Day Trip to Lake Crescent on the Olympic Peninsula

I love going over to the Olympic Peninsula to explore. Everything is so green and so beautiful. Just the drive alone is stunning! Remember when we went to Ruby Beach over on the coast of the Olympic Peninsula? Well, this weekend we decided to hit the northern part of the Peninsula and took a little day trip over to Crescent Lake. Now, I already knew that Lake Crescent is absolutely stunning, as we had driven by it once before. But this time, we actually stopped and played in the bright blue, crystal clear water and had so much fun. We definitely have to go back and stay at the lake for a few days sometime. It was the perfect little day trip, we left after breakfast before 9am, and got home before dinner.

Lunch at Lake Crescent Lodge

First, we drove over to Lake Crescent Lodge, which is an adorable place to stay right on the lake. They have the perfect dock you can walk out onto to take in the stunning views. And there’s also a little beach area with canoes and paddle boards that you can rent to take out on the lake. They have a yummy little restaurant inside of the lodge too, where we ate lunch. I had a bowl of cream of broccoli soup, because that’s my favorite and I rarely find it at restaurants. And my husband had a burger and some really good fries with ranch, of course. After lunch, we walked along the lake where the kids got to play in the water a little bit.

Hiking to Marymere Falls

Then we headed over to the Marymere Falls Trail to hike to the waterfall. The parking lot for the trail was less than 2 minutes away from the Lodge. It’s a pretty short and easy hike, less than 2 miles roundtrip, but there’s quite a bit of an elevation gain via stairs once you get closer to the waterfall. It was a REALLY easy hike until the stairs… Lol. If you have anyone in your party that can’t do stairs, they can still come along and hang out by the stream right before you get to the bridge. It’s a big open area and was full of kids playing.

The viewing area for the waterfall is pretty small, and felt crowded with about a dozen people in the same area. There’s a pretty little pool that the waterfall flows into that you could go swimming in if you chose to climb over the fence and go down to it. I would have been one of those people if we weren’t both wearing our kids. Side note: we use a Kelty Kids Hiking Backpack for our oldest, and our youngest is still in the Ergo 360, but will be transitioning to a hiking backpack soon. The waterfall is so beautiful. It’s tall, and “thin” and cascades down into the pool of water.

No trip is complete without an ice cream stop!

After we hiked back to our car, we decided to head over to Dungeness Valley Creamery, a farm in Sequim, WA a little less than an hour away from Lake Crescent. I found the farm when I was looking up good ice cream spots on the Peninsula, and it just happened to be on our way home, maybe 10 minutes out of the way. The kids loved looking at all the cows, especially the babies. We stopped into the shop for some ice cream, and unfortunately, they had just gotten rid of the last of the vanilla. But I had a cup of coconut instead and it was delicious. They also sell raw milk there! I always feel bad when I see a lot of animals in one place solely for the purpose of making food for humans, but the cows appeared to be well-cared for, and the farm was very clean, considering how many cows were there. I would definitely recommend stopping for some ice cream and to check out the cows if you’re ever in the area. The kids loved it!

Kirsten