For our second day at Olympic National Park we originally had planned a long hike on the Sol Duc River, but we both had people recommend visiting Lake Crescent we decided to shorten our hike to Sol Duc Falls and then do a few trails in the Lake Crescent Area.
We began by driving to the Sol Duc Trailhead which was nearly deserted at 6am on a Tuesday morning.
Map of the area trails at the trailhead.
We set off down a set of stairs on the trail.
Anyone know why the spelling on the sign is different?
Violets
Bridge over an unnamed creek.
Trillium
Coltsfoot
Fairy bells
Near the three quarters of a mile mark we came to the Sol Duc Shelter.
Just beyond the shelter was a footbridge over the Sol Duc River at Sol Duc Falls.
Depending on the volume of water there are up to four channels which was the situation on this day.
Heather on the bridge above the falls.
We spent some time admiring the falls then headed back passing a handful of hikers on their way in. Our hike here was just under two miles with approximately 200′ of elevation gain.
From the Sol Duc Trailhead it was a little over half an hour to another waterfall trailhead, Marymere Falls.
It was still just a quarter to eight when we parked here so this lot was fairly empty as well. We set off on the well signed trail past the Storm King Rangers Station.
Storm King Ranger Station
The trail passed under Highway 101 and was relatively level to its crossing of Barns Creek.
Forget-me-nots (non-native) along the trail.
Lake Crescent
Storm King Trail to the left.
Marymere Falls Trail junction with the Barnes Creek Trail.
Footbridge over Barnes Creek.
Barnes Creek
Trillium
Footbridge over Falls Creek almost immediately after crossing Barnes Creek.
Falls Creek
On the far side of Falls Creek a loop began and the trail started to climb to a viewpoint of Marymere Falls.
Start of the clockwise loop.
Marymere Falls
The trail climbing up from the first viewpoint.
Marymere Falls from the second viewpoint.
Final viewpoint before the loop curved away from the falls and descended back to its start.
We completed the loop and headed back to the car.
The footbridges over the two creeks.
Unnamed fall on Falls Creek from the footbridge.
This hike also came in just under two miles, but with 500′ of elevation gain.
From the Marymere Falls Trailhead we drove east on Highway 101 toward Port Angeles to the end of Lake Crescent then turned left onto East Beach Road for three miles and left again on Boundary Creek Road to its end at the trailhead.
It was now almost 9am so there were a few cars parked here already.
This paved trail follows a former railroad along Lake Crescent.
Our plan was to hike to the second of two tunnels and visit the Devil’s Punchbowl along the way. After a short initial climb the trail descended to the old railroad and leveled out as it followed the lakeshore.
Various poems were located along the first mile of the trail.
This trail is open to a variety of users.
Haiku
A second haiku.
Common whipplea
Starflower
Valerian
A dirt trail signed for the Devil’s Punchbowl split off to the left at the first tunnel.
Clear water in Lake Crescent.
Paintbrush
Something in the pea family.
Nearing Devil’s Punchbowl.
Devil’s Punchbowl
There was a fair amount of poison oak along the trail to Devil’s Punchbowl.
Madrones
Honeysuckle
Common cryptantha
Rejoining the railroad trail on the far side of the tunnel.
Butterfly
Another type of trail user.
View west.
View east.
Big deervetch
Fairy slippers
Chipmunk
Woodpecker
Lake Crescent Lodge on the far side of the lake.
Squirrel
Wallflower
The second tunnel.
Thimbleberry
White crowned sparrow
Going through the tunnel.
I went a little further around this bend while Heather took a seat on a log after exiting the tunnel.
Paintbrush
View across the lake toward the Barnes Creek Valley.
I believe the snowiest peak is Lizard Head Peak.
Saxifrage
Chickweed
After a short break we headed back.
Swallow
Oregon sunshine
Lupine
Stonecrop
Variable-leaf collomia
On the way back we opted to hike through the first tunnel instead of the trail by Devil’s Punchbowl.
This was a longer tunnel and had little light near the middle.
Descending to the trailhead.
This wound up being a 6.2-mile hike with about 250′ of total elevation gain.
It was still before Noon so we decided to check out the area around Lake Crescent Lodge, which was close to the Marymere Falls Trailhead, so we drove back to where we’d turned off HWY 101 for that hike and followed pointers for Bovee’s Meadow Day Use Area.
We spent some time at one of the two picnic tables near the lake shore before attempting to follow a trail east to the lodge.
The lake from the picnic table.
Common loon
These mallards came flying in then waddled up to see if they could scrounge something from us, but we explained that we do not feed the wildlife (LNT principle six). They seemed to understand and promptly flew off.
Stellar’s jay
Trying to find the route to the lodge.
Mushroom
A maze of user trails crisscrossed through the trees and there were some student groups working on projects which we were attempting not to disrupt. We wound up at Barnes Creek but with no way to cross.
The lodge is just on the other side.
After looking a little more for a path that would lead to a bridge without going through the students we gave up and returned to our car and drove across Barnes Creek. We wound up parking at the Moments in Time Trailhead and hiking that two thirds of a mile interpretive loop before walking over to the Lake Crescent Lodge.
Interpretive signs explaining the creation of Lake Crescent by glaciers.
This trail had good signage unlike the area near Bovee’s Meadow.
Chair near the lodge.
Lake Crescent Lodge.
We poked around in the lodge and picked up a shot glass which is our go to souvenir for our trips. With the half mile of wandering near Bovee’s Meadow and a little over a mile between the Moments in Time Trail and walking to the lodge our day totaled 11.6-miles over the five stops.
Our hikes at Lake Crescent.
This was a fun day with a nice variety of scenery and trail types. While I’m sure a longer hike along the Sol Duc River would have been beautiful, we were glad we chose to check out the Lake Crescent area instead. We drove back to our cabin outside of Forks and cleaned up then went into town for dinner at Blakelees Bar & Grill which we both enjoyed. Our next two days would be a change of pace as we would be headed for the coast. Happy Trails!
wanderingyuncks 