Parking
From Highway 101, take South Shore Road for about 13 miles, then continue 5.8 miles on rough gravel Graves Creek Road to the campground. Start at Cascading Terraces Nature Trailhead inside the campground.
Overview
About Cascading Terraces Trail
Why go
- Mossy rainforest and a river meadow in a short, flat walk
Heads up
- Flood damage removed the old riverside loop, so expect to retrace your route
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Olympic map
Full mapElevation556–593 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
6 active Olympic alerts
- CautionUS 101 Hoh River Bridge reduced to one laneUS 101 at the Hoh River Bridge is restricted to one lane of alternating traffic; obey the signals and 25 mph speed limit.Official details
- ClosureStaircase wilderness trails and campsites remain closedWilderness trails and campsites around Staircase remain closed during recovery from the Bear Gulch Fire; the developed Staircase area, including the Rapids Loop, campground, and ranger station, is…Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Olympic Tour Guide
Your drive to Cascading Terraces Trail, narrated.
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 trailhead
Graves Creek Campground and the River Meadow0:00 / 0:26
“Graves Creek Campground is coming up, with thirty sites in the Quinault rainforest beside a stream. I'd choose it for a simple overnight stay rather than making the long gravel drive just for a break.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Olympic Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Graves Creek: Pony Bridge or Enchanted Valley
- The Wolves Olympic Lost
- The Bat’s Feeding Buzz
- North Fork Quinault: Camp or River Walk
- 204 audio storiesacross Olympic’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Olympic Marmot, Humpback Whale, Grey Whale, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 148 trails, 94 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Cascading Terraces Trail
A short rainforest walkCascading Terraces is a 0.
Cascading Terraces is a 0.5-mile out-and-back from its named trailhead in Graves Creek Campground to a meadow beside the East Fork Quinault River. The route is flat and takes about 30 minutes with a pause at the meadow. It is a gentle leg-stretcher, not a deep-valley hike.
Through the campground forestThe path winds among moss-draped maples and red alder, then descends toward the river meadow.
The path winds among moss-draped maples and red alder, then descends toward the river meadow. The old walk was a loop, but flooding in 2016 swept away its riverside section and bank erosion has left that continuation incomplete. Turn around at the meadow and retrace the forest path instead of expecting the historic circuit to close.
Start at Graves CreekThe trailhead is inside Graves Creek Campground.
The trailhead is inside Graves Creek Campground. From Highway 101, take South Shore Road for about 13 miles, then continue 5.8 miles on rough gravel Graves Creek Road. The campground has 30 sites and seasonal restrooms, but no potable water. Bring drinking water. Dogs are not permitted on this Olympic National Park trail.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Olympic
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.
