Rialto Beach is one of the most popular entry points for the coastal strip of Olympic National Park. Rialto Beach is on the north side of the Quillayute River, just west of the Mora campground and ranger station. The 1.5-mile beach is popular with folks out for a stroll or day hike, but continue northward and the crowds thin out as the country becomes a jumble of sea stacks—remnants of the ancient coast.

Hole in the Wall is one of the most interesting of these. This treacherous stretch of shore has claimed many lives, as memorials to Chilean and Norwegian sailors attest.

The 21 long and remote miles between Rialto Beach and the Ozette Ranger Station feature abundant wildlife—including bald eagles, harbor seals, shorebirds, and migrating whales at different times of the year. The resident raccoons are here year-round, so hang your food in a hard-sided container!

A popular day hike from the La Push area is Second Beach, an easy 0.75-mile trail that starts just south of La Push, followed by 1.5 miles of beach, tidepools, and sea stacks, including a pointed one called the Quillayute Needle. You can camp at a couple of points under the trees, making this some of the most accessible beach camping in the state.

Park at Third Beach, just south of the Second Beach trailhead, for a challenging hike all the way down to Oil City, 17 miles away on the north side of the Hoh River. Be sure to carry a tide chart. Oil City neither has oil nor is it a city. Three different exploration parties came here in search of oil—attracted by crude seeping from the ground just north of here. During the 1930s, 11 exploratory wells were drilled and a town was platted, but there simply wasn’t enough oil to justify development. A part-paved, part-gravel road leads 11 miles from Highway 101 to the Oil City trailhead.

Getting to Rialto Beach

Clallam Transit (360/452-4511 or 800/858-3747) provides daily bus service to La Push from Port Angeles and Forks. Hikers can catch the bus as far as the turnoff to Rialto Beach and walk or hitch the final three miles.