It lies in the park's interior, in the folded, glaciated heart of the range where no road goes, so a motorcyclist will only ever see the mountains from the edges. The Olympics rise straight out of Puget Sound and the Pacific, reaching nearly 2,400 metres at Mount Olympus, and they catch so much moisture from the ocean that their western valleys are among the wettest places in the continental United States.
That rain is the secret of the Hoh Rainforest, where Sitka spruce and western hemlock grow huge, draped with moss and ferns, and where several metres of rain fall in a typical year. The whole park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it protects both the high country and a long strip of wild coast. Roosevelt elk, named for the president who set aside this land, browse in the valleys, and black bears and marmots roam the meadows. Wolves are gone but the cougars remain.
For riding, the roads follow the outside. US 101 loops around the peninsula and gives long, gentle, forested curves with views of Lake Crescent, a deep glacial lake of astonishing blue. From Port Angeles, a steep road climbs seventeen miles to Hurricane Ridge, at about 1,600 metres, with wide views over snowy peaks, though fog and snow can close it. Roads leading to the Hoh and Quinault valleys are narrower and run through dark tunnels of trees.
Fuel is limited. The towns of Port Angeles, Sequim and Forks have stations, and the east side has services at Hoodsport and Shelton, but there is nothing at all deep in the park. Rain can come in any season, and temperatures at the ridge are much lower than on the coast, so pack layers. Ferry lines add time to the trip in summer, and the best weather runs from July to September. Take your time on the forest roads, because wet moss and fallen needles make the surface slick.