Hoh Rain Forest
18113 Upper Hoh Rd
Forks, WA
A cathedral of moss-draped maples and towering conifers in one of the wettest, greenest forests on the continent.
The Hoh Rain Forest is the classic temperate rainforest of the Pacific Northwest, a valley so soaked in rain that everything is green: the ground, the trunks, the very air. Bigleaf maples droop under thick coats of moss, and Sitka spruce and western hemlock climb to enormous heights above a floor of ferns and fallen, moss-covered logs slowly feeding the next generation of trees.
It is one of the most protected corners of Olympic National Park, fed by rivers running milky with glacial silt off Mount Olympus. More than a dozen feet of rain fall here in a typical year, and that abundance is exactly what makes the forest feel like something out of another world.
What Guests Love
- The Hall of Mosses, where bigleaf maples hang with curtains of club moss and spike moss
- The sheer scale of the trees: Sitka spruce and western hemlock hundreds of feet tall
- Roosevelt elk grazing the river flats, especially in the early morning
- The deep quiet, so still that the Hoh is famous as one of the quietest places in the country
Worth Knowing
- It really does rain here, well over a dozen feet a year, so come prepared for wet even in summer
- The road in is long and the parking lot fills by mid-morning in summer; arrive early or expect a wait
- It sits inside Olympic National Park, so an entrance pass is needed
- The nearest services are far away, so fuel up and pack food before the drive up the valley
Details
Forks, WA
Learn about Hoh Rain Forest
What makes a temperate rainforest
A rainforest does not have to be tropical. On the western Olympic Peninsula, wet Pacific air rises against the mountains and drops staggering amounts of rain, and the mild, moist climate lets a forest grow to extraordinary size and density. The Hoh is one of the best remaining examples in the world.
The signature plants are the mosses and epiphytes, plants that grow on other plants, draping the maples in green. Fallen trees become nurse logs, lines of young hemlocks and spruces sprouting along a single rotting trunk. The result is layered, dripping, and almost impossibly lush.
The trails
Two short loops leave from the visitor center. The Hall of Mosses is the postcard walk, a gentle loop through the most heavily draped maples. The Spruce Nature Trail winds down toward the Hoh River and shows the forest at different ages, from young groves on old gravel bars to towering giants.
For those with more time and gear, the Hoh River Trail runs deep up the valley toward Mount Olympus and the glaciers, a long backcountry route that climbs to Blue Glacier. Most visitors are more than satisfied by the two short loops near the road.
The Hoh people
The valley takes its name from the Hoh, a people who have lived along this river and coast for a very long time, fishing its salmon and steelhead. The Hoh Tribe remains a sovereign nation today, with a reservation at the mouth of the river on the Pacific coast.
Their long presence is a reminder that this forest, however wild it feels, has always been part of a lived landscape, tied to the river and the runs of fish that still return to it.
Wildlife
Roosevelt elk are the great animal of the Hoh, and the valley's herds are part of why Olympic became a national park. They graze the river flats and move through the forest, and their browsing helps shape the open, parklike feel of some groves.
Look also for black-tailed deer, banana slugs sliding over the moss, and dippers working the river. The forest is loud with birdsong in spring, and its deep interior is renowned for a natural quiet that is increasingly hard to find anywhere.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Forks
Rialto Beach
About 45 miles northwest
A wild Pacific beach of driftwood and sea stacks near La Push, with the arch at Hole-in-the-Wall a short walk up the sand at low tide.
Ruby Beach
About 30 miles southwest
A dramatic stretch of Olympic coast strewn with sea stacks and silvered driftwood, named for the pinkish sand at its south end.
Forks
About 30 miles north
A small timber town on Highway 101, the practical base for the western peninsula and known worldwide as the setting of the Twilight novels.