May 13, 2025
Olympic Park & Lake Crescent Day Tour - Our trip was sold as a 10 hour tour on 5/11/25. Our driver Bob was about 12-15 minutes late arriving to pick us up at our hotel. He repeatedly made comments in the first 3-4 hours of our tour not to worry about time saying that we had the entire day however long necessary to ensure we all had a nice time together. That made us feel nice and comfortable as we began the first hours of tour.
The ferry ride was smooth, about 30 minutes to cross from Seattle seaport to Bainbridge Island, where-in we resumed the drive to first tour site stop at the Olympic Animal Game Farm. Really enjoyed the drive-thru animal farm to see and feed the animals. We bought 4x loaves of bread at $5 per loaf and 3/4 way thru the animal farm we wish we had bought 6x loaves to had more for Bisons and Llamas! We had lots of laughs feeding the animals in the hour slow speed drive to see and feed various animals.
We then made way to Hurricane Ridge/Hill mountain. Temps dropped quickly to about 20°F as we drove up the mountain’s curving road. Our driver made us a bit nervous as he made a few comments the tires on Honda Pilot SUV were not in good condition. Ugh. Once on top we saw lots of deer in the parking area and in the snow covered areas around parking lot for about 1 hour. The clouds quickly developed into fog and visibility was poor as it began snowing on us in last 15 minutes on mountain top.
We then went down mountain and drove on to Lake Crescent. Along lake shore line we had about a 15 min stop at a roadside turnout to take a few pics of Lake Crescent and read the historical sign about the lake formation via glacier. Once at the parking lot area for Lake Crescent and Marymere Falls, wife and I made the hike up to the water falls using Google walking map on iPhone and following trail signs. The driver exited vehicle quickly and got his walking sticks and spikes and took off up the waterfalls trail leaving us to find our own way. The walk was peaceful and nice through forest and the water falls were pretty. As we were about 10-15 minutes from reaching the waterfalls we met our driver on the trail as he was descending back to the parking lot. He told us after we cross 2 bridges to stay left at the loop sign to climb on up to waterfalls. He made no comment on tour time remaining. We are in our 60’s so what is about a 25 minute hike each way plus time stopping on trail and at waterfall to take pics, the hike up and down took us about 1.5 hours. About half way back on our walk back from the waterfall to parking area, friends who did not make the hike to the waterfall began texting us to tell us the driver was saying he needed us to hurry-up as he was going off the clock in an hour and would not be paid by his boss. This did not set well with me or the other 2 guests who felt uncomfortable sending us multiple text messages to hurry back to parking lot. Once back in vehicle the atmosphere was tense for several minutes as driver was in a hurry to return to ferry terminal in attempt to time arrival to drive immediately onto the ferry. Ferry was just departing as we got vehicle in line so we had about a 20-30 minute wait to drive onto ferry. Once across water he returned us safely to our hotel and was quite pleasant as we exited vehicle.
Summary, we really enjoyed the tour stops to see the sites of the tour itinerary we purchased. Our driver Bob was a nice man and personable. There were no snacks or water for us. Our group of 4 guests felt the tour length sold as being 10 hours is not enough time for guest or for the driver to travel roads, ride the ferry twice, and have adequate time at each tour stop to truly enjoy the sites visited versus being in a hurry to get it all in inside 10 hours. As it turned out, our tour duration was nearly 12 hours which all 4 guest were okay with but from experience with driver saying he only gets paid for 10 hours “on the clock” at the last tour stop and the fast drive back we all felt a bit uncomfortable how our tour was ending. Bob was a nice person but we all felt he was more a driver to take us to the tour stops rather than being a tour guide on this particular tour. All said, we had a good day seeing some very scenic spring countryside in Washington. Thank you.
Review provided by Viator
Jan 6, 2025
Wonderful Day Trip. Great for nature lovers - Wonderful trip with the highlight a walk up to Marymere Falls. Got to see some beautiful countryside and locations. Weather was misty and occasionally rained which is standard for this area so make sure to pack waterproof gear. Added to the beauty though.
Review provided by Viator
Sep 13, 2024
Must see! - Had a wonderful time! Dwight, our guide, was very entertaining & knowledgeable. Olympic National park is a must see! Very gorgeous & spectacular scene!
Review provided by Viator
Sep 9, 2024
Our Olympic tour! - The beautiful scenery and we loved the animals at the park even though they closed early, could have stayed all day. Of course our tour guide Dwight was the best, learned so much about the area from him. He made it a really good experience!
Review provided by Viator
Aug 26, 2024
A large green lung very close to Seattle - Very nice nature for hiking, beautiful vistas and not far from Seattle. We had the nice weather with us and then it is enjoyment from start to finish
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jul 26, 2024
Highlight of our vacation to the PNW! - The animal park was so fun and Hurricane Ridge and Lake Crescent were stunning! Dwight was so informative and charming. A truly memorable day 😊
Review provided by Viator
Jul 23, 2024
I enjoyed Cascade Lake... - I enjoyed Cascade Lake the best. I thought we were going to be able to walk along Hurricane Ridge, but could only view it from a distance. Really enjoyed the ferry trip back at sunset
Review provided by Viator
Sep 19, 2024
Mount Olympic Sept 2024 - Day started with guide showing up 50 minutes before scheduled time. He said he tried contacting us previous evening, but we never received & therefore unaware of change in requested pick up.
Per description tour was to include visit to Olympic National Park, Crescent Lake, hike to Marymere water falls & animal safari.
At start of the day we opted out of the safari.
After stopping to purchase lunch items (not mentioned in description) we spent little less than an hour at Hurricane Ridge then on to Crescent Lake. Again less than 1 hour which included time to eat food purchased on trip. Then back to Seattle.
NO way you could visit 4 sights in time allotted. We barely had 2 stops.
Driver was knowledgeable about area & provided many trivia points about Seattle/Washington state.
4 adults plus driver in a Honda Pilot. Person in back row had to perform gymnastics to get in & out of vehicle.
Light breakfast to be provided was non-existent.
Not worth the $1,400 to have a ferry ride & driver to 2 locations.
Review provided by Viator
Sep 1, 2024
This is Chinese tour, non-chinese don’t even bother. - This is a Chinese tour / with basic bilingual. Our tour guide tries her best to explain in English but it is very basic, not her fault. I feel like my tour guide was a tourist too, I don’t understand why this company can’t hire a Seattle native along with the Chinese tour guide, so both kinds of ppl can enjoy equally. I gave 3 stars because they managed time well and bus ride was smooth. My main problem was I didn’t feel like I visited Olympic National park deep enough. I felt like I saw some basics and nothing in depth, but I wasted the whole day. Please be transparent and mention clearly in Trip advisor that this trip is catered towards Chinese audience. We come here from far places, we want the best possible experience, so transparency is appreciated.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sep 2, 2024
Olympic National Park Tour - This tour was terrible! The guide did not know anything about Olympic National Park. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!
Review provided by Viator