Olympic Peninsula Loop: Hurricane Ridge to Forks

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Hurricane Ridge

   Hurricane Ridge is the high balcony of the Olympic Mountains, about sixteen miles of climbing from the sea at Port Angeles, reaching roughly 1,600 metres at the visitor centre. The road leaves the town, passes the national park entrance at Heart o' the Hills, and then winds up through Douglas fir and silver fir, with the forest thinning and the views opening out until the trees give way to alpine meadow. At the top, the whole range spreads out in front of you, jagged and white, with Mount Olympus sitting among the glaciers.

   Read the complete Hurricane Ridge write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Hurricane Ridge is where the day begins. Next is Port Angeles.

2. 2. Port Angeles

   Port Angeles sits low on the northern edge of the Olympic Peninsula, facing the Strait of Juan de Fuca and, across the water, Vancouver Island. It is a working harbour town of some nineteen thousand people, with a long curved sandspit called Ediz Hook sheltering the port, a ferry that sails daily to Victoria in British Columbia, and a downtown of brick storefronts, bookshops and seafood spots. It is also the main gateway to Olympic National Park, which means it has what the rest of the peninsula lacks: choice.

   Read the complete Port Angeles write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Port Angeles comes up about 31 km into the recorded legs. Next is Lake Crescent.

3. 3. Lake Crescent

   Lake Crescent is the kind of lake that makes you slow down without being asked. It fills a deep glacial trough in the north of Olympic National Park, roughly six hundred feet at its deepest, and the water is so clear and blue that on a calm day it looks lit from below. Steep forested ridges drop straight into it, with Storm King rising above the south shore. Port Angeles lies about twenty-seven kilometres east, and that is where you find fuel and a proper meal.

   Read the complete Lake Crescent write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 64 km into the recorded legs you reach Lake Crescent. Next is Forks.

4. 4. Forks

   Forks is a logging town on the western side of the Olympic Peninsula, a place of about three and a half thousand people, set on a plateau between the mountains and the Pacific. It sits in one of the wettest places in the lower forty-eight states, with rainfall that often reaches three metres a year, and the forest around it is a dripping, mossy world of Sitka spruce, western hemlock and Douglas fir. The town has lived off timber for most of its history, and a small museum near the visitor centre tells the story of the loggers, the fires and the mills.

   Read the complete Forks write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Forks closes the day.