One Of The US' Largest Rainforests Is An Ethereal Washington Gem With Lush Views Beyond Belief

The forest canopy over your head filters the light to a peridot green glow. The mist and droplets all around you shimmer like spilled diamonds. The trail underfoot is springy, and there is so much moss all around you that it softens the appearance of the landscape like a lens blur. You might spot elk or beavers as you wander among the trees in Washington state's Olympic National Park's Hoh Rain Forest, but you'll half expect to see elves and fairies peeking out from behind the foliage in such a magical setting. 

The Hoh is a temperate rainforest, thriving in the chilly Pacific Northwest on up to 14 feet of annual rainfall. Just how much rain is that? The Amazon Jungle receives just 6 to 10 feet. Notoriously rainy yet ravishing vacation spot Hilo, Hawaii, sees a mere 130 inches, or less than 1/10th the rain Hoh sees. For a more localized point of comparison, Seattle, which really does deserve its nickname of Rain City, gets just 39 inches per year. You can't wait for a sunny day to see this place — just get your rain gear on and go. Short, groomed trails and a cozy campsite await, and don't forget the rain fly for your tent. This campground is frequently booked solid, so try using a service to snag a cancellation.

The Hall of Mosses is a 0.8-mile trail that will give you a taste of this other-worldly landscape. Here moss drapes everything in sight like cobwebs in a haunted house at Halloween. It hangs in wafting curtains from the branches of big leaf maple trees, climbs the tall trunks of hemlock and Sitka spruce, blankets rocks and fallen logs, covering everything in sight — other than the bright green leaves and fern fronds — in a spongy, fleecy layer in shades of green ranging from olive to electric. It takes your eyes a while to adjust to the hectic patterns, as you make out the shapes. Is that really a tree? Its trunk is as green with moss as any lawn, sprouting with ferns all the way up as its trunk disappears into the canopy.

Hoh Rain Forest is both a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve, and with recognition has come visitation. You won't be alone here, even on the rainiest of days, as it's one of the most-visited sites on the sprawling Olympic Peninsula (it's about a 4-5-hour drive to get to the Hoh Visitor Center from Seattle or Portland). Visitors tend to share a hushed reverence as they pad through the forest, because the mosses act as sound absorbers, and this forest has been studied as one of the quietest places on earth. That silence is both haunting and magical.

Weather permitting, a hike along the Hoh River Trail can take you away from the crowds and further into that magical realm of emerald silence. The hike to Five Mile Island, a backcountry campground, is 10.5 miles, but the mere 300 feet of elevation change makes it a stroll. Watch for the forest-dwelling Roosevelt Elk, several hundred of whom roam the area. This is a well-developed trail, but the nature of this forest means it's constantly growing. Just a few steps along the overgrown sections of this fern-lined path and your shoes can be soaked through, even when it's not actively raining. A sturdy poncho makes good rain gear here, and keeping a fluffy towel in your car isn't a bad idea, either.

This trail stretches further, a total of 17.4 miles (one way) to Glacier Meadows, the flat forest path giving way to a precipitous climb into alpine meadows and a scramble or two to reach a sweeping vista of the glaciated Olympic Mountain Range. If you have a long weekend, this makes for an excellent backpacking trip, culminating in a lung-searing climb above the tree line to rocky, windswept Blue Glacier, for the ultimate experience in contrasting landscapes. Whatever your itinerary, one thing you won't be getting is that tropical vibe the way you would on a rainforest trek in Costa Rica, so plan a warming pit stop at Sol Duc Hot Springs on your way back to Seattle.