PNWSights
The entrance to the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center sits beneath a low, flat roof, with double doors propped open to a dim interior and forest greenery visible beyond. Signage and a yellow caution notice flank the entry, while soft morning light falls across the concrete forecourt.

Hoh Rain Forest

Forks, WA

One of the largest temperate rainforests in the U.S., the Hoh Rain Forest receives over 12 feet of rain annually. Massive Sitka spruce, western red cedar, and bigleaf maple trees are draped in thick curtains of moss and ferns. The Hall of Mosses Trail and Spruce Nature Trail offer accessible loops through the old-growth canopy.

Photography Guide

Best Time
morning
Crowds
Busy
Shot Types
widedetaillandscapeportrait
Best Seasons
springsummerfallwinter
Practical Tips
Arrive before 9 AM to secure parking and avoid crowds on the Hall of Mosses Trail. A National Park pass is required, and rain gear is essential year-round.

Is it a good day to go?

7-day outlook

Mild, dry days with light winds are the most comfortable for a visit.

Forecast by Open-Meteo. Verdicts weigh the forecast against the conditions that suit this spot.

Author's Comments

There is a particular green that exists nowhere else I have been. Not the green of an eastern forest in June, not the dense tropical green of somewhere humid and equatorial, but something older and more saturated, a green that has had a thousand years to settle into itself. The Hoh in March, just after a rain, is where I found it. The Hall of Mosses gets the attention and it earns it, but the trail is short and by ten in the morning it is full of people speaking in that hushed tone everyone seems to adopt when they enter a cathedral. Get there before the gate opens if you can. The first hour after sunrise is when the mist still hangs in the bigleaf maples and the moss curtains catch a kind of underlit glow that makes the whole forest feel suspended. A wide lens cannot quite hold it. I have tried. What surprises me every time is how much detail there is once you stop trying to photograph the whole thing. The trunks of the spruces are entire ecosystems. Ferns grow out of moss that grows out of bark that is itself slowly becoming soil. I have spent forty minutes on a single fallen log and come away with frames I still return to. Bring rain gear. Not a windbreaker, real rain gear, because the forest will deliver on its name regardless of what the forecast claimed. And then stay longer than you planned. The light in here does not change the way it does elsewhere. It deepens.

Gallery

The entrance to the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center sits beneath a low, flat roof, with double doors propped open to a dim interior and forest greenery visible beyond. Signage and a yellow caution notice flank the entry, while soft morning light falls across the concrete forecourt. Photo: Roller Coaster Philosophy / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
A printed bathroom sign is taped to a beige wall with gray duct tape, warning in bold red and black text to flush only toilet paper and not wipes or paper towels. A handwritten note is scrawled along the bottom of the sign. Photo: Roller Coaster Philosophy / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
A weathered trail sign in the Hoh Rain Forest points left to the Hall of Mosses and right to the Spruce and Hoh River trails, surrounded by dense green ferns, moss, and evergreen branches. The forest behind it is thick with old-growth trees and soft, misty morning light. Photo: Roller Coaster Philosophy / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
A weathered trail sign in the Hoh Rain Forest points left to Spruce Trail and Hoh River Trail and right to the parking area. Lush green ferns and mossy rainforest understory fill the frame, with soft morning light filtering through the trees. Photo: Roller Coaster Philosophy / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
A framed interpretive sign titled “Layers of the Forest” sits among lush green ferns, with a sketch of an old-growth rainforest floor and mossy fallen logs. The surrounding foliage fills the background with dense, damp-looking layers of fern fronds. Photo: Roller Coaster Philosophy / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
An interpretive sign titled “A Different Community” stands in the mossy undergrowth, surrounded by ferns and damp forest floor in the Hoh Rain Forest. The sign’s black-and-white illustration contrasts with the dense green vegetation and scattered brown leaves around it. Photo: Roller Coaster Philosophy / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
A gravel trail curves through the lush Hoh Rain Forest, bordered by dense ferns, mossy undergrowth, and fallen maple leaves. A dark trail sign in the foreground points left toward the visitor center. Photo: Roller Coaster Philosophy / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
Inside a visitor center, a large whiteboard warns that elk are more aggressive in the rut and says to give them lots of space, with a hand-drawn diagram showing “4 school buses, 150 feet.” People stand nearby under a wood ceiling while green rainforest trees are visible through the windows. Photo: Roller Coaster Philosophy / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
An interpretive forest display shows towering moss-draped old-growth trees, with layers of green ferns, hanging lichen, and filtered morning light suggesting a damp rainforest canopy. Bright exhibit panels at the bottom explain the soil and birds of the Hoh Rain Forest, adding orange and teal accents against the lush scene. Photo: Roller Coaster Philosophy / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
A black trail sign stands on a gravel path in the forest, with a warning that “Up to 2,500 People Walk this Trail Everyday” and “Staying on trail matters.” Small comparison photos labeled 2011 and 2023 suggest how the mossy Hoh Rain Forest has changed over time. Photo: Roller Coaster Philosophy / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

From the journal

A day spent here

A brown Hoh Visitor Center sign with the National Park Service arrowhead logo stands at the edge of a mossy rainforest trail, surrounded by ferns, damp gravel, and tall dark tree trunks. Small posted trail rules sit to the left under the green canopy.
Restless

4 min read

Chasing a Light That Didn't Come

A shot I had wanted from the Hoh for years, and a drizzly August morning that gave me almost everything except the one thing I came for.

Read the entry

You might also like

Nearby Places

A rushing blue-green river surges through a narrow, moss-covered canyon, framed by tall old-growth evergreens and leafy spring trees. Sunlight brightens the forest canopy while the water breaks around dark rocks and a fallen log along the rocky bank.
Waterfalls
45

Port Angeles, WA

Sol Duc Falls

Sol Duc Falls is a multi-tiered waterfall where the Sol Duc River splits into three or four channels dropping roughly 25 feet into a narrow basalt canyon. The falls are reached via a 0.8-mile trail through old-growth forest from the Sol Duc trailhead. A photogenic footbridge crosses directly above the falls, providing an elevated vantage point.

morningspring · summer
A broad rocky riverbed fills the foreground, with a band of pale spring-green deciduous trees and dark evergreen forest lining the far bank. Behind them, a steep, forested mountainside rises under a sky of bright clouds and blue patches.
Hidden Gems
14

Forks, WA

Hoh River Valley Fog

The Hoh River Valley between the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center and the coast frequently fills with ground fog, especially during fall and winter mornings. The fog drifts through old-growth trees and along the braided gravel channels of the Hoh River. This stretch of the Upper Hoh Road offers numerous pullouts with views of the misty river corridor.

morningfall · winter
A tall, narrow waterfall drops in a thin white ribbon down a dark, moss-covered rock face into a small pool, with bright green ferns and forest growth clinging to the cliff around it. A wooden trail railing and scattered rocks frame the bottom of the scene, emphasizing the close-up view in the shaded forest.
Waterfalls
45

Port Angeles, WA

Marymere Falls

Marymere Falls is a 90-foot waterfall accessed via a 1.8-mile round-trip trail from the Storm King Ranger Station near Lake Crescent. The falls drop over a moss-covered cliff into a narrow gorge surrounded by old-growth Douglas fir and western hemlock. Water flow is highest in spring and after heavy rains.

morningspring · winter