Lush trails invite hikers to rain forest

FOR THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published June 19, 2001

It's easy to forget about the power of the rain forest when you're surrounded by nature's snowcapped skyscrapers.

But a few minutes in the Quinault Rain Forest reminds one of the effect of greens on the eye, quiet on the ear and lush environment on the psyche.

Thanks to an average of 140 inches of rain a year, fir, spruce, hemlock and cedar sprout like weeds and grow to gigantic proportions, so the state's largest trees are found here.

These easy hikes offer a taste of the lush environment:

-Rain Forest Nature Trail: On South Shore Road, the one-half-mile loop starts near Willaby Campground, a half-mile west of Lake Quinault Lodge.

Enjoy the crystal-clear stream, swamp and nurse logs. Many of the huge trees and plants are identified. One 400-year-old Douglas fir has a viewing platform built around it. Along the trail there are groves of 250- to 550-year-old firs.

-Quinault Loop Trail: Depending on your energy level, this can be a shorty or an 8-mile hike around the connecting loops, including the 3.5-miler out of Willaby Campground, west of the lodge. The loops go through big groves of trees, acres of ferns, splashes of small colors, along the shoreline of the glacier-dug lake from the campground to the Quinault Ranger Station, through a cedar swamp and past ancient trees.

-Gatton Creek Falls Trail: It's a wheelchair-accessible .3-miles from the Wright's Canyon Road (past Gatton Creek Campground off South Shore Road) to the falls. Hikers can choose to pick up the Gatton Creek Trail at that point and wander another couple of miles.

-World's Largest Spruce Tree: The short trail starts just past the store on South Shore Road. The alder-lined path goes through wetlands, past huge skunk cabbage leaves, salmonberry and devil's club. It's 1,000 years old, 191 feet tall and has a 96-foot spread and 58-foot circumference.

-Maple Glade Rain Forest Trail: This special half-mile loop begins at the Olympic National Park's Quinault River Ranger Station on North Shore Road, crossing Kesner Creek into some of the prettiest wetlands you'll find on the peninsula. It's wheelchair-accessible and self-guided.

Floods have left enough gravel behind to create well-drained soil perfect for big leaf maples, which have grown to gnarled examples. In the winter, elk browse here, driven down by the snow level. Like mowers, they keep the area in almost parklike condition.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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