Approaching the final day of our trip to Olympic National Park with our friends Chad and Shannon, we decided to check out of our vacation rental in Forks, WA, which has served as our basecamp for the entire week, and book one night in a motel on Hood Canal in the far southeastern region of the park to end our trip.
Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State cover a combined nearly 2,000 square miles (1,550,765 acres), so visiting the area involves quite a bit of driving, but in all the driving we’d done so far this trip, we hadn’t yet driven around the southern portion of Olympic National Park.
So, as we departed Forks, we took Hwy 101 South and then deviated east through Aberdeen, WA (where we learned the grunge band Nirvana got its start), and then looped back up toward Hoodsport, WA, via Hwy 101 again.
High Steel Bridge Over South Fork Skokomish River
After about 3 hours of driving, it was too early to check in at the motel, so we added another point of interest to this trip. We arrived at a turnoff called W. Skokomish Valley Road, which we followed for several miles until it split to Govey Road, which then met up with a national forest road that we followed for another several miles until we reached the historic High Steel Bridge that spans over a beautiful gorge in the South Fork Skokomish River valley.
At 365 feet high with a 366-foot span, the High Steel Bridge is the highest railway arch bridge ever built in the United States. Originally constructed in 1929 by the American Bridge Company for the Simpson Logging Company, the bridge was converted to road use in 1950.
I do not know how much vehicle traffic the High Steel Bridge sees today, since it is pretty far off the beaten path, but I think we saw one or two vehicles cross it while we were standing on it. Mind you, the surface is relatively narrow, meant for the width of a set of train tracks, rather than standard two-way vehicle traffic.
Staircase Rapids Hike
After our brief visit to the High Steel Bridge, we continued north up Hwy 101 to Hoodsport, WA, and turned northwest onto 119/N. Lake Cushman Road, and wound past Lake Cushman. At some point, the paved road turned to bumpy and rutted gravel, so we had to substantially slow our speed as we continued up to the Staircase Rapids trailhead, which ended up being about an hour’s drive from the High Steel Bridge.
The Staircase Rapids loop hike was an easy 2.5-mile route with only 236 feet of elevation gain, but it leads to an impressive suspension footbridge that spans across the beautiful North Fork Skokomish River, with lush, drippy vegetation, including moss-covered boulders, lichen, and old-growth trees, surrounding the clear, aqua water.
The views of the North Fork Skokomish River from along the trail and from the suspension bridge were incredible, too.
We returned to the Staircase Rapids trailhead and then headed back toward Hoodsport to check in at the motel at the Glen Ayr Canal Resort, which was right on the Hood Canal, separated by Hwy 101.
| Staircase Rapids Loop Hike | |
|---|---|
| Total Distance | 2.46 mi |
| Total Time | 1:08:29 |
| Total Ascent | 236 ft |
| Max Elevation | 1,875 ft |
Murhut Falls Hike
True to form for our trips with Chad and Shannon, we did not want to waste a minute, so we decided to get one final waterfall hike in before our Olympic National Park trip came to a close. About a 45-minute drive from the motel was the Murhut Falls trailhead, so we headed north on Hwy 101 for about 20 miles to Duckabush Road, which took us the final 7.5 miles to the trailhead.
We hiked up to Murhut Falls on a trail lined with old-growth and second-growth trees among the lush fauna. Upon reaching the 103-foot falls, we took a few photos and then explored a bit more because we heard more than one rushing cascade.
Chad and I ventured down to this secondary cascade, which wasn’t easy to get to and was a much smaller cascade, but it had an inviting pool below it.
Considering our additional exploring, my watch tracked the Murhut Falls hike at 1.81 miles round trip and nearly 900 feet of elevation gain. Other sources categorize the Murhut Falls hike as easy with a moderate grade and only 300 feet of elevation gain. So, either my watch’s tracking was off, or we did a lot more exploring than most others do. 😂
| Murhut Falls Hike | |
|---|---|
| Total Distance | 1.81 mi |
| Total Time | 48:15 |
| Total Ascent | 886 ft |
| Max Elevation | 1,342 ft |
This short hike to Murhut Falls wasn’t a bad way to close out our Olympic National Park trip, but as always, we were sad to be heading back to Sea-Tac airport in the morning. However, this only means we now get to start planning our couples’ hiking trip for next year!
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