May 06, 2008: Unannounced Mother's Day Special! We'll be serving complimentary Sunday morning tea for lodge guests accompanied by scones, British jam, and Devonshire Clotted Cream. Trust us, the clotted cream (with a consistency somewhere between cream and butter) alone is worth the extra gasoline.
Seattle Magazine: This month Seattle Magazine has published an "Ultimate Coast Guide". We're pleased to be a featured lodging. Look for us on page 78.
New Online Booking System Implemented You can now book with us online in real-time! A few clicks, a little typing, and you're booked. You'll receive a confirming email immediately, followed by an actual letter if time allows.
Near-term Availability: It's a scenically incomparable guest wasteland out here. Come on out.
We're for Sale After a 10 year run, the Manitou Lodge is for sale. Individuals interested in a lifestyle shift coupled with a solid and still growing business Click Here.
Our Media Valentine. Maria Dolan/Seattle Times. Check out this lovely article.
Guest Testimonials. We've shied away from these as it's not our style to be self-aggrandizing. However, some standouts just have to be shared. Click Here to read.
Complimentary DSL Wireless everywhere except for the Outback cabins; one central hardwired location.
New...Local RiverCam. Brought to you courtesy of our friends at the Quillayute River Resort just a mile downstream. Click Here.
"Humorous" map of the Washington Coast. Download a PDF Here. It's a bit of a whopper (6mb), but worth the wait.
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Regional Webcams: Courtesy InsideOut Marketing Click Here
or Click Here
Gift Certificates: Available online. View our Sample Gift Certificate
Low tide is the best time for tidepooling. Check the Area Tide Tables
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The Olympic Peninsula
On this page we have combined materials both "in praise of " the spectacular and still relatively undiscovered beauty of the Olympic Peninsula' s "West Side" with a collection of web links of interest to travelers, sightseers, hikers, fisherfolk and others. Following these links can take you far from us in cyberspace, and we hope that if they inspire a visit you'll remember who sent you and come back to us .
Speaking of favorable times during the year to visit Olympic National Park, we aren't always sodden out this way. Check out my Notes on our weather
A Smithisonian Institution publication description of our region:
"The entire region receives in excess of 110 inches of rain annually. Tangled vegetation extends from the seashore to the less dense fir, spruce, and red cedar forests at the river headwaters in the 5,000 - 8,000 feet heights of the Olympic mountains. The natural beauty of the Quileute shorelands is so striking that, aside from the reservations at La Push and the Lower Hoh River, the entire littoral is preserved as the Pacific Coast Area of the Olympic National Park"
 Wilderness beaches such as Rialto Beach, the moss-draped beauty of the Hoh, Queets, and Quinault Rainforests, the many area fishing rivers, as well as the Olympic mountains in the Park's interior offer a wealth of opportunities for hiking, biking, sea-life viewing, camping, fishing, river-rafting, or just relaxing and taking it all in.
The Power of LanguagePhotos are wonderful, but every now and then you find someone whose gift for evocative language matches the best of these. If your time permits, read this absolutely poetic text on our rainforests, beaches, mountains, and regional wines lifted from an article entitled"Moss Tourism"(Conde Nast Traveler, August 1998).
Area BeachesRialto Beach, the only drive-to beach in the immediate area, is a spectacular, driftwood-strewn beach on the north side of the Quileute river about 4 miles from the Manitou Lodge. The surf is generally heavy, the driftwood logs huge, and the sunsets are magnificent. The Rialto crescent extends for about 1.5 miles and ends with two towering sea stacks, tidal pools, and "Hole-in-the-Wall", a surf-carved tunnel in a headland. The 18 mile hike north from Rialto Beach to Cape Alava is a favorite with backpackers. Below are some links to Rialto Beach photos and hiking information. Whether you're dayhiking or backpacking, it pays to know the tides when rounding headlands. We've included a link to area tides below.
Panorama of Rialto Beach, Forks, WA ***New 03/04/02***
Rialto Beach Trailhead
Rialto Beach Photo GalleryPhotos taken by a guest - some nice comments about us.
