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Park · Washington · Pacific Northwest

Olympic

What makes it unique

Three separate parks under one name — alpine, rainforest and coast — each with a different best month, which makes a single visit always a compromise.

Acreage922,649
National park since1938
Best lightJul, Sep
Visits2025 · 2026
Terrain profile · W→E from the coast up the Hoh to Mount Olympus · 47.8°N · 440–7,562 ftElevation data · Open-Meteo

The photographs

32 selects · 2 visits
March 2025 · 18 photographs
March 2026 · 14 photographs
Field notes

If you go

From Parks by Month →
A · When to go

Best for photography in Jul, Sep.

photography
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B · Before you go
Access

Hurricane Ridge Road is seasonal and weekend-only in winter. The Hoh receives more than twelve feet of rain a year. Coastal hikes need a tide table, not a trail map.

Avoid

November through March is genuinely wet, with washouts closing the Hoh and Quinault roads without warning.

C · How I shot it

18 of 32 frames on the FE 70–200mm: long glass, compressing the landscape into layers.

FE 70–200mm F4 Macro G OSS II18 of 32
FE 16–35mm F4 ZA OSS8 of 32
Tamron 28–75mm F2.86 of 32
Most used70mm · 7 frames
Typical aperturef/4 – f/8
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