Olympic Loop - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 59

19. Lake Quinault
Surrounded by a dark, dense rain forest, Lake Quinault—a glacier-fed lake four miles long
andtwomileswide—isoneofthemostpopularrecreationspotsontheOlympicPeninsula.
AtQuinaultLodge,oneofthefewlarge,old-fashionedlodgesleftinthePacificNorthwest,
you can get information on rafting and nearby nature trails and hiking trails. Take a short
walk from the lodge to the Quinault loop trail, which leads to one of the largest known
stands of Douglas firs in America.
After arriving at the lake, drop by the forest station on South Shore Road to check out
road conditions and inquire about permits and regulations for fishing, boating, and other
water activities.
20. Hoquiam
Logging is a chief industry in the Pacific Northwest, and it has given rise not only to this
deepwater port city, but to one of the town's main attractions—Hoquiam's Castle. When it
was built in 1897 by a timber tycoon named Robert Lytle, this elegant 20-room mansion
must have seemed curiously out of place amid sawmills and saloons. But lusty townfolk
came to appreciate its stately presence, fondly dubbing it “the castle.”
Among the antique furnishings on display in this grand showplace are Tiffany-style
lamps, a huge hand-carved dining room set, and an ornate turn-of-the-century bar. It gives
a fascinating glimpse of extravagance nearly beyond imagination.
21. Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge
The same glorious spectacle takes place here each and every spring: arctic-bound shore-
birds—up to 300,000 at a time—come from as far away as Argentina to feed and rest at
Bowerman Basin before heading north to their traditional breeding grounds in subarctic
and arctic Alaska and Canada. Because the basin is the last spot in Grays Harbor that is
flooded at high tide and the first to be exposed at low tide, it provides maximum feeding
time for the hungry migrants. Swarming over mudflats, the birds feast on small, shrimp-
like crustacean animals that are found here in profusion. Western sandpipers, dunlins, and
semipalmated plovers are just a few of the two dozen or so shorebird and migratory wa-
terfowl species that comprise this unique coastal community—the largest concentration of
shorebirds anywhere on the U.S. mainland's West Coast.