Olympic Hot Springs — Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024

Left the parking lot around 10am on Saturday with perfect weather. Most of the trail is along a paved road so it’s pretty easy and quick moving. Got to Boulder Creek Campground around 2pm and set up. There are plenty of secluded spots among the trees. Strava clocked us at 11.5 miles and 2,500 ft of elevation. Plenty of water sources to refill from around camp as well.

After setting up camp and relaxing a bit, we decided to head over to the hot springs. There is one nice large pool to the left looking out across the river but it’s lukewarm at best. We hiked further in and found a trail that went UP the mountain and came upon one of the hottest natural hot springs I’ve ever found. So hot that it took us a bit before we could fully submerge. This was much needed after the long hike in.

Back to camp we found a family of national park mice hiding under our log table. Would recommend using the bear wire at the main camp for anything you can’t fit in a bear canister to keep these little buggers out of your food and trash.

We had originally planned to stay for two nights and hike up to Appleton pass on day 2, however, after 14 hours of straight rain we decided to call it and head back to the car.

Although the trail is less than ideal most of the way along the road, the forest at camp and the hot springs made the trip well worth it.