Kalaloch is an unincorporated resort area entirely within

Olympic National Park Olympic National Park is a national park of the United States located in Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest, and the forests of the drier e ...

in western

Jefferson County, Washington Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,977. The county seat and only incorporated city is Port Townsend. The county is named for Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson County ...

, United States. Kalaloch accommodations, which include a lodge, rental cabins, and campgrounds, are on a bluff overlooking the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, west of

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...

on the

Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large peninsula in Western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the ...

, north of the reservation of the

Quinault Indian Nation The Quinault Indian Nation ( or ; QIN), formerly known as the Quinault Tribe of the Quinault Reservation, is a federally recognized tribe of Quinault people, Quinault, Queets people, Queets, Quileute people, Quileute, Hoh, Lower Chehalis people, ...

. The name ''Kalaloch'' is a corruption of the

Quinault Quinault may refer to: * Quinault people, an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast **Quinault Indian Nation, a federally recognized tribe ** Quinault language, their language People * Quinault family of actors, including: * Jean-Bapt ...

term ''k'–E–le–ok'', pronounced Kq–â-lā'–ȯk, meaning "a good place to land", "canoe launch and landing", or "sheltered landing". The site was one of the few safe landing sites for dugout canoes between the

Quinault River The Quinault River ( or ) is a long river located on the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington. It originates deep in the Olympic Mountains in the Olympic National Park. It flows southwest through the "Enchanted Valley" to opposite ...

and

Hoh River The Hoh River is a river of the Pacific Northwest, located on the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. About long, the Hoh River originates at the snout of Hoh Glacier on Mount Olympus (Washington), Mount Olym ...

History

Artifacts discovered in Olympic National Park are evidence early humans inhabited the Olympic Peninsula 6,000 to 12,000 years ago. Today eight tribes ( Elwha Klallam, Hoh, Jamestown S'Klallam,

Makah The Makah (; Makah: ') are an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast living in Washington, in the northwestern part of the continental United States. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Makah Indian Tribe of the Makah I ...

, Port Gamble,

Quileute The Quileute () are a Native American people in western Washington state in the United States, with 808 enrolled citizens in 2018. They are a federally recognized tribe: the ''Quileute Tribe of the Quileute Reservation''. The Quileute people ...

S'Klallam The Klallam (; also known as the S'Klallam or Clallam) are a Coast Salish people Indigenous to the northern Olympic Peninsula. The language of the Klallam is the Klallam language (), a language closely related to the North Straits Salish lan ...

, and Skokomish) live in reservations along the shores. In 1855 and 1856 Olympic Peninsula tribes ceded their lands and waters to the federal government. In 1889, Washington became a state. President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...

created the Olympic Forest Reserve in 1897, which was renamed to

Olympic National Forest Olympic National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in Washington. With an area of , it nearly surrounds Olympic National Park and the Olympic Mountain range. Olympic National Forest contains parts of Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, ...

in 1907. Charles W. Becker, Sr., purchased a coastal plot just south of where Kalaloch Creek meets the Pacific Ocean in 1925. Becker used milled lumber from

driftwood Driftwood is a wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves. It is part of beach wrack. In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides ...

logs that washed up on the beach to build a main lodge and cabins. Intertide zonation at Kalaloch

To preserve some of Washington's primeval forest lands, in 1938, President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

designated as Olympic National Park. Two years later, President Roosevelt added to the park. President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

added of coastal wilderness to the park in 1953, including the Kalaloch area. In 1976 the Olympic National Park was designated as an

International Biosphere Reserve Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the 'improvement of relationships' between people and their environments. MAB engages w ...

. The

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

(NPS) purchased the Becker property in 1978 and renamed it Kalaloch Lodge. Olympic National Park was designated in 1981 as a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. In 1988, Congress approved the designation of 95 percent of the park as the

Olympic Wilderness Olympic National Park is a national park of the United States located in Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest, and the forests of the drier e ...

