Mount Storm King in Olympic National Park

Welcome to Travel Tuesday! We’re in Washington this week at Olympic National Park (virtually, anyway). (Let’s face it–with a name like Mount Storm King, how could we not hike it!?)

Distance: 5.3 miles (out + back)
Elevation: 2076 ft
Difficulty: Difficult
Duration: ~3-4 hours
Trailhead Address: 48.05803, -123.78906
Parking: Lot available by the ranger station

If you’re looking for a hike that makes you feel alive (whilst also partially fearing for your life), gives you a good workout along with beautiful views, and also makes you feel like a Disney princess, look no further! (I’ll explain shortly.)

The hike starts off through the forest and is pretty flat until you veer off on the Storm King trail.

It shares the same ~0.5 miles as part of the Marymere Falls Trail, so if you want to extend your hike, you can elect to not follow the sign (pictured below) on your left and go there first, or go when you come back. (We had a late start to the day so we unfortunately only had time for one.)

There are gorgeous lookout points every here and then during the switchbacks but for the most part, it’s a gradual incline all the way up.

The trail is well maintained up until about 2 miles in when you’re at about 1800ft elevation gain. After that point, you’re “on your own,” so to speak. (A lot of people do this trail though — it’s pretty popular!) My photos sadly do not do any justice to the steepness but to be fair, I was more preoccupied with being safe + not losing my phone.

If you look a little more closely, you can see the ropes starting here!

We happened upon another hiker on our way up and she told us that getting to the top was definitely worth it for the views, but to definitely use your hands and your butt and to not worry about your dignity because safety = most important. (She had just made it down and saw the person in front of her fall so she was understandably pretty shaken up.)

When you get to the top though, it’s an absolutely gorgeous view! We were vaguely concerned that it’d start raining harder while we were on our way up, which would’ve made the rest of the trail pretty dangerous.

Remember how I said that this hike would make you feel like a Disney princess? What was that all about?

There are lots of birds at the top who’ll come chill with you! They’re (obviously) looking for food. I’d recommend against this because it’s best to keep nature wild and this can harm them. (They’ll hang out with you and land on you even if you don’t offer!)

Of the hikes that I’ve done thus far that briefly gave me safety-related concerns, I’d say this one felt the least secure (the others being Angels Landing + Half Dome).

Although there are ropes, you can see evidence of fraying and it can get pretty darn slippery. It thankfully wasn’t too crowded since we went on a weekday somewhat later in the day. Expect a lottt of people if you’re going on a weekend.

This illustrates the steepness a bit more accurately!

If it’s been raining recently, you may want to bring gloves. Please don’t try to climb this during a storm either, or if you’re afraid of heights (unless you’re going for exposure therapy, I guess)!

• Are you afraid of heights?
• Do you think you’d go on this hike? :P