Visit the Olympic National Park and Lake Quinault

A weekend excursion does not have to be far and expensive. The Pacific Northwest is one of the most beautiful places to visit. The State of Washington has many points of interest for the short time traveler. A weekend trip for pictures and relaxation took my husband and I north on I-5. We traveled west on Hwy 101 and found ourselves traveling to the quaint town of Ocean Shores. Located on the Olympic Peninsula. Famous for the rain forest and the local town of Forks and the La Push Indian Reservation, both Forks and La Push are deriving their fame from the novels written by Stephanie Myers, the "Twilight" series.

Our destination for the weekend was Ocean Shores located in the Olympic Rain forest, and a stay at the local Comfort Inn. Located at 829 Ocean Shores Blvd N.W., Ocean Shores, Washington, 360-289-9008. We have never had the pleasure of visiting a Comfort Inn so this was quite an experience for us. The room was a 2-bed queen room on the 4th floor of the hotel, cost $96.15 for one night double occupancy. Quite reasonably priced and a full breakfast was served in the morning featuring Starbucks Coffee, hard boiled eggs, muffins, waffles, cereal, and juice. The location was central and very easy to drive to, and the staff was all very helpful, meeting us at the front desk with fresh baked cookies upon our arrival.

After a great morning meal we continued our journey down 101 for our photograph excursion. Passing through many extremely small towns we arrived at Lake Quinault home of the Quinault lodge and surrounded by the Quinault Rain Forest. This beautiful lodge is like stepping back in time. The rooms are fashioned from a time of the past. Claw foot bathtubs and fireplaces are one of the draws to this beautifully featured Lodge. This historic lodge has 5 various styles of rooms, the fireplace Rooms are the best called the best in the house, filled with king size beds, satellite TV/VCR, each room has a private bathroom with tub and shower and a view of Lake Quinault. Private patio or balcony makes this a great room for romantic couples. Next is the Main Lodge Rooms, build in 1926 these rooms are available with or without views of the lake and have a choice of queen size bed or two double beds. Bathrooms are equipped with a walk in shower or claw foot tub.

Lakeside Rooms can have either King size or two double beds. Satellite TV with attached balcony and some offer a partial view of the lake. Beverly Suite is exactly that a suite. However this suite is the entire top floor of the Boathouse, which was built in 1923, and has a 360-degree view of the Main Lodge, forest and Lake Quinault. The bedroom has a king size bed and private bathroom with walk in shower. The Boathouse rooms located in the annex below the Beverly suite equipped with one or two double beds and full size futon and private bath, they come with or without a view of the lake. This is the only area within the lodge that is pet friendly.

Cost of the rooms varies depending on peak or low season, Peak season cost ranges from $145.00 to $249.00, low season cost is $100.00 to $165.00. There is a $2.00 fee per pet for the pet friendly rooms.

Lake Quinault is a great place for the hiker and you can either choose between a 4- mile hick on the Quinault Loop trail or the half-mile Maple Glade Trail. Visit the world's largest Sitka Spruce tree, and take photos of the giant Hemlock, Douglas fir and the great western Red Cedar. This magnificent rain forest receives an average of 12-feet of rain per year; the Quinault Indians used the Lake as a summering place for salmon, hunting, berries and fun. The first road to Lake Quinault was built in 1914.

If you travel a bit farther down Hwy 101 you can visit the worlds largest Cedar Tree. Just about .3 miles from the highway it is marked quite well aptly called the Big Cedar. Pictures are available in the slide show referred to at the end of this article.

As we traveled around the National Park we were able to get beautiful pictures of Lake Crescent while the clouds reflected on the water. Time was running short for the daylight so we had to click and run, time also did not permit us to visit Lake
Crescent Lodge in order to continue our road trip and return home when we had scheduled to do so. This historic lodge was built in 1916 and offers guest rooms and many other amenities for the vacationer. Our party was short on time so we will make a second trip to the Olympic Rain Forest to visit Lake Crescent Lodge.

A quick stop in Forks the home of Twilight and a nice dinner at the local diner and we were back on the road again. Forks boasts a Twilight tour and trip to La Push Indian Reservation but the brochures we found indicated that the tours are booked full throughout the next few months. With time for our trip running short we headed on down Hwy 101 and around the last of the Rain Forest and National Park we ended our trip in Olympia Washington catching I-5 Southbound for a return to Portland in a short 2 hour trip back home by freeway. This two-day short vacation gave us much relaxation and a great set of photographs for our collection.

Photos of this weekend trip can be seen at Olympic Peninsula