What Is The Sol Duc Rainforest And Where Is It?
The Sol Duc Rainforest is located on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. It is a spectacular lush green rainforest and part of Olympic National Park. Sol Duc Falls is the namesake waterfall in the area and is along the Sol Duc River. In addition to Sol Duc Falls and the river, there are numerous streams that flow down through the rainforest. There are campground in the area. Sol Duc Hot Springs offers more upscale accommodations for those who prefer not to camp and prefer a more luxurious lodging experience. Olympic National Park is located on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State.
The two closest towns to the Sol Duc Rainforest are Port Angeles, Washington and Forks, Washington. If you want a real town with real grocery stores and things like that, then Port Angeles is the place to stay. If you prefer a town that is a bit more remote, feels and is much smaller then the town of Forks, Washington would be a better choice.
What Is It Like To Travel To The Sol Duc Rainforest At Olympic National Park?
If you are flying in, the closest airport to Olympic National Park is the Seattle Airport. That’s about a 2.5 hour drive to Port Angeles (where Hurricane Ridge is located, also part of Olympic National Park). The Sol Duc Rainforest is about another hour or so farther south. Unless you are staying at the facilities in Sol Duc or down in Forks, there is a good chance you will want to call Port Angeles your home base while visiting most of Olympic National Park. You will definitely need a rental car to visit Olympic National Park if you are flying into the Seattle Airport. If you plan to see some of Oregon, you would fly into the Portland, Oregon Airport.
The experience of driving around and hiking in Olympic National Park will be heavily dependent on the time of year you go. If you want warmer weather and less rain you may want to go during the summer when everyone else goes. If you prefer to have entire sections of the park practically to yourself you might want to go in the winter. Winter tends to be much less crowed, some facilities are closed and the winter rain storms can be intense.
As times when I’ve been there in the winter, roads have closed, flooding has gotten pretty bad, temperatures can drop pretty low and it can even snow a bit. The days are of course shorter but the crowds can be non-existent. In the winter it was rare to see anyone on the shorter hiking trails in the Sol Duc area of Olympic National Park.
What Does It Take To Get Wall Art Quality Photos The Sol Duc Rainforest Streams?
The Sol Duc Rainforest and all of Olympic National Park really comes to life after it rains. The colors are more vibrant and the streams swell and gush down through the rainforest. Ephemeral streams can come to life and create unique photo opportunities that will be gone or much less impressive just a few days later.
There are endless different compositions. That is your challenge. Find some cool streams running through the forest and try to frame up something interesting. Do you want the water to be smooth as it is in the photo in this article or do you want to see the droplets and texture of it? What is a good angle? Should you shoot from high above or down at almost ground level?
There is no one way to get the best photos of the streams in the Sol Duc Rainforest. My suggestion is to try to go the day after a good soaking rainstorm. If the day after the rainstorm is supposed to be sunny and warmer, then get out in the rainforest early the next day. Chances are you’ll be able to get some awesome foggy, misty shots and maybe some sunbeams shooting through the forest.
What Is The Best Gear For Photographing The Streams In The Sol Duc Rainforest At Olympic National Park?
You can get decent photos of the streams in the Sol Duc Rainforest just by walking around with any camera and snapping shots. They’ll be good enough to post on social media and show your friends you’ve been there.
If you want better wall art quality photos, then you’ll probably want a DSLR or mirrorless camera with a lens range of at wide as 17mm on up to 50mm or even 100m depending on how close or far away you are from the scene you are shooting. It may also depend on how wet you are comfortable getting. After it rains everything is sopping wet and the streams are swollen. Along with the camera, you’ll want a solid tripod. You’ll probably want a carbon fiber one that is light enough to hike miles with and will hold up well in water and mud. You’ll need the tripod to get sharp shots while leaving the shutter open long enough to get the smooth look on the flowing water.
You may want a circular polarizer to take some of the shine off of wet surfaces. If you are shooting in a bright area, a neutral density filter may also be necessary to cut down on the amount of light coming into the camera so you can set the shutter speed slow enough to get the silky smooth water look.
If you’re panoramic setup isn’t too heavy it might be worth bringing it with you but I didn’t find much us for any pano gear in the Olympic Sol Duc Rainforest.
What Is The Story Behind Olympic National Park Sol Duc Rainforest Stream Wall Art Photo?
In February of 2016 I found myself on an extended road trip that wound through the Pacific Northwest and led me to the wonders of Olympic National Park. There was a wicked rain and wind storm that blew through there for a few days. I didn’t plant to spend a whole lot of time there. After getting a really expensive set of brakes put on the Subaru at the Port Angeles Subaru Dealer, I was on a pretty tight budget and spent at least three nights sleeping in my car in the Wal-Mart parking lot there while the storm blew through. Side note – I would avoid that Subaru dealer at all costs. They gave me an “estimate” for new brakes and then tried to charge me about 20% more than the estimate.
When I couldn’t take sleeping in the car any longer I finally headed off to the Toad Lilly House in Port Angeles and stayed there for a few days. It was nice to get some sleep, watch TV, get some photo stuff done and get out and wander around Port Angeles.
The last time I was at Olympic National Park, for some reason I never made it to Sol Duc. After I got some rest I headed down to Sol Duc. There were more heavy rainstorms overnight but it was supposed to clear in the morning. I got up fairly early and made it out onto the trail for Sol Duc Falls by around 9:30am. It was foggy and misty. Since it was February, there was nobody there. While I’d intended to just hike to Sol Duc Falls and photograph that, the heavy rains created magical scenes all over the place. As the sun rose, the fog started to rise and burn off. All the streams in the forest were swollen and almost raging down through the woods.
This particular shot was taken after most of the fog burned off. It took a bit of a careful hike through the woods. i had to do a bit of rock hopping and strike a careful balance on a couple rocks in the middle of the stream. Then the tripod had to be lowered as much as possible to try to get as much of the stream coming under the log as possible. This was a long exposure. The tree canopy was thick enough and made the scene dark enough so as not to need to break out the neutral density filter. This particular day and this area yielded a TON of cool shots.
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