The Hoh River flows westward to the Pacific Ocean, and its valley extends deep into the mountains at low altitude—to the foot of Mount Olympus itself. During the Ice Age a glacier that came down the valley all the way to the ocean had much to do with shaping the present-day topography. Within the mountains the long and narrow valley, with the characteristic U shape that results from glacial action, is bordered by steep, timbered mountains. In fact, less than a mile from the river the ridges rise more than 3000 feet.
The name Hoh derives from an Indian word meaning “fast-moving water.” This is an apt description because the glaciers on Mount Olympus are the river’s source, and the stream receives fully 80 percent of the peak’s drainage—the meltwater from six glaciers (Hoh, Blue, White, Black, Hubert, and Ice River). Consequently, the river is swift and milky due to the presence of glacial silt.
The river is already a large stream when it emerges from the terminus of the Hoh Glacier, but as it flows down the mountain it collects the water of many small streams, including Ice River. Throughout its upper course, where it sweeps half way around Mount Olympus, the Hoh flows in a deep canyon paralleled by the Bailey Range. Glacier Creek joins the Hoh at the northern base of Olympus. This stream, sustained by several glaciers (the Blue, White, and Black) is as large as the Hoh itself at this point. The enlarged river then flows westward toward the sea, its braided channels meandering on the level valley floor.
Numerous tributaries add to the river’s volume. Mount Tom Creek and the South Fork Hoh are the largest ones. The valley of the South Fork is narrower than that of the main Hoh, and the bottomland disappears in its upper course, where steep slopes rise directly from the river’s banks. The source of the South Fork is the Hubert Glacier on Mount Olympus. This glacier was named for Anna Hubert, the first woman to climb the mountain.
Below its junction with the South Fork, the Hoh flows through low, broken country to the Pacific.
Beyond the Bailey Range, which bounds the Hoh at its head, lies the Elwha Valley. West of Mount Olympus, timbered spurs rise between the Hoh and the South Fork. The Mount Olympus Range, which includes the sandstone peaks known as the Valhallas, forms the divide between the South Fork Hoh and the Queets River. North of the Hoh a high ridge extending west from the Bailey Range lies between the Hoh and the Soleduck and Bogachiel Valleys. The eastern part of this ridge is known as the High Divide.
Hoh River Road. With the exception of the South Fork Hoh Trail, all trails in this district are reached via the Hoh River Road, which parallels the river from US 101, the Olympic Highway, to the Hoh Ranger Station. Outside the national park, the road goes by stump ranches and traverses cutover lands and stands of second growth. A patch of virgin forest now and then gives the motorist a hint of what lies ahead.
The Willoughby Creek Campground (3.6 mi/5.8 km) and the Minnie Peterson Camp and Picnic Area (4.7 mi/7.6 km), maintained by the Department of Natural Resources, are located in bits of rain forest similar to that found in the national park. The second camp honors a lady who took pack trains into the Olympics for half a century. Westward Hoh (5.6 mi/9.0 km) is the sole supply point in the valley. Gasoline and groceries are available here.
Beyond the Lewis Ranch, the last settlement in the valley, the road enters Olympic National Park (11.9 mi/19.2 km; 440 ft/134 m), where it traverses stands of old growth, the giant firs and spruces rising above an understory of moss-laden vine maple. Many of the conifers exceed 250 feet in height, have diameters of 6 to 10 feet, and are more than five hundred years old. One of the largest, the Preston P. Macy Tree (15.4 mi/24.8 km), honors the first superintendent of Olympic National Park. This Sitka spruce is 270 feet tall, almost 13 feet in diameter, and probably seven hundred years old. The large wildlife in the valley includes elk, deer, coyote, and an occasional black bear; among the smaller mammals are chipmunks, squirrels, snowshoe hares, beavers, otters, muskrats, and raccoons. Birds are numerous: often heard are the winter wren and the raven; highly visible are the flocks of gray jays. During the winter, sports fishermen come from near and far to match wits with the wily steelhead.
