When you are with a guide of a nice person who lives there studied searched and teach with the…read morenature wich experience she share with you.all is nice but if you are with Carolyn like I were in Ruby beach loocking for the life at Tidepool and walking and feeling in the Rainforest this is a worderfool real and personal experience .Thank you very much Carolyn for your knowledge and kindness.. Carolyn believe in this way of life that is more than her perfect work of tour wide. Do you need more?You will found with Carolyn....food Van and most important....the tidepool and rainforest Are Lives and you will feel them.

On our recent family vacation to the Olympic Peninsula, we spent a day hiking, birding, and tide…read morepooling with Carolyn Wilcox of Experience Olympic as our guide. She was wonderful! Her extensive knowledge of the area and its flora and fauna made the entire day a first-rate experience that was educational, immersive, and fun!! If you ever have the opportunity to visit the Olympic National Park and are looking for a guide to enhance your exploration of the park's natural diversity, please do yourself a favor and spend a day, or more, with Carolyn.

Originally booked the 130pm half day sea kayaking tour online. Received a call the next day saying…read morethe 130pm tour was already full for the next few days (not sure why it let me book online then). But luckily I was able to be flexible and switch to the morning tour (they gave me a day's notice). The staff on the phone said it would be much less windy anyway...which definitely turned out to be true and I was so glad for it bc it would've been chilly otherwise! They're doing great on the Covid safety measures as much as possible. Instead of parking at the office and riding a bus to the bay, they just have you either follow the guide in his vehicle with the kayaks or give you an address/coordinates for your gps. It was easy to keep up with our guide. Everyone wore masks until we got into our own individual kayaks. Very easy to practice social distancing in this setting! The office was very easy to find, right off the highway and even has a winery right next door (and was highly recommended by the host at my inn). Plenty of parking everywhere we went. After a brief safety talk and bit of equipment orientation, we launched from a rocky beach in Freshwater Bay and went out into the Strait of San Juan de Fuca. It was absolutely gorgeous weather - sunny and calm and a perfect temperature. The water was insanely clear! We saw jellyfish and kelp crabs and all manner of birds! We even sampled a little bit of the kelp haha! Our guide, Chris, was so knowledgeable and he made the tour interesting and really fun! There's even a little cave you can swoop through if you have one of the smaller kayaks! I highly recommend you bring sturdy water shoes and waterproof camera!

Absolutely amazing! We kayaked on Lake Crescent and had the best time. Everyone at the shop was so…read morekind getting us ready. Our guide was so much fun and very knowledgeable about the area. Kayaking Lake Crescent was the highlight of our trip! We saw bald eagles, lots of birds, baby geese, and baby ducks!

This place is awesome. We came here really by chance. We were directed here by our "AI" itinerary…read more(yep!) and had no idea it would be so great. Lovely Pacific Northwestern indigenous art, a remarkably professional and interesting exhibit inside of local flora and fauna (including a live tank of baby salmon, which you can find adult-size in the rivers around town); friendly person manning the desk and a cafe and gift shop that are not open every day so watch out for that. It's free - give them a donation, they really deserve it.

We stumbled upon this hidden gem while looking for Christmas lights at the Railroad Bridge Park as…read moreit's located in the same complex - what a find!! It was closed at night when we first visited but it looked so interesting that we had to come back the next day to check it out and am so glad we did! It's surprisingly large inside with a very interesting little exhibit room which is like a nature museum - full of information and displays on all the nature and wildlife of the surrounding Dungeness River ecosystem. They're all about education and conservation here so you know how much I loved that! One of my favorite things was their display of rain gauges giving you a visual example of the staggering differences in rainfall amounts around the area - mind blowing how much rain some of these places get! They partner with the local Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society and the National Audubon Society. They offer all sorts of nature and wildlife programs, field trips and conferences, as well as birding walks and other tours. The center has a gift shop and a satellite stand from Hurricane Coffee. We tried their Happy Camper (a blackberry mocha) and their Dark Raspberry Mocha and we couldn't resist the freshly made Blueberry Coffee Cake displayed - everything was delicious! They have quite a few benches and picnic tables outside, as well as a lovely bird garden that was just teeming with local species. They even have a "bird blind" viewing area inside where you can watch in secret so as not to scare the birds - it was awesome! They have plenty of clean restrooms and a huge parking lot so there's room for everyone. The GPS brings you right to the river center - but you may get confused bc it looks like you're driving through a remote rural neighborhood- but just trust it bc it's at the end of the road lol! Once you're finished exploring the river center, be sure to pop out back and explore the historic railroad bridge over the beautiful and huge Dungeness River!! So worth it!

