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Best Northwest Lake Getaways: Find Rustic Comfort Less Than 3 Hours From Seattle
Deep in Olympic National Park, Lake Quinault has been drawing visitors for decades.
This article originally appeared in the July 2017 issue of Seattle magazine.
The Lochaerie Resort is one of our 26 Best Lakeside Getaways in the Northwest.
This classic resort, along the quiet north shore of jewel-like Lake Quinault, has been hosting guests since it was built in the 1920s as a “hostelry” for rusticators from Seattle looking to get away from it all. Not much has changed since then. Each lake-facing cabin is a private and self-contained unit with a fireplace, private bathroom with shower, and a kitchen stocked with utensils and cookware (bring in your own food or dine out at one of the eateries on the south side of Lake Quinault). Two of the cabins are for couples only, while the remaining four can accommodate families or small groups.
With no Wi-Fi or hot tub, your best form of entertainment might be to paddle one of the resort’s canoes or kayaks on the lake in search of otters and sleep off the excitement in a hammock on the shore. Or follow one of the hiking trails right from Lochaerie around Lake Quinault on the hunt for big trees. After all, you’re in the middle of the so-called “Valley of the Giants,” where some of the biggest Sitka spruce, western red cedar and Douglas fir trees known to humankind are still thriving to this day.
GETTING THERE: Less than a three-hour drive from Seattle, on the southern part of the Olympic Peninsula and accessible via Aberdeen and U.S. Highway 101.
The Coordinates
Lochaerie Resort, Amanda Park, 638 North Shore Road; 360.288.2215. $165–$215/night depending on cabin and season.
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