Olympic National Park: Beach, mountains and forest all in one place

Tracy Loew | USA TODAY

Olympic National Park's nearly 1 million acres include something for everyone.

The park, in the northwest corner of Washington state, boasts 73 miles of Pacific coastline.

Its valleys contain some of the largest remaining ancient forests in the country.

And in the center are the Olympic Mountains, topped with massive, ancient glaciers.

"You've got mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, lakes, ocean beaches and rainforests — all within the boundaries of one national park," says Lauren Shaw, 28, of Edmonds, Wash., who hikes and backpacks in the park. "There are so many options — you can do a short day trip or spend days, even weeks wandering through the wilderness of the park."

Visitors can explore tide pools or wildflower meadows, hike, raft or ski, or search for plants and animals unique to the park, such as the Olympic marmot.

They can explore more than 650 archaeological sites — tracing prehistoric inhabitants through American Indian tribes to Euro-American settlement.

And they can stay at a resort, a hotel or one of more than 900 campsites in the park.

"It's not like some parks, where you drive in and see one thing," says park spokeswoman Barb Maynes, who has worked there for a quarter-century. "There are many, many things here."

With so many options, here are a few places to begin:

For a short visit, take a two-hour scenic loop drive through the Quinault rainforest. There are lots of places along the way to stop and take a short hike or view waterfalls and wildlife.

Hurricane Ridge is a popular destination for winter recreation, with snowshoeing, snowboarding, tubing and cross-country and downhill skiing.

Lake Crescent, about 18 miles west of Port Angeles, is easily accessible and an ideal base for exploring. The lake is known for its brilliant blue waters and offers a number of water sports.

The park also is home to the largest dam removal project in history. The removal of Elwha and Glines Canyon dams on the Elwha River began in 2011. This is the first summer that both dams are completely gone, revealing an entirely new landscape. "Salmon have returned to the Elwha River and have been up within the national park for the first time in 100 years," Maynes says.

Also new this year are three projects aimed at making the park more accessible, Maynes says.

This summer, a wheelchair-accessible visitor overlook will open for viewing the restoration in

progress from the dam removal project. "It's a 200-foot-deep canyon," Maynes says. "It's a really beautiful site."

The Log Cabin Resort on Lake Crescent is finishing an accessible dock that will allow people in wheelchairs to get into canoes and boats, Maynes says.

And near the resort, the Spruce Railroad Trail is being made wheelchair accessible.

Shaw says her favorite experience in the park was backpacking the High Divide-Seven Lakes Basin Loop.

"Few things can beat hiking up a hillside painted with wildflowers or pitching a tent on a ridge with a front-row seat of Mount Olympus," Shaw says. "It's hard to have a bad day in the Olympics."

Loew also reports for the Salem, Ore., Statesman Journal.

About the park

Size: 922,650 acres

Visitors: 3,243,872 in 2014

Established: 1938

History: In 1909, President Theodore Roosevelt created Mount Olympus National Monument. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation creating the national park. In 1976, it became an International Biosphere Reserve. In 1981, it was designated a World Heritage Site, and in 1988, Congress designated 95% of the park as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System.

When visiting: U.S. Highway 101, which goes around the Olympic Peninsula, offers access to all park destinations. For information, call 360-565-3130.

Of note: Removal of two dams on the Elwha River is the second-largest ecosystem restoration project in the National Park System.