Tide Pools and Hole In The Wall

We awoke dark and early to a new day in our camper van parked in the Rialto Beach parking lot. I remember feeling confused how oddly humid the air felt before I remembered the dense fog that blanketed Rialto Beach from the evening before. That fog makes for such a unique beach experience!

The morning alarm was set early to catch sunrise on the beach as well as the low tide necessary for tide pool viewing. Be sure to check the time of sunrise and high/low tides when planning your visit to Rialto Beach. The tide pools at the famous Hole In The Wall are only visible at low tide.

We planned our Rialto Beach day to fall on a day when low tide occurred at 5:00am and sunrise occurred at 6:00am. We made it onto the beach by around 6:20am. I love walking on shallow beaches, with gentle tides lapping at my feet– I absolutely adored the 1.9 mile walk along Rialto Beach’s black pebbly surface from the parking lot to the Hole In The Wall formation. The Hole In The Wall rock formation viewed through early morning mist was amazing. You can still view the Hole In The Wall from afar if the tide is in, but the best time to go is when the tide recedes to reveal the countless tide pools at the rocky base. These tide pools are home to purple and orange starfish, giant bright green anemones, various small anemones, mollusks, mussels, tiny fish, and crabs. We spent nearly an hour just gingerly stepping around the rocks, peering into tide pools, and being mesmerized by our surroundings.

Hoh Rain Forest

The Hoh Rain Forest receives an average of 140 inches of precipitation yearly, nurturing the growth of massive trees and ferns covered in moss that both clings to and drapes from seemingly every visible surface. It is a very popular part of the Olympic National Park to visit, and we unfortunately discovered that the advice to “start early” should be well heeded.

After our leisurely time enjoying Rialto Beach that morning, we arrived at Hoh Rain Forest close to noon. We were met with a huge line of 80-100 cars, at a standstill with posted signs advertising a 2-hour wait at the spot we were at. Many cars arrived and abandoned their plans, turning around to leave the area. As this was one of our last days in Olympic National Park and we didn’t want to miss Hoh Rain Forest altogether, we decided to settle in for the long wait. We ended up waiting around 80 minutes to get to the parking lot, and made the most of this time by taking turns cooking and eating lunch in the camper van whilst inching forward in line.

Hall of Mosses Trail and Spruce Nature Trail

We spent our time within Hoh Rain Forest hiking the Hall of Mosses and the Spruce Nature Trails. I was honestly a little disappointed in the vibes of these trails and was expecting a more wet environment. The trails were definitely green and mossy, but the air felt more temperate and the ground was still dry and dusty.

Tree of Life – Kalaloch Beach

This Sitka spruce tree is famously perched between two sandy cliffs, somehow hanging on by a few root tendrils anchored on either side. With the majority of the root system exposed to open air, the tree seems to float above the empty space that was carved out long ago by a stream leading to the ocean.

The Tree of Life is located on Kalaloch Beach and can easily be accessed by parking at the Kalaloch Campground in Forks, Washington. Kalaloch Beach absolutely takes the cake for the most walkable of the three beaches we visited in Forks. It boasts supremely soft black sand and was perfect to view at sunset. The dipping sun shone even more brightly on the ocean-facing front of the Tree of Life and made it glow orange. Keep in mind that Kalaloch Beach has sand fleas, but they didn’t keep us from enjoying the mead (that we bought during our time in Alberta, Canada) on the beach at sunset.