![]() Once you’re on the beach, turn right and you’re at Tree Root Cave.Īs with all beach adventures on the Olympic Peninsula, it is important that you plan accordingly. ![]() ![]() Park in the ample campground parking and look for the path leading to the beach (it is opposite the campground, across the parking area). Keep an eye out for signs pointing to Kalaloch Campground (“campground,” not “lodge”). Getting to the Tree of Life from Manitou Lodge, near Forks, WA, is a 30 to 40 minute drive. Directions to Tree of Life, Washington State Clinging non-intuitively to the sides of its crumbling cliff. Locals and visitors alike check back year after year, expecting the worst but the Tree of Life remains. The same erosion that has created the natural spectacle continues and, surely, some day, the Tree of Life must fall. But no one knows for sure how long that will be true. The Tree of Life is located in Olympic National Park, on the beach near Kalaloch Campground. Consequently, it goes by many: the Kalaloch Tree, The Runaway Tree, Tree Root Cave (for the space beneath the tree) and The Tree of Life. This stunning natural wonder has no official name. The stream that has created this phenomenon flows out of the cave and down to the ocean. The space beneath the tree’s exposed roots is large enough to enter and is known as Tree Root Cave. The end result is a mature Sitka spruce, green with life yet dangling precariously in mid air from a few strong roots. A stream has chosen the same location to reach the beach and is slowly eroding away the soil beneath the tree. This particular Sitka spruce is growing on the edge of bluff overlooking the beach. Oh, no reason in particular, just that it appears to be growing in mid air! Tree of Life “What is the Tree of Life,” you ask? The “Tree of Life”, is a Sitka spruce, the largest kind of spruce, and one of Washington State’s most famous trees. To the north about the same distance, Beach 3 and Beach 4 are possible with stamina and a low tide, Brown’s Point can make things inaccessible when the water level is high.Come see the Tree of Life, Washington State natural wonder, just 40 minutes from Manitou Lodge in Forks, WA. It is possible to walk both south towards the outlet at Kalaloch Lodge and Ranger Station and Beach 2, Beach 1 and South Beach (3 miles one way) as a day hike. We made it as far as Brown’s Point and a viewpoint before running out of beach at the higher tide and turned around. There was may be a time after a few more good storms when that gal joins her sisters who have been swallowed up by the sea. We watched the waves move the large pieces of drift wood about and wondered how the tree over the “cave” managed to keep itself so precariously perched. We walked a bit at dark the first night and the next morning before giving up and heading into Forks to wait out the rain. We were staying at the campground at Kalaloch but our time seemed to be limited for walking the beach at any length either because we arrived after dark or the tide was high (and rain coming down) when we were at our site. įind out current conditions and as always, practice Leave No Trace. You can learn more about these places in my Must Hike Must Eat Eating Out Guide. ![]() Favorite Eats After Hike: Pacific Pizza, Kalaloch Lodge, or just Pack A Cooler. ![]()
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