Lake Cushman is the perfect, easy mountain escape from Seattle. Located on the Olympic Peninsula and touching Olympic National Park, Lake Cushman is a convenient summer getaway full of fun. Whether you plan on hiking at Staircase in the National Park or getting a vacation rental and enjoying water skiing and tubing, it’s an awesome place in the summer.
Until I moved to San Francisco in my early 20s I’d always heard of Lake Tahoe and people going to Tahoe for the summer and water skiing and stuff, but I’d never done anything like that. Well, it turns out that we have our own similar destination in the Pacific Northwest: Lake Cushman on the Olympic Peninsula.
Both Chris and I have been going to there since we were kids and it never occurred to us that we’d been having this same sort of exclusive, mountain lake experience. But do you know what? It’s not an exclusive experience and there are so many ways to experience this awesome, diverse PNW destination, and there is so much you can do!
Doing an Olympic Peninsula Road Trip is one of the best ways to explore the beautiful towns and Olympic National Park near Seattle. Four days on the gay Olympic Peninsula should be perfect for getting in some good hiking, waterfalls, some beautiful towns and quiet relaxation. Adventures in Northwestern Washington state are an easy long weekend getaway in Washington or a series of awesome road trip stops along the way.
Exploring the Gay Olympic Peninsula
The Olympic Peninsula is known around the world for its beautiful mountains, its beaches and the Twilight Saga. Well, there’s more to it than that. We’ve spent countless days exploring the OP and not just visiting our old favorite haunts we’ve known all our lives, but also exploring places that are new to all of us. That’s the joy of the Olympic Peninsula and why we’ve got a handy guide to get you familiar with our favorite region of the Pacific Northwest.
So, why visit this beautiful natural region over the Oregon Coast or the Eastern Seaboard? Well, quite simply there are fewer tourists here and more opportunities to be in the middle of nature with nobody around. The quietest place in the on earth (in nature) is here. The original metropolitan center of the Puget Sound area is on the OP. The largest successful dam removal project in the USA is on the Peninsula. So many reasons to visit and enjoy a road trip!
Google top rated bed and breakfast hotels in Port Angeles and Maitland Manor shows up at the top of the list. Opened in 2019 by Sydney and Alex, this Olympic Peninsula gay friendly B&B has quickly gained a 5-star reputation for upscale luxury, beds that will have you hitting snooze a few times, and especially their complimentary 3-course gourmet breakfast and house made baked goods. This place is a great spot for outdoor enthusiasts who also want to indulge their inner foodie. Journalist and travel reporter Katie Boer said, “breakfast was pure art!”
Located in a completely updated 1926 Tudor style home, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer called the inn “packed with character” for its juxtaposition of preserved historic architectural features with contemporary, clean lines and décor throughout. No doilies or fussy wallpaper in the place!
In fact, guest reviews often comment on the comfort and relaxed atmosphere of the suites, common areas, and gardens of the inn, while still feeling pampered and special. Some have called the experience “upscale cozy,” surrounded by luxury, but comfortable enough to kick off your shoes, put your feet up on the sofa, and enjoy the warmth of the fireplace and a great book.
But our Olympic Peninsula gay friendly B&B’s in-town location may be one of the best reasons to stay here. Located just twelve blocks from the waterfront in the city of Port Angeles, you’ll be close to everything, with the added bonus of views of the Salish Sea and Hurricane Ridge.
Olympic National Park on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula is an adventure that deserves a spot on your travel short list. It’s regularly named among the top national parks in the world by travel writers, explorers, and experts. Travel+Leisure magazine readers voted it one of the Top 15 National Parks in the United States. It’s the perfect place for LGBTQ travelers looking for an escape that’s easy to get to, welcoming, and accessible for people of all abilities, but still feels like a world class passport to a million acres of unspoiled wilderness.
Olympic National Park comprises the bulk the Olympic Peninsula, about 2 hours drive Northwest from SeaTac Airport and the city of Seattle, making it a prime location to visit with easy access. And there’s enough to do here to create an impressive itinerary in and around the park from a single central hub. The Olympic Peninsula includes not only Olympic National Park, but also Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, Olympic National Forest, and the Olympic National Marine Sanctuary.
Getting Around Olympic National Park
You’ll need a car, as this park is huge, and not easily accessible with public transportation (although there are some options for that). From the airport, the easiest route is driving south along I-5 through Tacoma and heading west on WA-16. If you’re exploring all the wonderful LGBTQ hotspots in Seattle first (like world-famous Capitol Hill and the Broadway Market), then the best way is to take the ferry from downtown Seattle to Bainbridge Island.
