On my recent trip to Seattle, I had the privilege of taking a tour of Olympic National Park in Washington with Evergreen Escapes.
Having never visited a national park in the US before I didn’t know what to expect.
By the end of the day I was exhausted but thrilled that I was able to take part in such an informative tour and capture some breathtaking scenes on camera.
Our group of 10 was led by three naturalist guides who were extremely knowledgeable of the area and its history.
We started our day bright and early in the morning with a pick up near our hotel in a comfortable Mercedes van.
We took the ferry across Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island, a suburb of Seattle and headed to Sequim Bay.
We got to learn a bit about the area and see Jamestown S’Klallam tribal totem poles up close.
After snacking on some delicious, muffins, cookies, tea and coffee from a local bakery we then headed to the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge where we hiked out to the sandy spit (the longest natural sand spit in the US which grows about 15 feet per year).
Our guides set up a fantastic and delicious lunch while we explored. I was expecting sandwiches and juice and was delightfully surprised when it was gourmet dishes made with local and organic ingredients.
We dined on barbecue chicken, various salads, roasted vegetables and some leftover cookies from our morning snack break. Local wines also accompanied the meal as well and from what others were saying (I don’t drink much) they were just as good as the food.
Because of weather we were unable to visit Hurricane Ridge which offers views of the Olympic Mountains after lunch and our guides decided to drive a bit west of Port Angeles towards Crescent Lake.
Crescent Lake is a deep lake located entirely within this US national park and was created by icebergs carving out valleys during the Ice Age. It has been measured to be deeper than 400 feet in some parts of the lake.
We spent several hours hiking through the low-elevation rainforest around Crescent Lake.
Wild flowers, green foliage (if you think Seattle is green, you have to visit Olympic National Park!) and wild life were everywhere. We saw many blacktail deer and a few bald eagles during our tour.
The trek to the waterfall was worth it!
It was a long day for sure but full of lasting memories and beautiful photos.
The full day tour was about 12 hours from start to finish and I would highly recommend it for solo travellers, couples and families with tweens or teens.
Make sure you have a good pair of walking or running shoes as you will be getting a good workout on this Evergreen Escapes Olympic National Park tour!
Looks like something we would like to do, thanks for sharing! Will add it to our list of place to go!
This looks amazing and luscious and actually makes me miss my time living in Hawaii. I really need to get out of NYC and so do my kiddos. I’m glad that you shared this one. 🙂
I am not used to seeing so much greenery either Monica. I am located in Toronto so lots of concrete. I’d love to read your stories about living in Hawaii!
Wow! So neat to see blue skies in the first few photos in Seattle. With all your travels its so interesting you hadn’t visited a national park before. I love nature so much! Good thing I live where I live.
That might have been the only sunny day in Seattle the week I visited Heather LOL. We were just very lucky it worked out! There’s a first time for everything! My family is more of the theme park, beach resort, cruise kind of family so visiting a national park was pushing our boundaries.
how cool is this, would love to visit
Looks beautiful! I’ve never been to a U.S. National park either – would love to go.
Everything just took my breath away, Kerrie. I wasn’t expecting a park to look like that!!
This looks like such a fun and active trip! I love how you were able to hike through the park and try local wines and foods. I would love doing something like this, especially with all of the photo opportunities!
Thank you for coming to link up to Travel Tuesday!
what an amazing time! i especially love that delicious-looking lunch. and the greens, oh such colors!
I live in Victoria, BC but have never been to the Olympic National Park (a shame considered I have been to Port Angeles many times.
What was your favourite part of the trip?
Hmmm… tough question Steve! I think my favourite part would be just seeing so much greenery. Crescent Lake was breathtaking too.
Everything looks amazing. I would love to explore this area!
So beautiful — I need to get to Washington State!
It was very beautiful and I did not expect to enjoy the park as much as I did.
Wow! Gorgeous pictures!
I had planned to visit some of the national parks when we were in Washington, but we had to cut our trip short. I would love to return to explore the beautiful scenery. Your post makes me want to visit Seattle all over again.
Totally envious! I’ve spent no time in Washington, and it looks like such a pretty state.
It’s gorgeous – I was totally taken away by all the greenery. Not used to seeing lush forests like that where I live.
This does look like fun. I’d love to go some day.
I live literally half a mile from the place you saw the totem poles at! I’ve never even been to that park either (we just moved here a few months ago so we haven’t had a lot of time to explore yet). Thanks for sharing! I’ll have to go check it out!
You live in a beautiful neighbourhood Markell 🙂 Definitely check out the park. It is beautiful. The foliage is breathtaking.
We’re just trying to go camping in Olympic National Park. It’s so pretty! I hope I can find a campsite:)
that looks magnificent
I would love to visit there! I haven’t been to Washington since I was a kid. The scenery is beautiful!
Such beautiful photos! I live so close to Washington State, but I’ve never been to one of their National Parks before!
Looks like a fun thing to do. Will have to remember this if we ever get down to that area.
It’s amazing what parks have to offer, if you would take the time to go exploring.