The coast · 90 minutes from the estate
The Wild Pacific Coast
Ninety minutes west, the Olympic coast does its dramatic, moody thing — black cobble and white driftwood, sea stacks standing in the mist, eagles working the surf line, and a little of that Twilight-country atmosphere around Forks and La Push for anyone in the back seat who knows. It is a genuinely different planet from the mountains, and it deserves a whole day.
- Drive
- About 90 minutes
- Plan around
- The tide table — always
- Best for
- A full-day trip
- Park pass
- $30 per vehicle; First Beach sits on Quileute land
The beaches
- Second Beach — a 0.7-mile forest trail drops to the sandiest beach on this coast: sea stacks, a natural arch, tide pools, and the sunset. If you make one coast stop, make it this one.
- Third Beach — 1.4 miles in and noticeably quieter, with a waterfall at the far headland; the choice for guests who want the coast nearly to themselves.
- Rialto Beach — drive-up drama: giant drift logs, surf-carved cobble, and the 1.5-mile walk to the rock arch at Hole-in-the-Wall and its tide-pool gardens.
- First Beach — in the village of La Push on the Quileute Reservation, drive-up and family-easy, with resident eagles and serious winter storm-watching.
Reading the tide
The coast runs on the tide, not the clock. Walk to Hole-in-the-Wall on a falling tide — the arch passes only near low water, and an incoming tide can close the route behind you. Check the La Push tide table before leaving the house and build the day around the low; the pools are at their best in the last hour of the ebb.
One current note: the park has kept the Mora Road to Rialto closed for repairs through mid-fall 2026 — glance at Olympic’s current-conditions page before pointing the car there, and favor Second Beach in the meantime. No hardship; it may be the better beach anyway.