Olympic National Park has beaches unlike I’ve ever visited before! The coastline of the Olympic Peninsula is absolutely stunning and visiting the coast can add a ton of fun to your Olympic National Park trip. This post will help you find the best places to find tidepools, the best beach for swimming, and the most scenic Olympic National Park beach! Here are five of the most family friendly beaches in Olympic National Park and what to know before you go.

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Best Olympic National Park Beaches for Kids

Before you visit these beaches, there are a few things you should know! If you aren’t familiar with PNW beaches – make sure to look up a few safety tips before you go, check the tide schedules, and talk to a park ranger to get the most up to date information!

1. Ruby Beach

Ruby Beach was so much fun and a really unique Pacific Northwest beach. This beach is COVERED with driftwood, but it’s basically a massive natural playground for kids. Our kids had a blast crawling over logs, finding sticks to be magic wands, and hanging out in the little wood forts on the beach.

I was so surprised by how cool this beach was, and would highly recommend this beach if you have little climbers or are looking for more of an adventurous beach. It’s also an easy path to access the beach, but be mindful that it is NOT stroller friendly or would not be a good choice if you have accessibility challenges because of the driftwood you will have to climb over.

Safety tip: Never EVER play on driftwood near the ocean. This can be extremely dangerous if a wave rolls the driftwood while you are playing on it because it is extremely heavy. Lots of this driftwood is far enough off the beach to safely play on, but please be mindful of the ocean while you are here.

There are a few other things you should know before visiting Olympic National Park – don’t miss these tips and of course our FULL GUIDE to Olympic National Park with Kids!

2. Kalaloch Beach

Kalaloch Beach (pronounced CLAY-LOCK) reminds me a lot of the beaches on the Oregon Coast if you’ve visited there. There is a ton of room to run along the beach, especially during low tide, and it’s so much fun beachcombing.

You’ll still have to be mindful of the tide, but there is generally more room here to play on the beach than some of the other Olympic National Park beaches. To get to this beach, you can walk from the Kalaloch Campground if you are staying there, or park and walk down the path to the beach.

Here you can also see the Tree of Life, but if you want to see it – you better go soon! Unfortunately, the Tree of Life is towards the end of it’s life and may only last a season or two. To reach the Tree of Life, you can park at the Kalaloch Campground and walk down the path to the beach. Turn right and you should be able to find it (if it hasn’t been washed away by an ocean storm!)

3. Second Beach

Second Beach is definitely the coolest beach we visited in Olympic National Park. You’ll have to hike about 0.7 miles (one way) to reach this beach but it’s SOOOO worth it. Plus, the hike is through a beautiful and lush forest where you can see slugs, awesome trees, fungi, and cool plant life. It’s definitely a kid friendly hike and we saw several other people taking their kids!

When you make it to the beach, you’ll be greeted with beautiful ocean views with stunning rock formations. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to watch some locals surf here too. We played here for hours and will definitely be coming back here when we visit Olympic National Park next.

TIP: Make sure to time your visit with low tide if you can, this spot has some cool tide pools where you can see tons of sea life like starfish, anemones, and more!

How to Get to Second Beach:

Second Beach is a little more complicated to get to than the others, but 100% worth the extra effort. From Forks you will drive west on La Push Road. It’s about a 20 minute drive from Forks. Don’t fret if the parking lot alongside the road is full. There is a second parking lot just down the road with quite a bit of extra space. It’s a slightly longer walk, but still totally doable with kids.

Once you make it to the trail, you’ll have about a 0.7 mile hike down to the beach. But it’s along a really cool trail so you get a hike and a beach adventure all in one!

And if you’re looking for more family friendly Olympic National Park hikes, check out some of our favorites!

4. Rialto Beach

Rialto Beach is an iconic Olympic National Park beach for a couple reasons. Number one is the beautiful black sand – mostly black rock but also black sand as you get further out into the water. Number two is the Hole in the Wall hike. We didn’t actually make it here because the tide wasn’t low enough and it’s a long walk with little ones.

Regardless, this beach is SO cool and a must when you are visiting Olympic National Park. Our kids loved climbing over the logs (not ones in or near the water – that’s not safe!) And I loved looking for beautiful colorful rocks amongst the black sand and rock.

Be careful of sneaker waves here. It’s always a good idea to check the tide schedule and never turn your back to the ocean. Rialto Beach is also a great spot to sit on a log and watch the sunset.

How to Get to Rialto Beach:

Rialto Beach is in a similar direction from Forks as Second Beach. You’ll head down La Push Road, but instead of continuing all the way down La Push Road, you’ll turn on Mora Road. The total drive from Forks is about 25 minutes west. Once you get to the beach, you won’t have to do any hiking (unless you want to go to Hole in the Wall).

5. Lake Crescent

Lake Crescent isn’t your typical coastline that you might think of when you’re thinking about Olympic National Park beaches… but it’s stunning and definitely worth visiting. While some of the ocean beaches might not be kid friendly for swimming, this one is!

The water at Lake Crescent is really blue and clean and we definitely took the opportunity to swim multiple times. If you’re looking for the best beach on Lake Crescent, go to the Lake Crescent Lodge. There they have a really nice waterfront, easy parking, and access to trailheads. You can also visit the lodge and grab a snack or drink!

Another beach we visited on Lake Crescent was East Beach. There were less people here, but the water was way less clean, the road to get there was steep and rough, and there was some garbage. Overall, it was not nearly as nice as the beach near the Lake Crescent Lodge and I wouldn’t recommend it.

Only have limited time in Olympic National Park? Here is the perfect way to spend one day in Olympic National Park , two days, or even 3 days for you and your family!

Frequently Asked Questions About Olympic National Park Beaches

Where are the Best Beaches for Tide Pooling?

There are several places for tide pooling in Olympic National Park. You’ll want to make sure to look up the tide schedules before visiting. And if you’re not sure, ask a park ranger before you go! Depending on the tide for that day, even low tide might not be low enough to access some of the tide pool spots.

Best Beaches for Tide Pools:

• Second Beach
• Rialto Beach
• Kalaloch Beach
• Ruby Beach

Are the Beaches in Olympic National Park Safe for Swimming?

I personally would not have felt comfortable swimming in the ocean here for either myself or my kids. The waves were really strong and the water isn’t very warm. If you are wanting to swim, ask a park ranger if there is a good spot! Or head to Lake Crescent and swim there – it’s pretty incredible!

Which Beach is the Most Scenic?

All of these beaches are scenic, so I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with the scenery for any of the beaches you visit. They all have the moody vibes that the PNW is known for with a lot of photo opportunities. The most scenic Olympic National Park beach in my opinion was Second Beach! But Rialto Beach was a close second.