Experience the famous Washington ferry system in action. No reservations are needed as the ferry holds 300 cars and leaves about once per hour.
Exploring the Park
Now that you’re out on the Olympic Peninsula, you’ll want to stay about a week to explore everything you can see and do, and take full advantage of the unusual diversity of the Park’s multiple and varied ecosystems. First , unlike most National Parks, Olympic does not have a main gate, and you cannot drive through the Park.
Instead, there are gates dotted around the perimeter of the Park, with access to multiple trailheads at each entry point. The most popular spots are: Hurricane Ridge (alpine mountains), Lake Crescent and Sol Duc Falls (glacial lakes and waterfalls in the rainforest), Hoh Rainforest (location of the quietest square foot in America), and Rialto Beach (wild Pacific Coast). The park is open year-round, but access to some places is limited in winter.
What’s Nearby?
Outside of the National Park, you’ll definitely want to take in the Dungeness Spit (the longest natural sand spit in the Western Hemisphere), Cape Flattery (the northwestern-most point of the contiguous United States), take a day trip by ferry to Victoria B.C., and explore some of the county and state parks that are less visited but no less spectacular.
There are 4 primary towns on the Olympic Peninsula: Port Townsend (a Victorian arts seaport), Sequim (the lavender capital of North America), Forks (of Twilight fame and gateway to the Hoh Rainforest and Rialto Beach), and Port Angeles (the largest town in the area and closest to the most popular places to visit in the area).
Port Angeles is a great location to use as your “home base” during your visit as it’s centrally located to everything the Peninsula and Park have to offer.
Where to Stay
LGBTQ-friendly Maitland Manor is an exceptional boutique B&B in downtown Port Angeles within easy walking distance of the waterfront, and LGBTQ-owned Domaine Madeleine is an intimate luxury inn located on a waterfront bluff just outside the city.
Maitland Manor:
Domaine Madeleine
Both offer comfortable accommodations, easily accessible locations, all the amenities you need to explore the area, and a welcoming environment for LGBTQ travelers, including couples and solo travelers. Domaine Madeleine also welcomes pets.
Each inn provides comprehensive, up-to-date day trip itineraries to ensure you see everything the area has to offer. Depending on the season, you’ll encounter extraordinarily lush green rainforests (March-May and October-November), wildflowers (June-August), wildlife (year-round, but especially September-October), leaf-peeping (late September to early October), solitude and winter sports (November-February), a variety of renowned festivals that vary by season, and romance and adventure year round. Also of note, Port Angeles is home to the longest running and one of the leading annual transgender conferences, Esprit, held in May every year.
The Canterbury Inn is a condominium style hotel in Ocean Shores, along Washington’s beautiful Pacific Coast.
Voted one of the best vacation getaways in Washington, Ocean Shores offers six miles of sandy beaches, twenty-three miles of interconnecting freshwater canals and a charming beach town where you can explore and enjoy some great shopping.
Everyone comes here for the ocean in any season. Enjoy:
* Beach combing * Flying a kite * Horseback riding * Clamming * Enjoying sunsets over the Pacific
Our freshwater canals are ideal for kayaking, water skiing, and fishing, or even for biking along on a beautiful afternoon. They even run through our local golf course.
The Olympic Peninsula is amazing. I think it should be considered one of the seven wonders of the world even though it’s such a big region and not just one Wonder. This is our bucket list of the 13 most epic sites or activities on the Olympic Peninsula Washington.
As you’re planning your own time on the Olympic Peninsula, feel free to reorder these however make sense for you. There are of course more than 13 epic sites on the Olympic Peninsula bucket list but these take the cake and it cannot be missed when you travel the OP.
How to Get to the Olympic Peninsula
I read an article that said there are two ways to get to the Olympic Peninsula. I laughed out loud for a long time because it was so incorrect. There are twelve different ways to get to the Olympic Peninsula, so whoever said there are only two ways was extremely wrong.
You can take five different ferries to the Olympic Peninsula, and depending on your itinerary and starting point, any may be the right option for you. The five Washington State Ferry routes that sail to the OP are:
When we’re not lounging on a Florida beach in the hot sun or gallivanting the globe, we love to hike locally. Local, to us, is anything within a few hours’ drive of Seattle. One of our favorite local activities is hiking in Olympic National Park. It’s such an interesting place, with beaches, lowland rainforests, snow-capped peaks, and sweeping views from terrifying ridges. If you’re visiting Seattle hiking Hurricane Ridge is a great idea as it’s one of the closest access points to the Park.
