Bogachiel State Park – state parks quest #45

Olympic National Park is one of the most popular national parks in the country. The park’s spectacularly diverse environments, from glacier-laced alpine reaches to bracingly rugged coastline to dripping ancient rainforests, attract around three million visitors each year. Traveling between these ecosystems takes some time, so many visitors stay overnight. The national park campgrounds and lodges are lovely, but often sell out months in advance. That’s where Bogachiel State Park comes in.

On the banks of the Bogachiel River (locals call it the Bogie), the park is ideally situated for easy day trips to some of Olympic’s most famous sights: the Hoh Rainforest, Rialto Beach, Kalaloch, Ruby Beach. The Elwha River and Lake Crescent are less than an hour away, and Lake Ozette and Hurricane Ridge are less than two hours by car. Forks, a timber town famed as the setting for the Twilight books, has grocery stores and restaurants within 10 minutes. 

Base camp

We came to Bogachiel looking for a convenient base camp from which we could meet out-of-state friends visiting the Olympics for the first time. After setting up our tent next to an impressive spruce, we found a short path to the river and picked our way onto the large cobbles for a better view. Then it was off to find our friends. After exploring Ruby Beach and watching the sunset from Rialto Beach, we returned to camp and fell asleep to the sound of the burbling river.

The next morning, a spectacular dawn chorus of birdsong started just before sunrise, followed shortly by the rumble of log trucks rolling past on Highway 101. Some online reviews of Bogachiel State Park complain about the truck noise, and it’s helpful to expect it as you plan your trip. Understand, too, that what you’re hearing is the sound of the Olympic Peninsula’s other big industry: logging. Commercial timber farms are part of this landscape too. The toilet paper and cardboard Amazon boxes come from somewhere, and an important piece of that “somewhere” is here. We lounged in our cozy tent, listening to the mix of bird chorus and log trucks and river, the sonic combination a reminder of the uniqueness of this place.

Ethnobotany and wooden fish

The park has a few short trails, including a pleasant ethnobotany walk. Signs describe the features of native plants, such as huckleberry and skunk cabbage, and explain how native peoples have used them. Nearby, a carved wood fish mounted on top of the campground information kiosk is a reminder that the Bogachiel River is famed for its steelhead trout, the official state fish and a fiesty quarry for anglers. Restrictions on wild versus hatchery fish require fishers to be knowledgable and prepared.

The Bogachiel and the Quileute people

The Quillayute River basin, with its three tributary rivers beginning high of the slopes of the Olympic Mountains, was the historic territory of the Quileute (quill-ee-yoot) people. At Forks, the Calawah River empties into the Bogachiel, which  joins with the Sol Duc about eight miles further downstream to form the four-mile-long Quillayute River. The Quillayute empties into the Pacific at La Push, where the government created a tiny reservation for the Quileute people in 1889. “Bogachiel” is an anglicized Quileute word meaning “muddy water.”

According to a Quileute origin story, their people began when a transformer turned two wolves at the mouth of the Quillayute into humans. Wolves are key to Quileute culture, which makes the misrepresentation of Quileute people as werewolves in the Twilight books and movies more than a bit galling. The real Quileute people are far more interesting than the fictional portrayal. They build oceangoing canoes up to 58 feet long for hunting sea mammals. They speak a language unrelated to any other known language, which is taught in the tribal school. Historically, the Quileute raised wool dogs, using the hair to make yarn and weave blankets. While you’re visiting the Olympic Peninsula, consider learning more about Quileute culture. If you visit in spring, you may be able to watch the tribe’s ceremony welcoming whales back to the waters offshore.

The reservation’s location between the Quillayute River and the Pacific Ocean makes it particularly susceptible to tsunamis and the erosive effects of climate change. In 2011, the tribe launched the Move to Higher Ground initiative to relocate to a safer area. The sea-level Quileute Tribal School, where students learn Quileute language and culture, was the top priority. The tribe successfully pushed for legislation to expand the reservation and pieced together funding, including $44 million from the federal government, the tribe broke ground on the new school in 2020. Other facilities, including a senior center, tribal government offices, and residences, will follow.

From the park to the beach

It’s a 30-minute drive from Bogachiel State Park to Rialto Beach, a route that swerves away from the Bogachiel River through Forks, traces the upland that rises between the Bogie and the Sol Duc rivers to the junction where they form the Quillayute, then heads to the sea. The drive passes vampire-festooned stores, broad waterways, active logging shows, and, at the end, giant trees. Otherworldly mist swirls along the rocky beach and up the bluffs into the forest. Centrally located, Bogachiel State Park is the perfect base camp for traveling this stunning corner of the Olympic Peninsula.

Fast Facts about Bogachiel State Park

• 123-acre camping park, open year-round
• shoreline
• Discover Pass required, $10 daily or, for a very reasonable $30, purchase an annual pass
• 25 standard campsites (some on the river), six partial utility sites (40’ max), group camp, dump station, reservable online or by calling 888-CAMPOUT
• restrooms with showers
• picnic tables in day-use area
• hiking, interpretive trail, river access
• freshwater fishing (license required), birdwatching, wildlife viewing
• park brochure
• park map

---

Land Acknowledgment

Bogachiel State Park occupies the traditional lands of the Quileute people, who have lived and travelled here since time immemorial. Past and present are connected through tribal organizations like the tribal school, which teaches traditional culture and the unique Quileute language, and the popular Quileute Oceanside Resort, which offers visitors a glimpse of modern Quileute life. The free, beautifully illustrated, downloadable book Raven Tales: Traditional Quileute Stories of Báyak, the Trickster, is a good way to start learning about Quileute culture. If you visit the Quileute Nation, please follow the tribe’s etiquette guide and photography rules.

---