There is parking up on the Ridge. So that was great. The hike can be easy or hard. You can choose…read moreto go up the hills or down the hills. It was cool and we had a nice breeze. The views are beautiful, it's a National Park so Veterans and military retirees get in Free! I recommend going early because when we left there was about 50 cars waiting to get in!

Better late than never! We made it to the Hurricane Ridge hike on 8/12/25 between 10am-12pm and it…read morewas too hot for me with barely any shade up top and throughout our way down. I would recommend going sooner 7-8am starting time. We camped the night before at HEART O' THE HILLS Campground without prior reservation. It was a quick drive up top to Hurricane Ridge the next morning for our hike. The hike didn't live up to our expectations. Not much to see and not much shade anywhere. Some decent views up top but you can get much better views without hiking up this way. What I appreciate is wheelchair accessible trails up to certain areas of the trail! Plenty of free parking areas up top. For me personally, the views, the landscape, the scenery aren't worth the hype and planning for me to make a trip out here during the second week of August. There are better choices for hikes elsewhere and in the next state, Oregon. The HEART O' THE HILLS campground was nice option for camping and I do appreciate they still offer spots without reservations as it should be as first comes first served instead of let people hoarding them way ahead of time because they have the means to do so and preventing available spaces for true camping spirit. The restroom was cleaned and maintained.

If you enjoy safari-style experiences, Olympic Game Farm is definitely worth a visit. Driving…read morethrough the park in your own car while seeing animals up close is a unique and fun experience. You can purchase bread from their store to feed many of the animals, which makes the drive even more interactive and memorable. It's a great opportunity to observe a variety of animals from a close distance, and the experience is especially exciting for kids, they'll absolutely love it! If you're visiting the Olympic Peninsula or are nearby, I'd highly recommend checking it out. It's a fun family outing.

If you have kids or just love cute animals ... it's worth the trek to Olympic game…read moreFarm. Take the ferry with your car and it's about a 40 minute drive. Buy some bread when you arrive and you'll have memories for life. Bison and elk were our favorites. If you have friends from out of town, put those window locks on and you'll be in for a good time for the passengers who have no idea they're about to get up close with cute cows, deer, and llamas. Laughs and smiles all around. Bring some wipes to wipe down the car after; your car will definitely get dirty inside and out. Some folks line their car with towels and some bring a hand vac. Before or after you do the drive around the farm to feed the animals, there's a free petting zoo to play with adorable goats and some spots to read and take photos. Overall a lovely time. They also have some other exotic animals at the end that are housed/ in isolated living quarters to see but you can't feed them.

Captain Erik has so much boating and Port Townsend knowledge. We had an informative and relaxing…read moreride in his sail boat that is supplemented with a battery motor when needed. Took the 1 hour, 5pm sail and it was a magical experience. This August 2025 the weather was calm but had enough of a breeze to get us going. We sailed out of the harbor left and then sailed past the town. Fun! Meet at the edge/corner of the marina and there is a small placard and Captain Erik will probably be there waiting for you. He explains procedures, safety issues and points of interest in a clear and relaxing manner. Skinny, life jackets are provided. You can manually pull the orange tab to inflate or it will self inflate when submerged in water. Make reservations in advance.

Eric took my wife, son and I on a tour of the Port Townsend waterfront. We had a great time and…read moreenjoyed the view and the atmosphere which was made easy aboard the immaculate Katie M! Eric was a great Captain and took care of everything!!

This park had signs everywhere that the water was toxic, so that's why it's 4 stars for this…read morereview. Otherwise, it was beautiful. Lots of trials including ones for horses. Volunteer state park employee is posted at the end of the main road.

This beautiful lake is wonderful for kayaking and canoeing! Fishing is fun there. A great place for…read morea picnic!

Coming from Bozeman, Montana I have a pretty high bar regarding what makes a good fly shop. They…read moremet that bar without losing a step. Excellent advice on waters to fish, hatches, and flies.

I find most fly shops fun and a pleasant experience, because I love to fish. But as a lapsed fly…read morefisherman returning to the sport, some fly shops can be snobby and intimidating. So I judge a shop on whether they can be open to those of us who still have lots to learn and they passed with flying colors. Waters West has reasonable prices, a good assortment of local flies and most importantly, a staff willing to share information. They were helpful and made me feel welcome, even though I was a bit rushed to get out to the Olympic Peninsula. They also have a great website. I look forward to my next visit.