The colors of oak, vine maple, bigleaf maple and huckleberry bushes are particularly bright this year.
Warm days, cool nights
A warm sunny start to fall, combined with cool night temperatures, result in a spectacular fall color tour during October and November, experts said.
Leaves turn color because photosynthesis has shut down. During the summer, photosynthesis produces chlorophyll, which makes the leaves green.
With shorter days and cooler temperatures, photosynthesis stops, the green fades and carotene and anthocyanins in the leaves show up as yellows-oranges and reds.
Park tours
Olympic National Park, with access points throughout the Peninsula, offers a kaleidoscope of colors this time of year and a latticework of trails.
Within the park, bigleaf and vine maples stand out among evergreen, hemlock and spruce trees.
One of the most accessible and best fall colors viewing areas on the Peninsula is in the West End’s Hall of Mosses trail in the Hoh Rain Forest, accessed by driving U.S. Highway 101 through Forks, then taking the turnoff for the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center. The center is about 31 miles south of Forks.
Hall of Mosses
The short Hall of Mosses trail — which is less than one mile — offers a viewing area of a grove of bigleaf maples with enormous leaves floating to the ground.
The nearby Spruce Nature trail, an easy walk of 1.2 miles, winds through foliage to beautiful views of the Hoh River.
For a more arduous hike from the visitor center, try all or some of the 17.3-mile Hoh River trail, which leads eventually to Glacier Meadows on the shoulder of Mount Olympus.
Farther south, the Quinault Rain Forest shines with fall color.
Lake Crescent
Traveling east from Forks, at Lake Crescent, off Highway 101 about 18 miles west of Port Angeles, the Spruce Railroad Trail curves along the north shore. The trail is one of the only trails that allow mountain bikes in Olympic National Park.
Also in the Lake Crescent area, Storm King Trail — a 3.8-mile round-trip, semi-strenuous uphill hike — makes a wonderful perch to view colorful trees at the lake.
For a panoramic view of the park, Hurricane Ridge, at 5,240 feet, is accessible by a spectacular 17-mile drive from Port Angeles and offers a variety of trails for differing skill levels.
To get there, take Race Street south. It turns into Hurricane Ridge Road. Check to ensure that weather hasn’t closed the road by phoning 360-565-3131 before making the drive.
On the east side of the park, in Jefferson County, autumn’s colors wend through the trails of the Dosewallips area.
The Dosewallips Road and the trail itself is closed now at the Elkhorn Campground to just below Dose Forks,and the Duckabush Trail also is closed from the trailhead to the LaCrosse Pass junction, because of ongoing fires.
Highways 112, 101
For a long loop tour, drive state Highway 112 through Joyce to Clallam Bay, south on state Highway 113 to Sappho, then east on U.S. Highway 101 to Lake Crescent and Port Angeles, enjoying the kaleidoscope of hues along the way.
A mile down Highway 112 is the turnoff to the Elwha River Road, which will lead the traveler to the newly constructed Elwha bridge and river walk, which opened in September.
The view from the bridge not only is strewn with autumn color but also may offer a glimpse of salmon in the river.
The hillsides off Highway 112 at Camp Hayden Road toward Tongue Point can be particularly brilliant, as can the reddish-hued vine maples near the Murdock River just east of Twin River.
Along Highway 113, the hills around Beaver Lake offer a variety of hues.
A short distance south of the U.S. 101 junction is the Tumbling Rapids Park along the Sol Duc River.
Vine maples foliage along the Sol Duc River is at its brightest this time of year, and the river is easily accessible, not only at the Tumbling Rapids Park, but elsewhere in several places. A drive along Highway 101 between Forks and Lake Crescent will cross the Sol Duc at least six times.
Heading back toward Port Angeles, the hillsides near Lake Sutherland are covered in color, as is the view from Lake Aldwell.
Elwha River Valley
The changing season is bright in the Elwha River Valley, which can be enjoyed during a drive down Olympic Hot Springs Road off Highway 101 about 11 miles west of Port Angeles.
The drive takes a visitor back into the park, where Madison Falls trail offers an easy walk, and other trails lead deeper into the forest from the end of Whiskey Bend Road. One, the Wolf Creek Trail, connects to Hurricane Ridge.
Another possible tour of autumn’s pleasures is along Black Diamond Road to Little River Road, then up the Elwha River.
The John Wayne Marina near Sequim is another restful spot to see the colorful display.
One does not need to go far afield to enjoy the colors of the season. They flare brightly from trees and shrubs in towns from Forks, Neah Bay and Clallam Bay on the West End to Port Angeles and Sequim in the middle of the Peninsula, and in Port Townsend on the east side.
For special treats, stroll along the Waterfront Trail in Port Angeles and continue east along the Olympic Discovery Trail, take a drive near Kitchen-Dick Road and Old Olympic Highway to see the glowing yellow poplars, or tour the Victorian town of Port Townsend.
Port Townsend, Hood Canal
Within Port Townsend, colors flare against backdrops of classic architecture.
Poplar trees encircle Kah Tai Lagoon on lower Sims Way, their leaves turning yellow.
Maple trees flame in front of the Jefferson County Courthouse at Jefferson and Walker streets, and more maples surround the football field at Washington and Monroe streets.
Fort Worden State Park also has numerous maples which turn colors in the autumn air.
Magnificent views also are to be had along the Hood Canal, in park areas as well as the Olympic National Forest, such as the Hamma Hamma Road south of Brinnon.
