Lake Crescent
Port Angeles, WA
Lake Crescent is a deep glacially carved lake known for its striking blue-green clarity, which results from a lack of nitrogen that limits algae growth. The lake is surrounded by steep forested mountains and stretches over 8 miles in length. Historic Lake Crescent Lodge on the south shore has operated since 1916.
Photography Guide
- Best Time
- morning
- Crowds
- Moderate
- Shot Types
- widelandscapereflection
- Best Seasons
- springsummerfall
Author's Comments
The water is the photograph. I have stood on the lodge dock at six in the morning in late June and watched the lake hold a perfect inverted version of the Olympics, and I have stood on the same dock at ten and found the surface broken into ordinary chop. The window is narrow. Calm mornings, before the wind comes up the valley, before the float planes and the kayakers, before the day really begins. That is when Lake Crescent does the thing it is famous for. The color is hard to believe and harder to photograph honestly. It is not quite turquoise and not quite green, and most cameras want to push it toward a blue that flattens what is actually there. I shoot it slightly cool and slightly underexposed and let the clarity do the work. From East Beach you get the full length of the lake with the ridges falling away in layers, and the reflection there can run almost the entire eight miles when the air is still. From the lodge dock the composition tightens and the foreground gives you something to anchor. September is my favorite month here. The summer crowds have thinned, the mornings have edge to them, and the light comes in low across the water in a way that makes the depth visible. You can see thirty feet down in places. The lake reads as bottomless and luminous at the same time, which is a contradiction the camera has to be coaxed into accepting. Bring a polarizer. Bring patience. Wait for the wind to die.
Gallery
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Nearby Places
Port Angeles, WA
Mount Storm King Trail
The Mount Storm King Trail climbs approximately 2,000 feet in 2 miles through old-growth forest to a viewpoint overlooking Lake Crescent and the surrounding Olympic peaks. The upper portion of the trail is steep and involves using rope assists on exposed sections. Views from the top reveal the full expanse of the turquoise lake below.
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.
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.