Climate

Kalaloch weather is influenced by prevailing Pacific winds and two temperate rain forests, the

Hoh Rainforest Hoh Rainforest is one of the largest temperate rainforests in the U.S., located on the Olympic Peninsula in western Washington (state), Washington state. It encompasses of low elevation forest along the Hoh River, ranging from . The rainforest ...

and the

Quinault Rainforest The Quinault Rain Forest is a temperate rain forest, which is part of the Olympic National Park and the Olympic National Forest in the U.S. state of Washington in Grays Harbor and Jefferson Counties. The rain forest is located in the valley form ...

. Annual rainfall at Kalaloch is measured in feet: on average, fall annually. * Spring – per month average * Summer – per month average * Fall – per month average * Winter – per month average

Recreation

About of beach in the

provide

beachcombing Beachcombing is an activity that consists of an individual "combing" (or searching) the beach and the intertidal zone, looking for things of value, interest or utility. A beachcomber is a person who participates in the activity of beachcombing ...

opportunities. At Kalaloch, seven area beach trails lead to coastal hikes and Kalaloch Creek. Fishing possibilities at Kalaloch include

surf perch The surfperches are a family of percomorph fishes, the Embiotocidae. They are mainly found in northeast Pacific Ocean (as far south as Baja California), but a few species (genera '' Ditrema'' and '' Neoditrema'') are found in the northwest Pacifi ...

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

, or native

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

, or at low tide visitors may dig for

razor clams Razor clam is a common name for long, narrow, saltwater clams (which resemble a closed straight razor in shape), including: * Atlantic jackknife clam, ''Ensis leei'' (syn. ''Ensis directus'') * Gould's razor shell, ''Solen strictus'' * Pacific razo ...

Bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche ...

s, black-legged kittiwakes,

red-throated loon The red-throated loon (North America) or red-throated diver (Britain and Ireland) (''Gavia stellata'') is a migratory aquatic bird found in the northern hemisphere. The most widely distributed member of the loon or diver family, it breeds prim ...

black scoter The black scoter or American scoter (''Melanitta americana'') is a large Merginae, sea duck, in length. The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek ''melas'' "black" and ''netta'' "duck". The species name is from the Latin for "American". Toge ...

s, and

brown pelican The brown pelican (''Pelecanus occidentalis'') is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mouth ...

s are among

birdwatchers Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...

' sightings at Kalaloch. From Kalaloch bluffs, whale watchers may see migratory

gray whale The gray whale (''Eschrichtius robustus''), also known as the grey whale,Britannica Micro.: v. IV, p. 693. is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds yearly. It reaches a length of , a weight of up to and lives between ...

s, and

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

harbor porpoise The harbour porpoise (''Phocoena phocoena'') is one of eight extant species of porpoise. It is one of the smallest species of cetacean. As its name implies, it stays close to coastal areas or river estuaries, and as such, is the most familiar ...

harbor seals The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared sea ...

sea otters The sea otter (''Enhydra lutris'') is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between , making them the heaviest members of the weasel fa ...

and

orcas The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopoli ...

may also be spotted. The National Park Service staffs a ranger station in the area during the summer. Kalaloch Beach is known for the location of the "Tree of Life", a

Sitka spruce ''Picea sitchensis'', the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to just over tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth- ...

with exposed roots that spans over a small creek that drains onto the sand from cliffs above the beach. Normally a tall species, the Tree of Life is shorter and thicker, with bent and windswept branches. The tree is a landmark in the county and is a popular site for

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

photographers. In early January 2025, the tree had noticeably slumped approximately after the creek gully eroded.

Kalaloch Lodge and Campground

Kalaloch Lodge offers three types of accommodations: lodge, cabins, and campground. At its peak, forty cabins were available, including six on the bluff overlooking the ocean. Due to approximately of erosion to the bluffs in 2023 and 2024, a total of seven cabins were demolished. The NPS stated that the lodge and remaining rental units were not considered threatened. Kalaloch Campground, with 166 camp sites, is one of four campgrounds in Olympic National Park that accepts summer reservations.

References

External links

* * * * {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Washington (state) Unincorporated communities in Jefferson County, Washington