Olympic National Park, located in northwestern Washington State, is one of America’s most diverse national parks. Most of the parks in the park system feature a particular type of landscape, ie, Grand Canyon NP, Badlands NP, Rocky Mountain NP. However, Olympic is different. There are three (3) distinct types of habitat or ecosystem within the park boundaries. There are mountains, represented by Hurricane Ridge,

Hurricane Ridge

sandy shorelines, represented by Ruby Beach,

Ruby Beach

 and there is the amazing and fascinating Temperate Rain Forest, represented by the Hoh Rain Forest. This particular environment is characterized by tremendous amounts of yearly rainfall and the presence of mosses which drape the trees and shrubs of the forest, creating an other-worldly landscape.

Hoh Rain Forest

 Olympic is easily accessible from Seattle, Washington. I suggest doing an entire loop around the Olympic Peninsula, however, it is a lot of driving..