The road ends at a paved parking area (formerly a meadow) adjacent to the Hoh Ranger Station and Visitor Center (18.0 mi/29.0 km; 578 ft/176 m). Nearby, a commodious campground, located in groves of black cottonwood, spruce, and alder, has numerous sites. Directly across the river, along the lower course of Jackson Creek, the stands of large, old-growth Douglas-fir constitute some of the finest examples of this species in the national park.
The South Fork Hoh trail is reached via two roads in the Bert Cole Forest, 127,000 acres of state-owned land west of the national park. They are the Honor Camp Road and Department of Natural Resources Road 1000.
Honor Camp Road. This road leaves the Olympic Highway 0.7 mi/1.1 km south of the Hoh River. Beyond the junction with DNR Road 1000 (6.8 mi/10.9 km), the road continues to the Clearwater Honor Camp. The hiker headed for the South Fork Hoh should take DNR Road 1000.
DNR Road 1000. This road traverses country that has been devastated by logging. Beyond Owl Creek, where the pavement ends, the road turns sharply left and climbs to a high bench, where it overlooks and parallels the Hoh River for several miles. The road then descends to and crosses the South Fork Hoh (7.6 mi/12.2 km). The river shows white water here as it flows rapidly over large boulders that constrict the channel. A small campground is located on the east side.
Beyond the crossing the road climbs recently logged slopes. Several spur roads lead into the woods, but the main road always keeps to the right; ending at a small parking area (10.3 mi/16.6 km), where the South Fork Trail begins.
Length 0.7 mi/1.1 km
Access Hoh River Road
USGS Map Owl Mountain
Agency Olympic National Park
One of two nature trails near the Hoh Ranger Station and Visitor Center at the end of the Hoh River Road, this route makes a loop north of the Hoh River Trail. The elevation is low—about 600 ft/183 m above sea level. Interpretive markers are posted at various points along the trail.
The path crosses Taft Creek, climbs up to a bench covered with stately Douglas-firs, then meanders through stands of hemlock and spruce to the cathedrallike Hall of Mosses. This is a colonnade of bigleaf maples, and the trees are heavily garlanded with luxuriant growths of selaginella, ferns, and mosses. When this glen was discovered by Grant Sharpe in 1954, the forest floor was carpeted with moss six inches thick, and the bigleaf and vine maples were clothed from the ground up with mosses and ferns. But popularity has taken its toll—intentionally or otherwise, visitors have destroyed the moss as high as a man can reach, and the ground cover has been trampled into oblivion. Although the Hall of Mosses is still an outstanding attraction, it is not nearly so beautiful today as it was before the trail was built.
The trail then circles around, winding among large spruce trees, whose bases are almost hidden by dense growths of vine maple, and returns to its point of origin (0.7 mi/1.1 km).
Length 1.2 mi/1.9 km
Access Hoh River Road
USGS Map Owl Mountain
Agency Olympic National Park
This nature trail lies between the Hoh Trail and the Hoh River and begins near the Hoh Trail Visitor Center on the Hoh River Road. The path first traverses a river terrace covered with a magnificent stand of large Sitka spruce intermixed with hemlock, Douglas-fir, and western red cedar. The trail then descends to a lower level that is periodically flooded by the river. This area, composed mostly of glacial silt, is covered with alder and maple because the floods prevent conifers from establishing a foothold. The grassy bottoms are frequented by elk because they provide good forage.
The trail comes out to the river bank, then returns to the upper terrace and crosses Taft Creek (which issues from a spring within the confines of the trail loop) and returns to its starting point on the Hoh Trail (1.2 mi/1.9 km).
