Picnic area · Olympic National Park
Tables by the North Fork Skokomish make a handy meal stop.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Olympic Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Olympic National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Olympic audio tourRecorded for this place
Staircase: Rapids and the Fallen Cedar“Up ahead is Staircase, where I’d choose the Rapids Loop for a short outing beside the North Fork Skokomish River.”
Plays as you drive up to Staircase Picnic Area in the Parkwolf Olympic Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Staircase Picnic Area is a small picnic stop in Olympic National Park's Staircase developed area, near the North Fork Skokomish River, ranger station and campground. It works best as a meal break while you're already here for the river trails or camping; it is a useful facility rather than a major attraction on its own.
The two picnic spots sit around Skokomish Bridge. Both have a table, and the one north of the bridge also has a grill. An accessible restroom is nearby at the ranger station. The access road is unpaved and can close in snow, so check conditions before driving in.
In 1890, Lieutenant Joseph P. O'Neil led an exploratory expedition across the southern Olympic Mountains. His party surveyed the watersheds of nine rivers and tributaries and cut a five-foot-wide trail corridor over 93 miles. Staircase remains a developed access point for river and forest trails on this side of the park.
Wildlife
710 sightingsOlympic MarmotMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
30 sightingsHumpback WhaleMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
42 sightingsGrey WhaleMost seen around noonSighting map
23 sightingsMountain LionMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
71 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
306 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 11 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Olympic. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyStaircase Rapids Loop Trail2.1 mi · 1.3 hr · 0.1 mi awayA shady loop to river rapids and an enormous fallen cedar.
ModerateShady Lane Trail0.8 mi · 45 min · 0.1 mi awayA narrow cedar trail with river views and two small bridges.
ChallengingFlapjack Lakes Trail15.6 mi · 9.5 hr · 0.1 mi awayA long forest climb ends at twin lakes below the Sawtooths.
ChallengingNorth Fork Skokomish River Trail25 mi · 16 hr · 0.1 mi awayA long river-valley walk to a remote Olympic mountain pass.
ChallengingBlack and White Lakes Primitive Trail14 mi · 11.5 hr · 0.2 mi awayA steep climb to an open basin of lakes and mountain views.
ChallengingWagonwheel Lake Trail5.6 mi · 6 hr · 0.2 mi awayA relentless climb ends at a small, turquoise subalpine lake.
EasyBig Cedar Trail (Staircase)0.4 mi · 20 min · 0.4 mi awayA short gravel path to a fallen cedar 14 feet across.
ModerateFour Stream Trail4.8 mi · 3.5 hr · 0.8 mi awayA mossy creek confluence marks the halfway point to the park boundary.
Campground · 0.1 mi awayStaircase CampgroundCamp beside the North Fork beneath Olympic old-growth forest.
Ranger station · 0.1 mi awayStaircase Ranger StationSeasonal ranger help beside an easy river loop
Entrance station · 0.2 mi awayStaircase Entrance StationBuy your pass and get oriented before exploring Staircase.Sight · 0.3 mi awayStaircase Big Cedar TreeA fallen 14-foot cedar, tucked just off an easy loop.
Picnic area · 2.5 mi awayLake Cushman Day Use Area Site 5A simple picnic table with a view over Lake Cushman.Parkwolf’s Olympic ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
