We started the morning with the intent of camping in a National Park campground near Quinault, WA. There was no specific attraction; Quinault was simply on the way to somewhere else. Follow along as the day turns Quinault into a delightful surprise.
First, we stopped at Ruby Beach for spectacular views of sea stacks.
Ruby Beach (looking north)
Ruby Beach (looking south)
Then we entered Quinault Rain Forest and drove the South Shore Road to find a camp site. Willaby Campground – had just one site large enough for us, but we gave it up to a family who had entered behind us. Falls Creek Campground – sites were too small. Gatton Creek Campground – entrance was so narrow we couldn’t go in. Oops! Now what?
We just happened to find the Rain Forest RV Resort. We had no references to suggest it was here. It is, it consists of 31 sites on the shore of Lake Quinault, and it’s delightful! It’s clean, quiet and nicely run.
RV park grounds
And … we’re parked about 40 yards from the largest Sitka Spruce tree in the world! Furthermore, Quinault Valley has six of the largest living specimens of conifer trees. These giants only look up to redwoods and sequoias.
Largest in the world
· Sitka Spruce (58.9ft cir, 17.7ft diam , 191ft high)
· Western Red Cedar (63.5ft cir, 19.5ft diam, 174ft high)
· Douglas Fir (40.8ft cir, 13ft diam, 302ft high)
· Mountain Hemlock (6ft+ diam, 152ft high)
Largest in the US
· Yellow Cedar (37.6ft cir, 12ft diam, 129ft high)
· Western Hemlock (27.9ft cir, 8.9ft diam, 172ft high)
Dimensions of our spruce tree neighbor
This is one BIG spruce tree!
A drive along South Shore Drive offered new views and a peek at well kept homes and yards in the lakeshore community.
We enjoyed a special dinner at The Salmon House Restaurant overlooking Lake Quinault. The restaurant and the RV park have the same owners. The meal and the service matched the quality of everything we’ve seen from the resort. Carol had salmon; Dick had chicken cordon bleu.
Carol played “ladder golf” with camping neighbors (Janet & Carrie) from Forks. Reminder: we need to make one of these games!!!
Sunset on Lake Quinault
Did you know?
East on Washington 110 to US-101
South on US-101 to Quinault, Washington
End: 87 miles @ Quinault, Washington
Those beaches and forests along that coast are just wonderful! It looks like you got them at their peak!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the pictures in your recent blogs don't have the ability to click for larger versions. I assume that is a choice that you make when you upload? The larger pictures probably take more time (and money?) to do?
We fixed the expanded picture problem on 8/23 postings and after. The fix was also applied to Jasper day 1 and day 2 (which was posted late}. Let us know if you have any more problems.
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