Panorama of Hole in the WallandRialto Beach PanoramaFollow these links only if your browser can support these kinds of images
Rialto Beach, Ellen Creek Hiking Information
Hiking North from Rialto Beach
Rialto Beach Photo Album
Shi Shi Beach Photos
Local Tide Predictions
Other wilderness beaches in our immediate area are Beaches #1 - #3 extending south from the mouth of the Quileute River. These beaches are long, flat crescents popular with photographers due to sea-stacks (a well-known sea-stack complex, the "Quileute Needles", lies just offshore), tidal pools, and eagles. Access to beaches #2 and #3 requires hikes of 0.5 to 1.5 miles, respectively. The headlands at beaches #1 and #2 can't be passed, but one can backpack south from 3rd beach along the coast for about 17 miles to Oil City.
La Push First Beach & Quileute Needles Webcam
Panorama of First Beach, La Push, WA
Second Beach Hike
Third Beach Hike
Coastal Hiking South of Third Beach
 The Hoh Rainforest. The Hoh Visitor Center is about 30 miles from us, and the Hoh Rainforest is possibly best known attraction in the Olympic National Park. Average annual rainfall in the Hoh Valley is in excess of 150 inches, and has a spectacular effect on the vegetation. Along the "Hall of Mosses" Trail, the moss-draped maples are extravagantly green year round, so much so that somebody has written that the air appears to be jade-colored. The Spruce Trail follows the glacier-carved Hoh river maple and red alder "bottom". Scenic raft trips are available in summer along the Hoh River, and guides can be contracted throughout the year for fishing and scenic trips. We can help you put together recreation packages.
Hall of Mosses Trail
Spruce Nature Trail
Hoh River Trail
Panoramic view of the Hoh RainforestFollow this link only if your browser supports this kind of stuff. Don't forget to come back!
 Other regional activities include world-class fishing, mountain-biking, hiking in the Olympic mountains and along the wild beaches that comprise the Pacific Coast portion of the Olympic National Park, or a visit to Cape Flattery, the most Northwestern point in the lower 48 states. A boardwalk recently completed by the Makah Nation, on whose lands the Cape sits, has considerably eased the hike. The views of the Straits of Juan de Fuca, Tatoosh Island, and Vancouver Island from the Cape cliffs are inspiring. While visiting the Cape, you won't want to miss the outstanding Makah Cultural Center and Museum at Neah Bay.
These are just a sampling of the possibilities on the West End. For a more comprehensive look, consult some of the links listed below and visit the Forks Chamber of Commerce Five Day Guide to the West End.
General Sightseeing
Kloshe Nanitch LookoutEssentially undiscovered (click to see why) - spectacular views of the Olympic range and Sol Duc Valley.
The Makah Nation
Cape Flattery Trail
Makah Cultural Museum and Cultural Center
Forks Logging Tour
Hiking/Backpacking/Backcountry Outfitters/Horseback Riding
Olympic Mountaineering - Olympic Mountain Tours
Sol Duc Valley Packers-Horseback Riding
Kit's Llamas-Hiking and Trekking in ONP
Fishing
Larry Scott, Fishing Guide
J.D. Love, Fly-Fishing Guide
Capt. Larry Kaminski - Halibut Fishing from La Push
Capt. Randy Lato - Halibut, Salmon and Steelhead Charters
Some Local Fishing Regulations
Rafting & Kayaking
Rainforest Paddlers Rafting and Kayaking on the Hoh, Sol Duc, Elwha, and Quillayute Rivers.
Olympic Raft & Kayak
Adventures through Kayaking
Sound Bikes and Kayaks
Trailhead and Fishing Shuttle Services
Ted Miller - Roadrunner Shuttle - call (360)374-5195.
Whale Watching/Wildlife Viewing
Puffin Adventures
Whale, Wildlife Sightseeing with Capt. Randy Lato
Olympic Peninsula Hiking Links
Northeast Peninsula
Grand Valley
Royal Basin
Northwest Peninsula
Hoh River
Hoh Lake
High Divide, Seven Lakes
Mt. Olympus
Elwha Hiking
Olympic Hot Springs
Boulder Lake
Humes Ranch
Elwha Valley
Southwest Hiking
Skyline/Elip Loop
North Fork Quinault/Low Divide
Enchanted Valley
Birdwatching Links
Birdwatching
Forks Washington
Forks Comprehensive Calendar of Events
Current Weather & Five Day Prediction
Interesting Area Links
Olympic National Park
Olympic Peninsula "Official" Site
Northwest Secret Places
Guide to the Olympic Peninsula
Regional Ferry Transportation
Washington State Ferries
Coho Ferry-Port Angeles/Victoria B.C.
Victoria Express Ferry-Passengers Only
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