Olympic National Park guide · 1 min read
Hall of Mosses and the Hoh Rain Forest
The Hall of Mosses Trail is the walk most visitors come to the Hoh Rain Forest to take. This flat 0.8-mile loop passes through a grove of old big-leaf maples hung with heavy curtains of moss, while ferns cover the ground and Sitka spruce rise far above.
It is easy enough for young children and anyone wanting a gentle stroll, and it rewards a slow pace with frequent stops to look up.
The Hoh is a temperate rain forest on the wet western side of Olympic National Park, where valleys open toward the ocean. Rain here is counted in feet, with 12 to 14 feet falling in a typical year and most of it arriving in winter. All that moisture lets mosses, ferns and lichens coat nearly every surface, from bark and branches to the forest floor.
Unlike tropical rain forests, this one is ruled by conifers. Sitka spruce, western hemlock, Douglas-fir and western redcedar make up the old-growth canopy, and some trees here have stood for hundreds of years and grown taller than 250 feet. Fallen trunks and young saplings fill the understory, giving the forest its layered, crowded look.
The Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center sits at the end of Upper Hoh Road, about 90 miles west of Port Angeles, and both short trails loop out from it. The Spruce Nature Trail covers 1.2 miles and follows the Hoh River through more old-growth forest, usually with fewer people than the Hall of Mosses. A campground and picnic area are nearby.
Keep watch for wildlife as you walk. Deer, elk, raccoons, black bears and the northern spotted owl all live in these woods, so talk or make some noise on the trail.