Length 17.0 mi/27.4 km
Access Hoh River Road
USGS Maps Mount Olympus; Mount Tom; Owl Mountain; Mount Carrie
Agency Olympic National Park
The main route to Mount Olympus, this trail traverses the river bottoms to the mountain’s base, then climbs steeply to the Blue Glacier, about half way up the peak. Beyond the glacial moraine the route to the top of Olympus lies over fields of ice and snow. The trail is popular during the summer, when one is never far from company, but the hiker who goes into the upper Hoh in November is not likely to see anyone else. The weather can then change quickly from benign Indian summer to a fierce winter gale, and when storms sweep up the valley, the wind whooshes through the trees. But this is the time to see the valley’s wildlife—elk and deer, bear, raccoon, and snowshoe rabbit.
The trail begins at the Hoh Ranger Station and Visitor Center (578 ft/176 m) at the end of the Hoh River Road. After crossing tranquil Taft Creek, it meanders at a level grade through the multistoried rain forest. The ground is carpeted with ferns, mosses, lichens, liverworts, and thick growths of vine maple, huckleberry, red elder, and salmonberry. Above this jungle rise the hemlocks, spruces, firs, and cedars. On the ground the fallen logs are padded with cushions of moss and millions of baby trees. At intervals the gloomy stands of conifers are broken by patches of alders or by glades where bigleaf maples and vine maples, heavily bearded with selaginella and ferns, stand in grotesque postures. As one travels up the valley, the forest changes gradually until Douglas-fir becomes the dominant species, but spruce is common as far as Lewis Meadow.
Unlike the mountain trails, this river-bottom path is smooth and flat, not stony and rough. Little wayside camps, each with its own individual attractions, are located at various points along the route. Beyond a viewpoint where Mount Tom is visible (1.5 mi/2.4 km), the trail descends to the Hoh, then climbs a bit because the river washes against a bluff opposite Mount Tom Creek. Here the trail crosses two streams that tumble down the slope, and just beyond them the Mount Tom Creek Trail (2.8 mi/4.5 km; 660 ft/201 m) leads to the right. The trail then crosses Five Mile Slough, a side channel of the river, and traverses grassy alder bottoms, only to recross the slough and return to the evergreen forest, which is now largely Douglas-fir.
Happy Four Shelter (5.6 mi/9.0 km; 800 ft/244 m), surrounded by large firs, stands on a bench above the river. Excellent campsites are located near the stream. Beyond this point, the trail provides periodic views of the Hoh River, at times going through bowers of vine maple that are attractive in the fall after the leaves have fallen. On sunny days, the moss formations, dripping from the recent rains, are illuminated and appear to be translucent.
The trail then descends and crosses Eight Mile Slough, another side channel of the river. Slough Camp (7.9 mi/12.7 km; 900 ft/274 m), to the right of the trail, is a good place for a small party to stay. The trail recrosses the slough, then climbs over a spur blackened by the 1978 Hoh Lake fire, which swept down to the river from the ridge above. Occasionally, when walking in this area, the hiker will hear rocks clatter down the cliffs to the north, where the protective vegetation was destroyed. Most of the trees in the burned area were killed, and the devastation contrasts markedly with the adjacent greenery.
Leaving this scarred district, the trail returns to the river bottoms. The Olympus Ranger Station (9.0 mi/14.5 km; 948 ft/289 m) and a trail shelter stand at the edge of a grass-covered meadow bordered by large spruce and cottonwood trees. Behind the rustic cabin, a clear, sparkling brook provides the camp with drinking water. The river flows by the meadow’s south side, and from the gravel bars south of the trail one can look up the valley and see the Bailey Range as well as much of the area burned by the Hoh Lake fire.
Douglas-fir is dominant beyond the ranger station, but spruce, hemlock, and cedar are still present. Here the trail winds through a stand of ancient firs. Many of the trees are 8 to 10 feet in diameter, and the average height is about 275 feet. Occasionally, larger specimens are found—trees that approach 12 feet in diameter and sometimes exceed 300 feet in height. The great shafts, with their ribbed bark, rise without limbs for 100 feet or more, like classic Doric columns, and breezes murmur softly in the crowns.
