hoh rain forest

We hiked 6 miles round trip along the Hoh River Trail and it was beautiful. 3 miles in you approach a waterfall and you hike along the river for a bit with great places to picnic along the way. This is a magical place. I would have loved to make it a longer day or even backpack to go camping but that was not the plan for this trip. We were blessed with sunny and 50 degree weather in the middle of February.

We took our kids and they loved climbing on the trees and exploring the trials. It is a very easy walk around this area and there are some fun surprises throughout.The only con is that if you are in Olympic National Park for awhile then this not much different than all the other places in this area. Although we enjoyed it, we probably would not make the drive here again.

So beautiful and unique with all the mosses and greens in here. Loved the shapes that the trees create with the different mosses. We were lucky to be here on a sunny day, so the light shining through the forest was stunning. Nice quick 3/4 loop hike if you do the Hall of Mosses. Would recommend.

We loved the Hoh! We were the first ones here early one morning and it was magical to have the whole forest to ourselves. We did the shorter hike, the Hall of Mosses-So green and vibrant, with the sun shining behind the moss- beautiful!! Interesting to learn about nurse logs and walking among these giant trees! An incredible experience! Be sure to watch for wildlife on the drive into the rainforest- we saw a huge herd of Roosevelt Elk walking across the road and an adorable little fox!

Beautiful greenery! Other reviewers have called it "fairyland" and I couldn't agree more. Definitely must see if driving through Olympic National Park. Visited July 2013.

Hoh Rain Forest is organized with multiple trails ranging from short family hikes (< 1/2 mile) through the old growth forest to a more ambitious 26 mile hike along the Hoh River toward Mt. Olympia with detailed scenic mini-milestone stop points. Getting there from Olympic Park near Port Angeles will take about 2 hours because speed limit slows to about 30-40 mph around Lake Crescent, so it's important to account for this travel block of 4 hours in day activity planning. But this is an easy day trip once landing on Kitsap Peninsula.

The "Hall of Mosses" was just ok, the rest of the little hike by the visitors center was nice but crowded. It would have been ok for most, but we don't like a lot of crowds when we are walking through the woods. We did find a little trail by a small parking lot near the entrance to the park. No one was parked there so we gave it a shot. We walk maybe a half a mile to the Hoh river which is a beautiful blue color and got to see a small herd of Roosevelt Elk on the way back

We hiked to the Hall of Moss, and it was amazing. The trees bend and twist due to the weight of the moss and ferns, creating fantastical shapes. The light filters through the greenery, creating a magical atmosphere.

We stopped off here in route to the coast from the upper area of the park. In route stopped at a giant tree then had a nice walk through the forest. Note as "rainy" as I would have thought but glad we did it.

Visiting the Hoh Rain Forest in December means very short days. We had only time to do one walk, but saw spawning salmon swimming up the creek, deer (close) and elk (at a distance). Although they are renovating the visitor center and the parking lot, the ranger is still there in a trailer and was very helpful. I just wish we had gotten started earlier in the day so as to have time to do more than one hike.

The rain forest looks like a Disney movie set. We were there on a rare sunny day so didn't get to experience the full rainy feel but it's definitely worth the drive to see the amazing vegetation, flowers, and trees. Hikes are well marked and not at all difficult. I was expecting it to be full of bugs and mosquitoes but I didn't get one bug bite!

The Hall of Mosses loop trail (there are two of them) in the Hoh Rain forest are very easy to walk with only very minor elevation changes and entirely in the shade. The trails take you through 2 or 3 types of rain forest a bit up on a small hill and also down by the river. Each of the two trails takes a little over an hour to walk at a leisurely pace including plenty of stopping time for photography. It is a wonderful way to spend an hour or two. PHOTOGRAPHING THE RAIN FORESTPhotographing in the rain forest is best done on overcast days when there is not so much contrast (brightness difference) between the things that are in rays of sunlight and the things in the shade. Also, if you’re there during or just after some rain, you can get many shots that include water dripping from every conceivable surface – but you’ll be traipsing around in the mud. However, do not despair if you’re there mid day on a sunny day (as we were on this trip). When setting up your shot on such sunny days, aim the camera so as to only have shady things in the scene (a few stray sunny spots are OK but the fewer the better). In this way the scene will be exposed for the shade where most of the desired detail is. If you have tripod, this is a good place to bring it along with you allowing you to keep you ISO low – by dialing in a slower shutter speed – and still getting a decently bright image. If you don’t have a tripod, then I find it best to use the “A” shooting mode (“Av” on Canon cameras) and set your aperture value to a number at the low end of range available to you (it’s the number with decimal points sometimes preceded by the letter “f” on the screen or viewfinder), and set your ISO to around 200. Then glance at your shutter speed and if it’s at 1/60th of a second or faster you’re good to go. If the shutter speed is slower than 1/60th of a second then go to a higher ISO. Big vistas in the rain forest don’t tend to work very well as they are just too cluttered with, well, forest. Instead zoom in on the details. Like just one branch with moss, or an interesting section of tree bark, or even a silhouette of strangely formed tree out on it’s own. If you found this information useful in your decision making process, you gleaned information you may not have otherwise discovered, or you just enjoyed reading it and appreciate the time I put into writing it, please give me a "helpful" vote. You’re welcome to contact me through danhartfordphoto dot com (where you can see photos of my travels) or through the “Ask Caifdan69 about .........” button at the bottom of this revieW

The Hoh Rain Forest shows the visitor what so much of Western Washington used to be like, before the advent of industrial logging, which also can be seen as you drive on Hwy. 101 and the approach road into the park. Having visited in high summer and now in December, I can say that whenever you can visit is a good time. At present, the visitors' center is relegated to a small trailer, while renovations are done to the larger building. The ranger on duty clued us in on where to see coho salmon migrating up the stream to spawn, and that was a real treat. The loop hikes are easy and have many informational signs to enhance your visit. Do be aware that the park itself is 20 miles from the highway and the approach road is down to one lane for a short stretch, due to washout from the Hoh River. In winter, pack your rain gear and enjoy the rain forest!

We camped in the rainy Olympic National Park but its was a wonderful experience to hike around in the park.

My favorite seasons to hike in the Hoh is late fall and spring - both times when the moss has been renewed by the rains. Everything is intense greens, browns, reds and the air is so clean.As a bonus, may you have elk families crash across the trail in front of you!Wether you do a front country nature trail, or go farther up the main trail, it is always worth the time to drive there.