This afternoon, we are headed to Sol Duc Valley in Olympic National Park in Washington. Along with our 3 kids and Grandma, we are going to explore this unique area of the park. Read about our adventures at the Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort, hiking to Sol Duc Falls and more!
Planning Sol Duc Valley
After tidepooling to Hole-in-the-Wall this morning, we are looking for a more relaxed afternoon. And Sol Duc Valley offers some laid back activities. At the Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort, you can soak in hot mineral spring pools. But we also want to hike to Sol Duc Falls, one of the most popular waterfalls in Olympic National Park. So, it makes sense to hike first and soak afterwards. But, the resort only offers 1.5 hour timeslots every 2 hours. And since we’ll be arriving after 2:00PM, we’ll aim for the 4:00PM – 5:30PM timeslot. Reservations are on a first come, first serve basis in person only, so we’ll plan to go to the resort first. For more info, check out: Mineral Hot Springs & Pool (olympicnationalparks.com)
The Sol Duc Valley has hiking trails of varying lengths and levels of ability. And after we get our reservation for the hot springs, we want to do the 1.6 mile hike to Sol Duc Falls and back. This popular trail to a unique triple waterfall is considered one of the most beautiful in the park. You can get more information here: Sol Duc Area Brochure – Olympic National Park (nps.gov). Then we’ll return to the resort for our hot soak in the mineral springs. After soaking, we’ll leave the resort to head back to Forks. If we still have time we can stop at the Salmon Cascades overlook on the way back. And we’ll plan to have GuideAlong with us so we can learn more about Sol Duc Valley while in the area!
Getting to Sol Duc Valley
Sol Duc Hot Springs Road is off Highway 101 about half way between Port Angeles and Forks. From either direction it’s about an hour to get to the resort. So, from Forks we hookup the GuideAlong app to learn more about the area on the way. One thing we learned was of the local Native American legend of how the hot springs were formed. I won’t ruin it for you, but it involves quarreling dragons. In any case, once on Sol Duc Hot Springs Road, it’s only about 1/4 mile to the entrance station.
This is actually the 1st entrance station we had to stop at to pay to enter the park. There’s only a couple cars in front of us before we get up to gate. This is our 3rd national park this year, so we had bought an annual pass. So we show the pass and they give us some maps and let us through. If you don’t already have a pass, it’s $30 per vehicle, which is good for 7 days. Once past the entrance station, however, it’s still about 12 miles to the resort. But, it’s a nice 20 minute drive through some large trees before we turn right into the resort. Arriving about 2:30PM, we rush inside to get reservations.
Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort
Once inside, we walk straight up to the counter. This is where you check-in for the resort or to book your time in the hot spring pools. The cost is $18 per adult or $12 for children, seniors or military. They also have a towel rental for $5, which is good because we forgot to bring towels. And they still have availability for the 4:00PM timeslot. So, we go ahead and pay and they give us some yellow wristbands.
We plan to let Grandma relax at the resort until we get back from our hike. But our daughter also wants to stay and explore their shop. So, we tell them goodbye and get back in our car to drive to the Sol Duc Falls trailhead.
Sol Duc Falls Hike
Once back in the car, we turn right on Sol Duc Hot Springs Road for 2 miles. The parking lot here is large, but we weren’t expecting it to be full. We have to circle and wait for a spot. But after a few minutes, we park and the four of us start walking to the trailhead. There’s some bathrooms here with vault toilets, so we take turns. And by the time everyone is at the trailhead, it’s almost 3:00PM. But we are ready to hike the 0.8 miles to Olympic’s famous waterfall.
What’s interesting about the trailhead sign is it has Sol Duc spelled as Soleduck. Apparently, that was a previously acceptable spelling and it looks like it sounds. But it’s not named after a duck, but rather a Native American term meaning “sparkling water”. But what’s interesting about this hike through the Sol Duc Valley is the mix of rainforest and towering trees.
Our son Matt is enjoying walking over logs and through the towering spruce trees, Douglas firs and big leaf maples. There are a lot of people on the trail today, but it is well maintained. Besides some expected roots, this is an easy walk through moss-draped trees with little elevation change. We walk over many small footbridges and a larger bridge over a creek. And after almost 25 minutes, we see a sign for shelter access.
I wander off the trail to get a better look at the closed shelter. This wooden log structure with a dirt floor was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1939. It’s also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. And it’s only a few minutes from here to the falls.
Sol Duc Falls
You’ll hear the rush of the falls well before you get there. But when you see the bridge you’ll get your first glimpse of the flowing rapids. There’s many people on the bridge when we arrive, but we’re still able to get the perfect view of the triple cascade.