The route intersects the Hoh Lake Trail (9.5 mi/15.3 km; 1000 ft/305 m) and crosses Lake Creek, which usually flows underground at this point—at least during the summer. The route then skirts Lewis Meadow (10.3 mi/16.6 km; 1000 ft/305 m), where an old cabin once stood. This is a good campsite, but water must be obtained from the river. One can see the Bailey Range from the meadow.
The trail reaches the end of the flat bottomland at Stove Hill Camp (12.0 mi/19.3 km; 1080 ft/329 m), so called because many years ago a weary packer dumped a large woodstove beside the trail. The path formerly went directly up the steep hill, but it has since been rerouted and now switchbacks up, then crosses a couple of streams before descending to Hoh Bridge (13.0 mi/20.9 km; 1357 ft/414 m), which spans the river just above its confluence with Glacier Creek. Here the Hoh surges through a rock-walled gorge 150 feet deep, and turbulent Glacier Creek flows through a similar canyon. The slots were cut in the black sandstone of a glacial step. This is the third bridge at this site. The first one, built by Henry Huelsdonk about 1923, was replaced in the 1940s, and the present one dates from 1971. Delicious huckleberries grow in the vicinity, and hikers often stop here to have lunch. A tiny camp located beside a little stream about 200 yards beyond the bridge has two tent sites.
The trail now climbs the northern slopes of Mount Olympus via switchbacks that alternate with long, ascending traverses. The forest consists chiefly of stands of large Douglas-fir, with an undergrowth of vine maple and a ground cover of vanilla leaf and ferns, primarily sword and maidenhair. Queencup bead lilies nestle amidst the greenery on the forest floor, their blue berries contrasting with the bright greens of the other plants. At Drip Rock, a huge monolith beside the trail, water drips from an overhanging cliff until midsummer.
Upon approaching Martins Creek, where the stream plunges over an escarpment, the trail crosses above the falls. The grade eases beyond this point, the trail rounds a bend, and Elk Lake comes into view (14.6 mi/23.5 km; 2558 ft/780 m). The shelter here is often occupied, but good campsites are located in the timber above the trail. The lake is comparatively warm, and swimmers paddle among the lily pads. As late as 1935 the lake had no fish, never having been stocked, but trout are present today. The lake marks the approximate upper limit of the Douglas-fir forest. Above it the slopes are covered with Alaska cedar, silver fir, and mountain hemlock.
The trail now climbs sharply through dense forest, crosses a few open glades—avalanche zones overgrown with slide alder and salmonberry thickets—where one can see the High Divide and Mount Carrie, then traverses around a cliff that overlooks Glacier Creek. The stream is 1400 feet below, and vantage points here provide views of the Snow Dome on Olympus, the White Glacier, and Glacier Creek. The former extent of the glacier is clearly indicated by the distinct boundary between the neighboring conifer forest and the deciduous growth that flourishes upon the old glacial bed. On hot days, when the ice melts rapidly, the creek clatters like a freight train.
After crossing a deep, rocky ravine, which is often filled with avalanched snow and where the rocks are unstable, the trail meanders to Glacier Meadows (17.0 mi/27.4 km; 4200 ft/1280 m). The dense forest ends here, but subalpine trees are scattered up the mountainside and on the rocky moraine above. Two shelters are located near the lower edge of the meadows, and the standard, maintained trail ends at this point.
Beyond Glacier Meadows a way trail continues up to the Blue Glacier. This primitive path, which is not maintained, goes by the summer ranger’s tent, winds briefly through dense groves of subalpine fir and mountain hemlock, and again enters open country. The trail then forks (17.1 mi/27.5 km). Both paths lead to the glacier.
