Rialto Beach
Mora Rd
La Push, WA
A wild strip of the Olympic coast where the Pacific throws house-sized driftwood onto the sand and sea stacks stand offshore like the ruins of a drowned country.
Rialto Beach is the Olympic coast at its wildest and most reachable. You step from the parking lot straight onto a shore piled with driftwood the size of telephone poles and whole trees, bleached silver by the sea, with the gray Pacific rolling in and sea stacks standing offshore in the mist. It is the kind of place that makes you talk in a lower voice.
The beach is famous for two things: the sheer scale of its driftwood, unmatched on this coast, and the walk north to Hole-in-the-Wall, a sea arch riddled with tide pools. Just offshore rises James Island, known to the Quileute people as A-Ka-Lat, a reminder that this shore has been home and refuge to people here for a very long time.
What Guests Love
- The stacks of enormous, silvered driftwood logs piled along the sand
- Sea stacks and the tree-topped bulk of James Island offshore
- The tide-pool arch at Hole-in-the-Wall, about two miles up the beach
- Raw, moody Pacific weather and world-class sunsets
Worth Knowing
- The walk to Hole-in-the-Wall must be timed with the tide; check a tide table and do not get trapped by an incoming tide against the headland
- The beach is cobble and coarse sand, and the driftwood is unstable, so climbing on the logs near the surf is risky
- This is Quileute homeland; nearby beaches at La Push are on tribal land, so respect posted rules and closures
- Come dressed for wind and rain in any season, and never turn your back on the surf
Details
La Push, WA
Learn about Rialto Beach
The wildest edge of Olympic
Rialto is part of the long, roadless wilderness coast of Olympic National Park, a stretch of shoreline so rugged that most of it can only be reached on foot. Rialto is one of the few places you can drive to and stand at the surf line within minutes, which is why it has become the coast's signature stop.
The Pacific here is powerful and cold, fed by the same storms that soak the nearby rainforest. Winter brings dramatic surf and driftwood-flinging gales, while summer can deliver soft fog, tide-pool calm, and long golden evenings. In every season the sea stacks offshore, the eroded remains of an ancient coastline, give the horizon its haunted profile.
Driftwood and Hole-in-the-Wall
The driftwood is the first thing everyone notices. Rivers and the sea carry enormous logs from the region's forests and pile them along Rialto in tangled ramparts, some of them wider than a person is tall. They are beautiful and treacherous at once; a shifting log in the surf can be deadly, so they are best admired from solid ground.
Head north along the beach and, about two miles up, you reach Hole-in-the-Wall, a rock headland pierced by a natural arch. At low tide you can walk through it and explore some of the richest tide pools on the coast, full of sea stars, anemones, and small crabs. The catch is timing: the passage floods at high tide, so a tide table is essential to avoid being cut off.
James Island and the Quileute
Just south of Rialto, across the mouth of the Quillayute River, lies the village of La Push and the homeland of the Quileute Tribe, who have lived on this coast since time out of mind. The steep, forested island offshore, called James Island by newer maps, is A-Ka-Lat to the Quileute, a place of deep cultural importance that once served as a refuge and remains a landmark of their country.
Traveling here comes with responsibility. Some of the beaches around La Push are on Quileute tribal land, with their own rules, parking, and seasonal closures. Reading and honoring posted signs, and treating the whole shore as a living homeland rather than an empty backdrop, is simply part of visiting this coast well.
Making a day of the coast
Rialto pairs naturally with the other wonders of the western Olympic Peninsula. The Hoh Rain Forest, one of the wettest and greenest places in the country, is a drive to the south, and the deep blue of Lake Crescent lies to the east on the way to Port Angeles.
The small logging town of Forks is the nearest base for food, fuel, and a bed, and it has become a pilgrimage of its own for fans of the stories set in its rainy woods. From there the beaches, forests, and mountains of Olympic National Park are all within reach for a full, unforgettable day.
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 La Push
Second and Third Beaches
A few miles south, near La Push
Two more beautiful Olympic coast beaches reached by short forest trails, with sea stacks, tide pools, and a famous sea arch at Second Beach.
Hoh Rain Forest
About 45 miles south
One of the finest temperate rainforests in the country, where moss drapes giant spruce and maple along the Hall of Mosses trail in Olympic National Park.
Lake Crescent
About 45 miles east
A deep, glacially carved lake of startling blue-green clarity on the road to Port Angeles, with lakeside trails and the short hike to Marymere Falls.