Weather forecast
Mon, Jun 29Start
Gig Harbor, WA
69°
49°
💧 10%
En route
Rialto Beach
62°
51°
💧 16% · 0.07″
Overnight
Seattle, WA
69°
52°
💧 11% · 0.01″
Forecast via Open-Meteo
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Olympic National Park + Rialto Beach
Jr. Ranger Badge
Junior Ranger badge — Port Angeles VC closes 5:00 PM
Game Plan
Olympic VC opens 9 AM; arriving at 10:40 AM is perfect. Turns out there was no benefit to the old 6:45 AM departure — the VC wasn't open yet anyway.
- Cirque Rim Trail (Hurricane Ridge) (0.5 mi · paved) — Maximum view per step in the whole park; deer graze the meadows most mornings.
- Rialto Beach toward Hole-in-the-Wall (up to 3 mi RT · flat sand/cobble) — Sea stacks, tidepools at the arch if the tide is out — check a tide chart; turn around whenever.
- Madison Falls (optional) (0.2 mi · paved) — Just off US-101 near the Elwha — a 15-min add-on if the day runs ahead of schedule.
- Lake Crescent — glacial blue, right on US-101; even a pullout stop is worth it
- Kingston–Edmonds ferry crossing — Puget Sound + possible Rainier views from the deck
Sunrise, Sunset & Golden Hour ★
Sunrise
5:16 AM PDT
Sunset
9:18 PM PDT
Be set up by (sunrise)
4:46 AM
Be set up by (sunset)
8:58 PM
Sunrise spot — Driving from Gig Harbor — not practical. Hurricane Ridge at dawn (visiting mid-morning) is magnificent, but you arrive well after sunrise.
Driving day — no sunrise opportunity.
Sunset spot — Rialto Beach — sea stacks and the Pacific horizon at 9:18 PM sunset would be the most dramatic filming moment of the trip. You need to depart Rialto by ~4:30 PM per the current plan — but if you adjust to stay through sunset and take a late ferry, this is extraordinary.
⭐ Rialto Beach at 9:18 PM sunset: sea stacks silhouetted against the Pacific. Consider adjusting Day 10 to linger at Rialto for sunset and take the Kingston–Edmonds ferry at 10 PM (arrive Seattle ~11 PM). Once-in-a-trip backdrop.
Heads Up
Biggest sightseeing day: if it feels like too much, Rialto is the cut — dropping it saves ~3.5 hrs and you'd reach Seattle by ~5 PM.
Check Hurricane Ridge Road status (it occasionally closes) and a La Push tide table for Hole-in-the-Wall.
Charter Hotel parking is valet-only at $65/day — nearby self-park garages run roughly half that.
Trip Journal — Day 10
No journal entries for this day yet.