Hiking to Sol Duc Falls (Port Angeles, Washington) - Trip Report
This beautiful waterfall is a mellow, family friendly hike in the Olympic National Park, Washington. The trail will take you through the forest, lush with mossy trees, bright green ferns and some colorful mushrooms. If you’re wanting to stretch your legs for a bit longer, there’s another waterfall about 0.35 miles down the trail known as the Lover’s Lane trail. You can also create a longer loop by continuing all the way down Lover’s Lane for a 6 mile loop, it was too snowy when I went, but a great option for late spring - fall.
Hiking Information
Location: Olympic National Park (near Port Angeles, Washington)
Trailhead & Parking: Google Maps
Date Hiked: April 5, 2021
Trail Type: Out & back
Elevation Change: 350 ft
Distance Roundtrip: 1.6 miles
Nearest Restrooms: at the trailhead
Fees: There is a fee to enter Olympic National Park, here is information on Olympic entrance park fees.
Season Accessibility: March/April - November/December (varies every year based on snow)
Trail Tip: Early morning arrival or just before sunset will thin out the crowds to this popular spot
The Drive/Parking
As mentioned above, it’s important to note that the road leading up to this trailhead closes seasonally every year around November (whenever the first big snowfall is) until around sometime around March and April, which varies every year depending on snow levels and snow melt. Here is Olympic NP’s road status page where you can check in real time if the road is open or not - it’ll be under the name, Sol Duc Road.
When the road is open, there is plenty of parking as this is a very popular trailhead. Even with a lot of parking, I’ve heard the trailhead parking can fill up so plan on an early start or evening start. I went in the early spring for sunset and only saw about 5 cars.
The Hike
I headed out for this hike just before sunset as I spent the morning hiking the Hoh River Trail. I only saw a few families and felt like I had the trail to myself which is my favorite. Quiet hikes through beautiful lush forests covered in moss and little mushrooms.
Being that it was early spring, I ran into a few snowy patches on the trail, but it was about 99% dirt trail with pretty minimal elevation change. Once approaching the bridge over the falls, I was greeted by a misty rainbow from sun rays that made it through the forest’s canopy. It was faint, but a glorious sight, hard to be a rainbow over a waterfall! I soaked up these views for a bit before continuing on a little bit further for a few more waterfall sightings I read about on this trail on the Lover’s Lane trail.
I like to use AllTrails to see recent reviews of trails, especially in transition seasons like spring where snow and fallen trees can an issue on trails. I saw someone mention going a little more than a quarter mile into the Lover’s Lane trail to see two more waterfalls. I also saw it wasn’t worth completing the loop because there was too much snow and too many fallen trees to get back to the trailhead. So I headed out for just a bit longer and got to enjoy some more lush forest and magical waterfalls.
This waterfall was 0.35 miles (according to my GaiaMaps) from Sol Duc Falls, definitely not as grand as Sol Duc Falls, but still a beautiful sight. I thought it was worth a little more trail time and saw no one else over on this trail. It’s definitely on my list to be back in this area during the summer or fall to complete the Lover’s Lane Loop.
On my way back, I stopped at Sol Duc Falls one more time to soak up the misty beauty. What a wonderful little trail, absolutely worth the time to see. Olympic National Park is one of my all-time favorites and this hike just reconfirmed that for me, I hope you enjoyed my trip report and/or video, and as always… Happy Trails!
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Tiare Kirkland
Hi! My name is Tiare, but you can just call me ‘T’. I’m a California based hiker and I spend most of my free time taking photos and videos of some of my favorite hikes. You can usually find me ‘Out Hiking’ in the Sierra Nevada mountain range or road-tripping to new areas. Read more about me here and follow along with my adventures by subscribing below!