The right branch of the way trail climbs through brush and over large, rough boulders to a notch in the moraine just above the glacier’s terminus, then ascends Indian Rock (17.5 mi/28.2 km; 4700 ft/1433 m). This point overlooks the glacier, which is broken by numerous crevasses, but the peaks of Olympus are hidden by the Snow Dome. One can camp here, but water must be carried up from below. Early in the season one can, of course, find snow to melt.
The left branch of the trail is much longer—perhaps a mile or more. After crossing meadowland (where wildflowers grow profusely), it follows a ravine that is snow-filled until late summer. The moraine abuts a steep mountainside (18.0 mi/29.0 km; 5000 ft/1524 m). The terrain is deceiving, the distance farther than it appears. The transition here is abrupt. After having walked for miles through luxuriant rain forests, then a fringe of meadowland, one looks out upon a scene from the Ice Age—a world of snow, ice, and barren rock. The moraine, a ridge of loosely consolidated boulders and dirt, rises abruptly from the glacier’s edge, and the view is one of the finest in the Olympics. Below is the sweep of the glacier; beyond are the peaks of Olympus, the Snow Dome, Glacier Pass, and the Blue Glacier icefall. Several primitive campsites are located adjacent to the moraine and are frequently used by hikers who wish to see the alpenglow at sunrise and sunset, or by climbers intent on getting an early start to scale the peak.
Although hikers not trained and experienced in the art of mountaineering will be sorely tempted to do so, they should refrain from venturing upon the glacier or attempting to climb Mount Olympus. The ascent is a glorious experience, but over the years a number of people have lost their lives on the peak—primarily due to inexperience and lack of proper equipment.
Abandoned trail, no longer maintained
Length 10.0 mi/16.1 km
Access Hoh River Road
USGS Maps Spruce Mountain; Hunger Mountain
Agency Olympic National Park
This route was originally part of the old Forest Service trail that extended from Snider Guard Station on the Soleduck River to Jackson Guard Station (now Hoh Ranger Station) on the Hoh.
The trailhead (436 ft/133 m) is located on the Hoh River Road 0.5 mi/0.8 km inside the national park, opposite the mouth of the South Fork Hoh. The path climbs to a north–south ridge—a jog in the divide between the Hoh and Bogachiel Rivers—and follows this ridge northward, then descends to the Bogachiel along a spur that parallels Tumwata Creek. Hikers should carry water because it is not available until one reaches the Bogachiel bottoms.
Leaving the Hoh River Road, the trail climbs to a level bench, where it meanders through dark stands of spruce and hemlock. Here the path is often cut up by elk and deer tracks. This bench is part of the valley floor, and its north edge touches the base of the steep ridge that divides the Hoh and Bogachiel. At this point the trail angles up the mountain through stands of hemlock mixed with remnants of an ancient Douglas-fir forest. The largest trees are 10 feet in diameter, their gnarled crowns weather-beaten by hundreds of winter storms. The Hoh River, glimmering like molten silver in the morning sunlight, is glimpsed through the trees. As the trail gains elevation, the slopes drop sharply—on the right to the upper Hoh, inside the national park; on the left to the lower Hoh, outside the park.
Higher up the Douglas-firs disappear and the route climbs through forests of western hemlock and silver fir to the south end of the north–south ridge (3.0 mi/4.8 km; 2900 ft/884 m). The trail then follows this narrow divide, traversing above the head of Tumwata Creek. The ridge is forested but one can look through the trees and see Mount Olympus from a couple of points.
At the ridge’s north end (5.0 mi/8.1 km; 3200 ft/975 m), the trail angles sharply westward along a spur that parallels Tumwata Creek, then begins its descent into the Bogachiel Valley. The upper part of this spur is covered with stands of silver fir so dense the forest floor is barren due to lack of sunlight. The trees are tall and slender, limbless to great heights, with compact, bushy tops. This young forest is then replaced, where the trail dips to the shaded north side of the ridge, by mature stands of silver fir, and the ground is carpeted with oxalis. As the trail loses altitude, the forest becomes almost exclusively western hemlock. The undergrowth of ferns and oxalis is luxuriant.
