Although you can drive the circle route around the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State in one long day, we planned to stretch our trip out over two weeks – camping for two nights in each place to make the most of each stopover. Our route will take us south along the Hood canal (which is actually a fjord, not a canal), across the southern portion of the peninsula to the pacific coast, north along the Pacific coast, then to the westernmost part of the contiguous US at Neah Bay and Cape Flattery. Our last two nights will be more inland at Sol Duc hot springs and then a short drive to Port Angeles to catch the ferry back to BC. In the center of the peninsula and some small Pacific coast areas are the Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest protected areas (dark green on the map).
We drove to Victoria to stay overnight (for free) in the ferry terminal lot. We had inquired some months ago and had been notified this was allowed – As we were taking the 10:30 a.m. ferry this was more desirable than having to leave home at 6:00 a.m.
Once parked, we took a stroll and saw three large cruise ships in port. A short walk the other direction brought us to one of our favourite food trucks -Red Fish Blue Fish. With take-out dinners in hand we walked back to our campers and sat outside to eat. As the sun began to set, we found the best spot in the city to set out our chairs and watch the boats, planes, and water taxi’s zip around the harbour. We even got to see the Johnson Street bridge lift for a passing sailboat, then later it lit up a bright blue and cast blue shadows over the water.
The trip started with a 1.5 hours crossing of the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the Coho ferry which landed us in Port Angeles. We love this ferry because they allow pets in the passenger areas – we stayed on the open deck up top, partially sheltered from the wind and sun by tinted windows. Upon arrival the customs officer asked us to pull over for inspection – they were very interested in the dog food we were bringing and actually read the ingredients list. All was in order and we were allowed to proceed a few minutes later.
There are many, many, camping options available in the peninsula and most are first come first serve at this time of year; I scouted out campgrounds offering a variety of landscapes and activities but also backups if they were full up upon our arrival – we were luckily able to reserve our first two nights which relieved stress on a long travel day, and our last two nights because the hot springs is very popular.
Fort Flagler
We drove to the Dungeness Spit (a national wildlife refuge) to allow Cedar to run off some energy, then stopped in Sequim to stock up on provisions, and finally drove to our first destination, Fort Flagler Historical State Park which is located on Marrowstone Island at the mouth of Puget Sound.
The fort was a significant coastal defense that was established more than a century ago and was one of three forts built to guard the entrance to Puget Sound (Fort Flagler, Fort Worden and Fort Casey). Built in the late 1890s and manned during World War I, World War II and the Korean War, Fort Flagler features a military museum in the old Quarter Master’s Store House and wide open parade grounds perfect for picnics. The batteries and other historic structures can be found along the well groomed trails, high on a bluff, with great information placards at each stop. We spent a lovely day exploring these well maintained structures and learning about the fort.
It is also a popular place for experienced paragliders to ride thermals up to stupendous aerial views.
Historic officers’ vacation houses can be booked for group gatherings and romantic getaways. The campgrounds offer beachfront sites that have some of the best views in the region where you can gaze out on the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the north, the Olympic Peninsula to the west and Whidbey Island to the east. The view from our site was spectacular and steps to the beach. What a lovely way to start the trip. Cedar also thoroughly enjoyed his first couple days.