Rialto Beach Trail -Hike To Hole In The Wall
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The Rialto Beach Trail and hike to Hole in The Wall near La Push Washington is a must see if you ever find yourself on the Olympic Peninsula. This was a fantastic family hike along the beach with much to see and no elevation change. My 6 year old completed it like a champ, if your looking for a great family outing in Olympic National Park, this can definitely be the one your looking for!
Rialto Beach
The drive in was beautiful as well. You pass the Mora Campground where we eventually stayed. If your staying at Mora, this is only about a mile drive and you could probably walk from your camp spot if you wanted. You catch some glimpses of the Quillayute River as you get closer to Rialto Beach. It was an overcast day, which is no surprise for one of the rainiest areas of the entire world. The parking lot was busy but there was a lot of coming and going so we were able to grab a spot pretty close to the beach.
Rialto Beach and Hole in The Wall Video
Please, make sure to check out the video I made about our excursion to Hole in The Wall. The battery on my main camera died so I didn’t get any great photos of Hole in The Wall but I did get some pretty good video, please make sure to check it out below!
You can hear the beautiful power of the ocean when you get our of your car but you’re still not able to see the ocean quite yet. There are huge piles of drift wood washed up that make it hard to see past. We decided to head straight for the drift wood and climb over. You can opt to head to the north end of the parking lot where there are public restrooms and a trail that leads to Rialto Beach.
As you climb over the drift wood you can see the beautiful sea stacks with shabby looking trees and all kinds of foul flying around. The sound intensifies as you see the tide washing up. I have always loved the ocean. I have family in Vancouver Washington and my family would always make the trip from North Idaho to see them. We would head south however to the Oregon Coast. This has been my first time exploring the northern coast of Washington and Olympic National Park.
Rialto Beach is truly beautiful. If you glance toward La Push you can see where the Quillayute River spills into the Pacific Ocean and get views of James and Little James Island. If you look to the North you will see the area where Hole in The Wall is. You can see Dahdayla Island in the distance and more smaller rocks and sea stacks sticking out. No matter where you are looking when you come out from the driftwood you are treated with a spectacular view.
Hole in The Wall is our destination so we start wandering up North along Rialto Beach. Both my son’s who are 12 and 6 have shed their shoes and are knee deep in ocean racing the tide as it comes in and out. Rialto Beach is nice but it is a little rocky, it can be hard on the feet after a little while. This also made it one of my favorite beaches to visit. I’m kind of a rock hound and ever time you look down, there is an interesting rock to be seen. The tide is constantly bringing in fresh rocks and some of them are absolutely beautiful. Many are polished to perfection and look like jewels or precious stones that the ocean is just washing ashore.
Rialto Beach can be a great place to find agates although we weren’t lucky enough to stumble on one. I could probably spend all day just going through the rocks the tide washes up, but my kids just aren’t as into looking at rocks as their old dad. We push on to reach Hole in The Wall.
Hole in The Wall is about a 1.5 mile one way walk along the beach. It goes by pretty quick as there is so much to see along the way. Looking North the rock structures that accompany Hole in The Wall can seem pretty distant, but it’s actually not too bad.
Once you get closer there will be some really neat areas to explore. Tide pools start opening up and all kinds of neat structures reveal themselves for you to explore around. Check out my video below with some tide pool shots on Rialto Beach.
Tide Pool Video
Check out some of the best Washington Coast Tide Pools with the video below. You will get to see some of the beautiful tide pools that Olympic National Park has to offer.
Rialto Beach – Hole In The Wall
Sorry, back to the hike. Okay, we have reached Hole in The Wall. It’s almost literally as you would imagine it. It’s a giant hole in the rock structure that you can actually walk through and explore. You will want to make sure and do this hike when the tide is out to ensure you will get to do some exploring on both sides of the hole.
Make sure that when you set out on this hike that you leave plenty of time to explore Hole in The Wall once you get there. On the other side of the wall you will be treated to some spectacular tide pool opportunities. The flat rocky area goes out a ways and during low tide there are many many areas to explore tide pools. These pools house all kinds of incredible and fun to watch marine life. The most common of which will be the hermit crabs who are a blast to watch mosey around. You will also see some regular crabs, star fish and giant green anemones. There is much, MUCH more there I just don’t know what most of it is, but it’s all so beautiful and fun to watch!
After exploring as much as you would like, the walk back is almost exactly the same as the walk there. There are public restrooms and fountains to wash your feet off, which is nice. This is truly a great family day hike in Olympic National Park. It doesn’t feel as much like a hike as it does a walk along the beach. Reaching Hole in The Wall makes the long stroll up the beach so worth it. Make sure to bring your camera as there will be many incredible photo opportunities along the way.
Thank you so much for joining us on our little adventure to Rialto Beach and Hole in The Wall. We hope that you and your family will be able to enjoy this hike someday!
Rialto Beach Trail -Hike To Hole In The Wall