I think most people in the Pacific Northwest will tell you that no visit to the Seattle area is complete without going hiking. There are tons and tons of options, but we truly prefer and will direct visitors to either Mt Rainier National Park or Olympic National Park. Both can be done as day trips or long weekends. Since we live closer, we more often go hiking in Olympic National Park and hiking at Hurricane Ridge is unforgettable every time.
Locale of Hurricane Ridge
As you’re driving on Highway 101 looping around the Olympic Peninsula, you must go through Sequim and Port Angeles. Although the towns themselves might not grab your eye immediately, they’re worth investing a day in…but we’re talking about hiking, not playing tourist.
So, you’re driving through downtown PA and you see a sign for Hurricane Ridge and you turn. You instantly start heading up hill. You’ll wind past the Port Angeles Olympic National Park Visitor Center, up through a few tunnels and keep going up out of the forest. All of the sudden you’re driving on the side of a mountain with little to no shelter and you keep going up. Eventually the road flattens out and you’re in a parking lot on the top of the mountain. Weird and beautiful..
Does anybody think of Washington State as a beach destination? Not hardly, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have the most beautiful beaches around. True, totally missing the palm trees, but we make up for it in other ways. Of all we’ve been to, the most beautiful beach in Washington is for sure Ruby Beach in Olympic National Park.
What makes Ruby Beach so awesome and dramatic? It’s the stacks, the weathered wood, the wildlife, the perfection of it all. We’ve got the scoop for how to visit and have an unforgettable time at the most beautiful beach in Washington. And if you’re lucky, maybe you’ll find some of the red rocks and garnets that give Ruby Beach its name.
HOW TO GET TO RUBY BEACH
One of the things that makes Ruby Beach the most beautiful beach in Washington is its remote location. Located just over three hours from Seattle and a little more than 2 hours from Olympia, it’s not exactly an impromptu day trip. If you’re making the trek that far you should plan on spending a few days both at the beach and in the rainforest.
Yes, Ruby Beach is very near both the Quinault and Hoh Rainforest areas of Olympic National Park, either of which is easy to add to your trip to Ruby Beach. See, already you’ve started forming an awesome travel plan encompassing beaches, forests and more. Check out our Olympic Peninsula road trip itinerary to get some more ideas!
Tip: a weekend trip is plenty of time to do Ruby Beach, as well as the beaches of Kalaloch and La Push. If you can do three nights, that’s really best because then you can add in the rainforests to your plans and maybe even some hiking at Hurricane Ridge.
We get a lot of questions about the best things to do in Leavenworth, Washington, as it’s kind of a mystery to people who haven’t grown up here. Leavenworth is the perfect destination for enjoying the mild PNW summers in the mountains, the beautiful snowy season along the Wenatchee River, and for getting your Oktoberfest on in the fall. There are countless things to do in any season, but this is the ONLY guide you’ll ever need for planning an amazing trip
Leavenworth, WA is a top destination for Seattleites and people visiting the Pacific Northwest. There are lots of reasons to love it and even more for why you should visit, so we’ll help you find one that suits yours or your family’s travel style. These are the best things to do in Leavenworth in every season.
LEAVENWORTH’S HISTORY (REAL QUICK!)
It’s cute. It’s quaint. It’s manufactured. Huh? Yep! There’s a great story behind the small Bavarian village at the foot of the Cascade Mountains.
Once upon a time, Leavenworth, WA was a logging town that was failing. As the jobs left and economy fell, the town hired a PR firm to save it from turning into a ghost town. They all worked together, refaced most of the buildings with stereotypical Bavarian façades, added lots of fun character touches, changed many business approaches and created a new destination: Little Bavaria. It’s amazing. The town is adorable and had you not known the history, you might think that it was historically an actual Bavarian settlement.
The Canterbury Inn is a condominium style hotel located along Washington’s Pacific Coast.
Voted one of the best vacation getaways in Washington, Ocean Shores offers six miles of sandy beach, 23 miles of interconnecting fresh water canals and a quaint beach town to shop and explore.
The ocean is the big draw, no matter the season. Visitors enjoy beach combing, horseback riding, clamming, kite flying or just watching the sunset over the Pacific. Our fresh water canals provide the perfect spot to kayak, water ski, and fish, to bike around and they even come into play on the golf course.
Our units range in size from studios to two bedrooms and each are individually decorated. Each features living room areas, flat screen TVs, and kitchens — most have fireplaces too.
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