With few visitors and over 11 miles of winding road to reach the Upper Queets, this glacially-carved, rain forest valley is perfect for quiet solitude. Look for elk under moss-draped bigleaf maples and towering Sitka spruce, watch salmon spawn in a side channel, or examine the old barns, scattered fruit trees and old pastures left as evidence of early homestead families who attempted to carve a new life from this remote valley.

The orignal Queets road was severed by a landslide in 2005. By working with Olympic National Forest and the Washington Department of Natural Resources, the park opened a new route to the upper valley using neighboring forestry roads. Watch for active logging traffic on these narrow routes, which are not suitable for trailers or large RVs.

Today, most of the Queets River watershed is protected. Its salmon runs
are among the most productive in the country, indicating a healthy, intact
ecosystem. Olympic is the only national park outside of Alaska that supports
so many generous runs of wild anadromous salmon.

The river holds salmon, dolly varden, and steelhead. Check regs carefully as this river has selective seasons and varies with location (National Park, Forrest Service, Indian Reservation)