Upon reaching the foot of the spur (10.0 mi/16.1 km; 1000 ft/305 m), the trail forks. Both branches cross bottomland through typical spruce-hemlock rain forest to the Bogachiel River. The right branch leads to a point opposite Flapjack Camp (10.9 mi/17.5 km; 580 ft/177 m); the left branch to a ford farther downstream (11.5 mi/18.5 km; 550 ft/168 m). The river must be forded at either crossing in order for one to reach the Bogachiel Trail.
Mostly abandoned, no longer maintained
Length 1.2 mi/1.9 km
Access Hoh Trail
USGS Maps Mount Tom; Owl Mountain
Agency Olympic National Park
This trail has not been maintained for years, and it is now virtually nonexistent except for the little bit north of the river. The necessity of fording the Hoh deters many visitors from attempting to explore the south side of the river.
The route, used mostly by fishermen, begins at a junction with the Hoh River Trail 2.8 mi/4.5 km above the Hoh River Road. The trail goes down through an alder and maple flat to a campsite on the river, above the confluence of Mount Tom Creek.
The river must be crossed in order to reach what is left of the old trail on the south side. At this point the stream is divided into braided channels, and one must wade—or, if lucky, find a log spanning the main channel. The river can be safely forded only in late summer and fall.
The old trail followed the east side of Mount Tom Creek, then crossed over to the Mount Tom Creek Shelter (1.2 mi/1.9 km; 800 ft/244 m), but this structure has been removed by the National Park Service. The route goes through dense rain forest on the river bottom, and many windfalls that have not been cut out lie across the fragments of the path that are discernible.
Mount Tom Creek is the largest tributary of the Hoh between the South Fork and Glacier Creek. The stream has its source on Mount Tom, and climbers sometimes approach the peak by following Mount Tom Creek, although the ascent is easier by way of Mount Olympus.
Length 6.5 mi/10.5 km
Access Hoh Trail; High Divide Trail; Bogachiel Trail
USGS Map Bogachiel Peak
Agency Olympic National Park
Hoh Lake is a gem in the Olympic high country, but the trail leading to it requires a bit of strenuous hiking. The path begins 0.5 mi/0.8 km east of Olympus Ranger Station where it intersects the Hoh Trail at 1000 ft/305 m above sea level. The trail ascends a steep, forested spur to the lake, then traverses high, open slopes to Bogachiel Peak. The trail has thirty-three switchbacks in all—twenty-nine of them below the lake. In 1978 the largest forest fire in the history of the national park blackened about a thousand acres of virgin timber near Hoh Lake, including much of that in the switchback section of this trail. Most of the trees were killed, but some survived on the perimeter of the burn. The fire was caused by a lightning strike.
On the Hoh bottomlands the trail has a gentle grade as it meanders among big firs and the vine maple to Lake Creek (0.6 mi/1.0 km), which chatters madly as it rushes down toward its rendezvous with the Hoh. After paralleling the stream briefly, the trail climbs via long switchbacks shaded by dense stands of tall hemlock. At the fourth switchback it enters the devastated area (1.0 mi/1.6 km; 1500 ft/457 m), where the scene is appalling. The forest on this slope was primarily large, old-growth western hemlock with some Douglas-fir. Between this point and the twenty-second switchback on Broomstick Ridge, the trail switchbacks in and out of the burned area, and the contrast is striking. But already nature has started to heal the wounds—in many places tiny conifers two or three inches high are springing up from the burned soil. On Broomstick Ridge the thick stands of small, slender trees were also killed, and the trail now goes through a ghost forest, the bark having sloughed off many trees. Mount Tom is visible through the fire-killed timber.
