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Hall of Mosses
Stroll through a wonderland of stupendous moss-covered trees.
The Hall of Mosses is the name of a distinct hiking trail in Washington’s Olympic National Park, located in the Hoh Rain Forest. Plucked straight from a storybook, the trail is filled with old trees—a mixture of temperate bigleaf maples and Sitka spruces—draped in green and brown mosses.
The Hoh Rain Forest is named for the ever-flowing Hoh River that carves its way from Mount Olympus towards the Pacific Coast. In the winter, the forest receives most of its yearly average of 140 inches (3.55 meters) of precipitation. All that water results in a lush, green canopy above and a blanket of mosses and ferns blanket below.
Along the main trail, there is an otherworldly 200-foot side path that leads to an enchanting grove of giant maple trees cloaked in hanging moss. One visitor to the trail wrote that “the trees stand like green-robed figures of eld.”
Know Before You Go
The Hoh Rain Forest is on the west side of Olympic National Park, about a two-hour drive from Port Angeles, and about a 45-minute drive from Forks.
The Hoh Rain Forest is accessed by the Upper Hoh Road off of Highway 101. An Olympic National Park pass (or a federal America the Beautiful pass) is required. Facilities include a visitor center, restrooms, picnic areas. No food or gas. No pets on the trails.
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