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Washington
5-Day
Waterfalls Excursion
DAY ONE
Day One Itinerary
Rocky Brook Falls
- Brinnon - 9:25a
150 ft, medium flow; fan shape
From I-5 in
Olympia, take exit 104 onto US-101 northbound, to the Dosewallips Rec. Area
access road (on your left about 1 mile past Brinnon). Follow the access road
about 3 miles to the bridge and park on the far side. An easy, short footpath
takes you to the Rocky Brook Falls.
U.S.Forest Service description
can be viewed at:
Waterfalls
on the Olympic Peninsula (.pdf format)
The Dosewallips Falls
(actually a large cascade) is another 11 miles up the access road (just inside
the Olympic National Park and is viewable from the road. (we didn't view this
one)
U.S.Forest Service description
can be viewed at:
Waterfalls
on the Olympic Peninsula (.pdf format)
Madison
Creek Falls - Port Angeles - 11:25a
50 ft, light flow, horsetail shape
Return to
US-101, turn left and follow it through Port Angeles. When you get to the north
end of Lake Aldwell (an Elwa River impoundment), you will see the signed
entrance to Olympic National Park. Follow the entrance road to the entrance
station and the Madison Creek Falls parking area. A short, easy, paved trail
leads to the formal viewing area.
U.S.Forest Service description
can be viewed at:
Waterfalls
on the Olympic Peninsula (.pdf format)
Marymere Falls - Piedmont
- 1:00p
90 ft - light flow - sheer drop
Return to
US-101, turn left and drive to Lake Crescent. You will see the signs directing
you to the Storm King area. Continue to the Barnes Creek Bridge (it is right
after the left bend in US-101) and park near the bridge. Follow one of the
footpaths up the creek to Marymere Falls (about a very easy 0.5 miles).
U.S.Forest Service description
can be viewed at:
Waterfalls
on the Olympic Peninsula (.pdf format)
Fairholm General Store and Cafe
- Fairholm - 1:30p
LUNCH
This can be a
busy place but they never are in too much of a hurry to pass on information.
They make great sandwiches and home-made soup and you sit out on their deck
overlooking Lake Crescent. We had packed our own lunch but ate theirs.
Sol Duc Falls
- Sol Duc Hot Springs
50 ft - medium flow - double or triple channel drops
This is an
almost 30 mile round trip and we didn't feel we would enjoy it that much. It was
getting too late in the day and we had much more to see so we skipped this one.
U.S.Forest Service description
can be viewed at:
Waterfalls
on the Olympic Peninsula (.pdf format)
Falls Creek Falls - Quinault
- 6:00p
10 ft - medium flow - plunge
Continuing on US-101, passing through Beaver, Forks, Ruby Beach (from here to Queets you will have a splendid view of the Pacific
Ocean), then through Queets and, finally, Amanda Park. As you pass through Amanda Park you will see Quinault Lake on your left. On the far side of
town is South Shore Drive. More visible is the sign directing you to Quinault. Turn left onto South Shore Drive and follow it to the Lake Quinault
Lodge. About 0.2 miles beyond the lodge is the parking area for Falls viewers.
Merriman Falls
- Quinault - 6:20p
35 ft - light to medium flow - narrow plunge
Continuing on
South Shore Drive for another mile, park at the pull-out area just before you
cross the bridge. You can view Merriman Falls from the bridge.
U.S.Forest Service description
can be viewed at:
Waterfalls
on the Olympic Peninsula (.pdf format)
Bunch Creek Falls
- Quinault - 6:45p
60 ft - medium flow - 15 ft wide steps
Continuing on
South Shore Drive for another 5 miles, you will enter the Olympic National Park
(a large, wood sign announces your entry), immediately after which you will see
the bridge crossing over Bunch Creek. As at Merriman Falls, you can view Bunch
Creek Falls from the bridge. You may have noticed that each of these three
waterfalls is a little better than the previous. Bunch Creek Falls is well worth
the drive and you have to pass the others in route.
Guesthouse
Inn - Aberdeen - 8:20p
701 East Heron Street
END of DAY ONE
Return to US-101,
turn left and drive on to Aberdeen (about 43 miles). We stayed at the Guesthouse
Inn which overlooks the Chehalis River which empties into Grays Harbor, here.
Grays Harbor is one of the nicest, best protected (from the Pacific storms)
harbors on the West Coast of the USA. The rooms at the Guesthouse are unusually
large; ours had two queen-sized beds plus a microwave and refrigerator. You are
also an easy stroll to Aberdeen's quaint downtown. Though they were closed at
this late hour, we did enjoy peeking in the windows. (And window shopping is so
much easier on the budget.)
For more
information and reservations, go to:
Guesthouse Inn & Suites
Afterthoughts:
Overall,
we were rather disappointed with the Olympic Peninsula. Compared to the
waterfalls we know we will be viewing around Mt. Rainier and in the northern
Cascades, the Olympic Peninsula waterfalls are insignificant and the drive
around the peninsula, even skipping the waterfalls we did, makes for a very long
day. If you are a young family with children in the car it could be absolute
torture. The highpoints of today were lunch at the Fairholm General Store and Cafe
and the relaxed viewing of that beautiful, peaceful lake, and relaxing in the
hot tub of the Guesthouse Inn knowing the days drive was finished. Tomorrow promises
to be so much better and more enjoyable.
Washington
5-Day
Waterfalls Excursion
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