Upon attaining the crest of the spur (3.5 mi/5.6 km; 3500 ft/1067 m), the grade eases, the burned district is left behind, and the trail climbs through stands of tall silver fir. The path then leaves the ridge and crosses several streams as it goes through a wet area. The country now becomes a mix of meadows and groves of subalpine trees—primarily silver fir, mountain hemlock, and Alaska cedar—and the slopes above and to the west of Hoh Lake come into view. Here islands of burned trees are mingled with the living ones. This was not the main area swept by the fire, but close to the perimeter, and the patches have created strikingly beautiful silver forests of fire-killed trees.
The path then comes out into a meadow that has the odd name C. B. Flats (4.8 mi/7.7 km; 4050 ft/1234 m). This grassy area is surrounded by subalpine forest and strewn with sandstone boulders. Mount Olympus is visible from this point, and at the meadow’s far edge Lake Creek thunders down the mountainside. The trail crosses the stream below two waterfalls, then switchbacks up to Hoh Lake, the creek’s source (5.3 mi/8.5 km; 4500 ft/1372 m).
This deep, orbicular lake occupies a dish-shaped glacial cirque. The slopes are covered with heather and clusters of subalpine firs, and herds of elk are often observed here. Mount Olympus and Mount Tom loom high above the Hoh Valley to the south. The lake contains Eastern brook and rainbow trout, but it often remains frozen until mid-July, and sometimes well into August. When the snow melts, rolling meadows appear, crisscrossed with elk trails and colorful with beargrass and lupine. On the northern, shaded sides of the ridges, the snowdrifts remain until late in the season, long after the south-facing slopes are covered with mountain flowers.
Sunrises and sunsets are memorable when viewed from Hoh Lake. Mount Olympus takes on a soft, velvet white in the morning, but it is more colorful at sunset when the alpenglow reflects various tones of pink, gold, and purple. After the sun has disappeared behind the western ridges, the summit snows are still bathed in bright sunlight, but the hemlocks near the lake form dark silhouettes. Fog settles heavily here, and it is often misty and cold—especially when the lake is still frozen.
Camping at Hoh Lake and C. B. Flats is available by reservation. Contact the Wilderness Information Center. Although the only places burned near the lake were two knolls covered with subalpine fir, the heavy use by backpackers over the years, aggravated by the effects of the firefighters’ camps, has severely damaged the subalpine plant life. Alternate sites for camping are available on the High Divide.
Beyond Hoh Lake the trail climbs toward the High Divide, switchbacking up through subalpine country to a promontory on the eastern rim of the cirque. Here the view of the upper Hoh Valley, the Bailey Range, and Mount Olympus is spectacular. When the mountains are still blanketed with heavy snow in early summer, the contrast with the dark green forests and the river is marked.
The trail then contours steep slopes overlooking the Hoh and ends just below the summit of Bogachiel Peak, where it intersects the High Divide Trail and the Bogachiel Trail (6.5 mi/10.5 km; 5200 ft/1585 m).
Length 3.3 mi/5.3 km
Access DNR Road 1000
USGS Maps Owl Mountain; Mount Tom
Agency Olympic National Park
The South Fork Hoh Trail begins on state land at the end of DNR Road 1000. The trail leads into an area of Olympic National Park that is off the beaten track, a splendid rain forest frequented by herds of elk. This valley is a botanist’s and zoologist’s paradise, but the trail is shunned by most hikers because it is remote and does not lead to the high country. However, fishermen are attracted by the runs of salmon and steelhead. The bottomlands where the trail meanders are bordered by steep, heavily forested slopes without trails; thus in effect the area is a cul-de-sac.
The trail descends steeply from the parking area (800 ft/244 m) to a lower level, where it traverses rocky flats, logged during World War II, that are covered with alder and second-growth spruce. At the boundary of Olympic National Park (0.4 mi/0.6 km; 750 ft/229 m), the trail enters the virgin forest, which is mostly Sitka spruce and western hemlock, with a scattering of Douglas-fir.
