Marymere Falls Loop Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Lake Crescent Lodge Trailhead
- End point: Marymere Falls
- Hike type: Figure of 8 loop with spur
- Distance: 3.5 miles
- Elevation gain: 550 feet
- High point: 1,010 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: Yes
Contents |
Hike Description
Marymere Falls is a pretty 119-foot plunge on Falls Creek in a shady mixed forest near the glacial Lake Crescent. Most visitors take the short option from the Marymere Falls Trailhead, but this loop allows you to begin at the scenic Lake Crescent Lodge, hiking along the shoreline to the interpretive loop of the Moments in Time Trail before passing under Highway 101 to head up Barnes Creek to Marymere Falls. There’s no way around it – this is one of the most popular hikes in the Olympic National Park since it’s just off Highway 101 and there are no entrance fees here. However, large old-growth conifers, pristine creeks, and the waterfall itself are just rewards. Get here early to find a parking space.
Marymere Falls was named after Mary Barnes, the sister of Charles Barnes, after whom nearby Barnes Point and Barnes Creek are named. The family homesteaded in the vicinity of the Lake Crescent Lodge.
Walk down to the 1915 Lake Crescent Lodge, and check out the public lobby. Then stroll out to the lakefront and pier to get a view across Lake Crescent to Pyramid Mountain. Continue east along the shore, passing rental kayaks and paddleboards, to pick up a paved trail that leads into a woodland of cedar, Douglas-fir, and Pacific madrone. You’ll get views across Lake Crescent to a trestle and tunnel on the old Spruce Railroad, constructed during World War I and now a bike/foot trail.
At the junction with the Moments in Time Trail, keep left to begin a loop of interpretive signs on Barnes Point. The signs detail the human and natural history of the area. You’ll reach the beach at a bench and then reenter the woods to stay right at a trail leading to the Nature Bridge Campus, an environmental study center. Large stumps, nurse logs, moss-draped conifers, and a sword fern understory characterize these woods. You’ll pass a huge Douglas-fir stump opposite a massive tree of the same species before reaching a junction signed for the Storm King Ranger Station (your return route for this hike). Here you should keep right to pass a large cedar hollowed out by fire. Then turn left at another junction.
Cross the road to the Lake Crescent Lodge, and hike under old-growth Douglas-firs and cedars. At the next junction, keep left on a wide gravel trail with Barnes Creek running to your right. Swing right to pass under Highway 101 at the road bridge over Barnes Creek. Pass a big grand fir, and then head right up the creek again to reach a junction with the trail coming from the Marymere Falls Trailhead.
Turn right here to pass the trail leading up Storm King Mountain at a large boulder. At the junction with the Barnes Creek Trail, you’ll bear right for Marymere Falls. The trail hooks left to cross Barnes Creek on a footbridge above a devil’s club thicket. Bear right to cross Falls Creek on a single log railed bridge with a small waterfall upstream. Then, a set of steps takes you up three switchbacks to the junction for a short loop. Keep left, and follow the trail above a ravine to a view of 119-foot Marymere Falls, which spills in a delicate stream over a dark rock face. More steps lead up to a spur that offers a higher view of the waterfall. Then you’ll drop and switchback to the loop junction, keeping left this time to cross both Falls Creek and Barnes Creek.
At the Marymere Falls Loop Junction, keep right and take the wide gravel trail, an old road bed. Past a large, spreading maple, the path leads under Highway 101 through a pedestrian tunnel. Turn left to keep between the highway and a parking lot. You’ll pass through a meadow and reach the historic Storm King Ranger Station, built in 1937 and then restored and relocated here in 1984. When you reach the Marymere Falls Trailhead, where there are restrooms, keep more or less straight through the parking area to cross a road into woods carpeted with sword fern. Then you’ll cross the road leading to the Nature Bridge Campus and come to the Moments in Time Trail.
Keep left past a burned cedar, and then bear right to finish this short interpretive loop. The trail passes through an alder grove and meadow to reach the beginning of the Moments in Time Trail. Turn left to return to the Lake Crescent Lodge.
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- Lake Crescent Area Brochure (National Park Service)
- Green Trails Maps: Mount Olympus, WA #134
- Green Trails Maps: Seven Lakes Basin-Hoh River Trail #133S
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service & National Park Service: Olympic National Forest - Olympic National Park
- National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map: Olympic National Park
- Hike 734: Day Hikes of Olympic National Park Map Guide
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- No fees
- Lodge, restrooms, picnic area, interpretive trails
- No dogs on trails
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Marymere Falls Loop Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Marymere Falls Loop Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- Day Hiking: Olympic Peninsula by Craig Romano
- Day Hikes in Washington State by Don J. Scarmuzzi
- Washington Hiking by Scott Leonard
- Waterfall Lover’s Guide: Pacific Northwest by Gregory A. Plumb
- Waterfalls of the Pacific Northwest by David L. Anderson
More Links
- Marymere Falls (OutdoorPlaces.com)
- Hiking Olympic National Park (The Trek)
- Moments in Time Interpretive Trail (Washington Trails Association)
- Marymere Falls (Washington Trails Association)
- Moments in Time Interpretive Trail (Outdoor Project)
- Marymere Falls Hike (Outdoor Project)
- Moments in Time Interpretive Trail (Hike It Baby)
- Marymere Falls Trail (Hike It Baby)
- Lake Crescent Lodge (Wikipedia)
- Marymere Falls (Northwest Waterfall Survey)
- Marymere Falls (World of Waterfalls)
Contributors
- bobcat (creator)