The two and a half hour drive from Downtown Seattle to Olympic National Park was probably the most scenic drives we’ve ever taken. The drive starts out with a car ferry ride across Puget Sound to Bainbridge island. Once on Bainbridge, you’ll cross over a number of bridges to get to the Olympic peninsula where you’ll pass through tunnels, cruise along the coast and finally criss-cross your way up the windy road to the visitor center.

Trip Report

Drive To National Park From Seattle

The Seattle car ferry service has a number of routes. We took the ferry from Downtown Seattle across the water to Bainbridge island.

Ferry ride to Olympic National Park

If you are concerned about traffic, you can view the ferry terminals online here.

Ferry ride to Olympic National Park 2

The drive included a few bridges to get across to the Olympic peninsula.

Drive over Bridge to Olympic National Park

There were a few tunnels along the way as well which made for a nice drive. The drive is made for a car commercial.

Drive through tunnel to Olympic National Park

Olympic National Park

After a stop for lunch in Port Angeles, we finally made it to the Olympic National Park visitors center. We parked and were immediately greeted by a friendly deer.

Olympic National Park Parking

This deer was so friendly it came within a few feet.

Olympic National Park Deer

 

Olympic National Park View 4

After our dalliance with the deer we headed off on our hike. There are a number of hiking paths to take, we chose the one to Hurricane Ridge.

The path led us to Sunrise Point which was about a half mile loop.

image

Olympic National Park View 3

Olympic National Park View 2

Olympic National Park Cabin

We had the ridge all to ourselves on this clear day. Is it always this sunny in Seattle? We snapped a few pictures of us with a tri-pod and took in the views.

Olympic National Park View 1

Bottom Line

Our day trip to the Olympic National Park was a great way to spend the day. Even though it was a sunny August day, it was quite cold at the top. Don’t forget to bring a sweater and a camera if you visit Olympic National Park.

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  • Dave said,

    Shhhh…. don’t tell everyone. Seattle in summer is the best weather in the country – sunny days & cool nights.

  • william said,

    @Dave its no secret my friend, I believe PDX and Seattle consistently get rated as having the best summer weather in the country, people just don’t believe theres anything worth seeing above SF….. but thats okay with us!

  • Bob said,

    I also was in Olympic National Park in August, except that I flew into Portland, drove to the Oregon Coast for a few days, then up the Washington coast, then into the park and ended my trip in Seattle. Wonderful trip! I plan to visit Vancouver Island on my next trip to the region.

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    [...] Mountain Day up to Olympic National Park [...]

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    [...] require a rental car. Then there are other times when you want to get out and explore. Like when we rented a car during our recent trip to Seattle to travel across Puget sound, up the Olympic peninsul…. No matter what reason you have to rent a car, there is one thing for sure, you can earn a ton of [...]

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    [...] a long day on the Olympic Peninsula and in the Olympic National Park, we decided to stay close explore the Seattle area. The first place on our stop was the Pike Place [...]

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    [...] our last full day in Seattle we were ready for a relaxing day. We had already hiked Mount Olympic National Park, explored a local market and island hopped around the San Juan Islands, all with the sun shining on [...]

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