Within the park the trail meanders, with many little ups and downs, through lush, junglelike rain forest. At one point the path goes by a splendid example of Douglas-fir. This tree is eleven feet in diameter, possibly 300 feet tall, and its trunk, free of limbs for about 150 feet, rises straight as an arrow, with little taper.
The trail crosses a small creek, then a larger one that flows in a rocky channel, before descending to Big Flat (1.3 mi/2.1 km; 732 ft/223 m). This level bottomland is aptly named; it consists of open, grassy stretches bordered by giant spruces and groves of bigleaf and vine maple. At one time a shelter stood beside the trail where the path enters the flat but a falling tree demolished the structure. However, the hiker can find good campsites close by the river, at the far edge of the flat. Here one can well imagine, in this fairyland rain forest setting, that goblins and elves lurk in the hidden recesses.
Because Big Flat is located near the park boundary, the sounds of logging on adjoining state land disturb the wilderness solitude on weekdays. One can hear the crash of falling trees, the noise of logging trucks, the whirring of chain saws. The park’s boundaries were not drawn logically here. The entire watershed of this stream should have been included within the park. Logically, the boundary should have followed the ridge from Owl Mountain to a point directly south of the confluence of the South Fork and the Hoh, then should have gone straight north. This would have protected the lower South Fork, as well as the integrity of the visual approach when one goes into the park via the Hoh River Road. Now visitors to the Hoh rain forest see an ugly clearcut on the apex of the divide lying between the South Fork and the Hoh.
Beyond Big Flat the trail goes through luxuriant rain forest, including groves of mammoth spruces, to an attractive riverside camp, then crosses a swale (2.5 mi/4.0 km). No sign or side path is present here to indicate that Camp Stick-in-Eye (750 ft/229 m) is located in the woods to the right, on the north bank of the South Fork, hidden from view by a screen of large conifers. The camp, which can accommodate a large party, received its name when John E. Stout poked a stick in his eye while camping here in 1978. This is a calm, peaceful place. No artificial lights mar the beauty of the night, when the trees form dark silhouettes, the stars shine brilliantly, and the tired hiker can drift into slumber while listening to the murmur of the river.
Beyond Camp Stick-in-Eye the trail deteriorates, but the route goes through beautiful glades and stands of large spruce. Many logs lie across the trail, which in places disappears entirely. Although fragments can be noted farther upstream, the trail can be said to end at the base of a big boulder about 40 feet high, where the bluff comes down to the river (3.3 mi/5.3 km; 800 ft/244 m).
At one time the trail went about 5 miles beyond this point, ending at the base of Hoh Peak, where the bottomland is pinched out by slopes that rise directly from the river’s banks. However, the experienced hiker does not really need a trail here but can wander at will across the flats—through the maple groves, the stands of giant fir and spruce, the vine maple thickets—to what apparently was an elk forage study plot (ca. 4.0 mi/6.4 km). At this point a good camp is located on the opposite side of the river. The visitor who listens attentively will hear elk bugling, kingfishers shrieking, ravens croaking—and may be lucky and see a bald eagle feasting on a spawned salmon.
Above the base of Hoh Peak, the river flows through a wild, rugged canyon which is visited mostly by mountain climbers headed for the Valhallas. Although this route requires extensive cross-country travel, it is the most convenient approach to the western part of the Mount Olympus Range.
The cluster of peaks southwest of Mount Olympus, constituting part of the Mount Olympus Range, was unnamed for many years. Eventually, the peaks were christened The Pleiades, for the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione, in keeping with the theme of using names from Greek mythology for geographic features in the Mount Olympus Range. The name was not publicized, however, and did not come into general use. Neither did names such as Hee Hee Peak and Hee Haw Peak, given by the first climbers in the area in 1966. Then, in the early 1970s, Harold Pinsch, a Bremerton climber, called the peaks the Valhallas, thus introducing Norse mythology, and this name has become well established. Since then, climbers have given the names of Norse gods and goddesses to the various peaks, pinnacles, and glaciers.
