Parking
Turn from US 101 onto Herrick Road; the trailhead is at the road’s end. Space is limited to about three cars. No overnight parking or toilet at the trailhead.
Overview
About West Elwha Trail
Why go
- A historic pack-train route with river openings and mossy creek cascades
Heads up
- Very limited parking at Herrick Road
- Published mileage and the available mapped corridor do not match
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Olympic map
Full mapElevation301–669 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 West Elwha 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 area
Madison Falls: A Short Walk in the Elwha0:00 / 0:33
“You're approaching Madison Falls, a good choice for a waterfall stop without a long hike. Allow fifteen to twenty minutes for the short walk and a pause beside the sixty-foot cascade.”
Plays on the road 0.7 mi from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Olympic Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- How a Salmon Handles Salt
- The Sapsucker’s Sap Wells
- 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 West Elwha Trail
The walkWest Elwha is a 7-mile out-and-back from Herrick Road to the former Altair Campground site,…
West Elwha is a 7-mile out-and-back from Herrick Road to the former Altair Campground site, following the Elwha’s forested west bank. Allow about four hours. The trail stays in dense green forest, opening now and then to river views and mossy side-creek cascades. Published mileage differs: one current description gives 3 miles each way, while another gives 7 miles round trip. A short reroute below Altair replaced rotting puncheon in 2026, but its precise line is not published. Plan for the longer 7-mile walk; the mapped corridor doesn’t include that new bypass.
Start and accessThe trail starts at the end of Herrick Road, alongside private property, then crosses into the…
The trail starts at the end of Herrick Road, alongside private property, then crosses into the park. Parking is very limited, and there’s no toilet at the trailhead. The trail itself doesn’t allow pets. A short 2026 reroute below Altair bypasses the old puncheon; the old tread was decommissioned.
The old way to AltairBefore cars reached the Elwha Valley, this was one of two main pack-train routes carrying…
Before cars reached the Elwha Valley, this was one of two main pack-train routes carrying visitors and supplies to Olympic Hot Springs Resort. Bert Herrick hauled goods for ten years, charging two cents per pound until the road was built. At the south end, the former Altair Campground was taken by the river’s changing channel. It makes a good turnaround before you retrace the west-bank route.
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.