There’s 2 fallen trees that obstruct part of the view from the bridge, but Becky thinks it adds to the beauty. Though, the trail continues past the bridge to some overlooks. On the way, we get right beside the 3 shoots spilling into the narrow canyon below. But a more popular view is looking back at the bridge with the falls in the forefront.
The overlook is right at the brink where you can really see the force of the water falling into the canyon. You can continue on to see the headwaters which is what our boys did. They went ahead of us and climbed down the bank to chill on a rock in the flowing creek below.
Where they are sitting is relatively safe, so I decide to climb down as well. But I climb to a rock a little closer to the falls that makes Becky nervous from the overlook. Though there’s a woman below me that’s too close it’s making us all nervous. On the drive here, GuideAlong told the story of a guy who slipped and fell over the 50 foot falls. He survived, though was stuck in the canyon for 9 hours and got hypothermia before he was rescued. That sounds miserable. So I decide to climb back up to the overlook.
Heading back to the resort
After almost 20 minutes at the falls, we head back down the trail the way we came. As soon as we get over the bridge Matt spots a white-spotted sawyer beetle. It’s more concerned about boring into dead trees than us so we leave it alone. Farther down the trail I see what’s left of a huge tree and get Drew to stand inside it. This is a fun trail for sure.
We finish the trail just after 4:00PM. It only took us about 70 minutes including the time at the waterfall. But we’re running a little late, and now we’re ready for our time in the hot springs.
Mineral Hot Springs and Pool
We get back to the resort about 4:15PM to find Grandma and our daughter on some rockers out front. Our daughter is ready to get wet, but Grandma and Drew decide to sit it out. So the rest of us grab our rental towels and head to the locker rooms to change. The floors in the locker rooms are completely wet, and I forgot my flip flops. And though there are plenty of lockers, none of them actually lock. I assume it’s usually not an issue. But after changing I walk out barefooted to the pool area with my wallet and phone with me.
Outside we find a board with the temperatures listed for each pool. The largest mineral pool is 104 degrees Fahrenheit which sounds perfect. I leave my valuables with my hat and shirt on a nearby bench where I can see it. And then I walk into the Fountain Pool full of people finding a spot for all of us. After the hikes today, this pool is really relaxing. But they only allow you to have water while you soak. Though a beer sounds nice, it’s totally unnecessary here.
After soaking in the Fountain Pool for a while, we decide to try out the other pools. The Wading Pool is set at 99 degrees and is basically a kids pool. After a short stay, we head over to the Medium Pool which is set at 107 degrees. This sounds too hot and it is. After a couple minutes, the kids and I jump into the 73 degree swimming pool to cool off. It’s cold, but refreshing after the hot soak. And after swimming for a little while, we go back to the Fountain Pool to relax before leaving.
Salmon Cascades
After an hour at the pools, we change our clothes and meet back in the lobby before we leave. Becky doesn’t want to do another hike, but we decide to stop at the Salmon Cascades Overlook instead. From the resort it’s about 15 minutes down Sol Duc Hot Springs Road heading back to the entrance station. There’s a small parking lot off the road and a few cars already parked when we get here.
There’s a nice short walk from the parking lot through some large trees to the overlook on the river. Apparently you can see salmon swimming upstream here in the fall, but we don’t expect any this early. Though we do get good views of the clear rushing water below. This overlook is right over the cascades and also provides views up and down the river.
The boys and I also spot a side-trail that takes us to another access point to the river. However, here it takes us down to the river itself above the cascades. But after a few minutes I hear my mom asking where we went, so we return to the car. This was a quick 10 minute stop good for all us, but now we’re ready for dinner. 15 minutes later we’re exiting the Sol Duc Valley to head back to Forks for pizza.
Sol Duc Valley Summary
We spent over 4 hours in Sol Duc Valley this afternoon. And we accomplished what we wanted to do. The hike to Sol Duc Falls was an easy 1.6 mile hike through the forest. And we can see why the falls have been called the most beautiful in Olympic National Park. Though we were a little surprised at how many people were on the trail. The other thing we wanted to do was soak in the hot springs at the resort. Those of us that did experience the hot mineral pools enjoyed our time relaxing in them. Though an hour was enough for us and we probably wouldn’t do it again. But they are a popular activity here and worth experiencing if it piques your interest. And Salmon Cascades Overlook was a nice stop, but would probably be awesome to see when the salmon are running.
This was our 1st time in Sol Duc Valley and we got to experience 2 new things in Olympic. We got to hike to a triple waterfall, and soak in some hot springs. But tomorrow, we are looking forward to seeing the enchanted Hoh rainforest.
Click here to read about all of our adventures in Olympic National Park.