there. The thick forest cover was anyway pretty good at protecting us from the rain.


The Quinault Rain Forest:

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