Tell us how you enjoy the North Hood Canal area — and help shape its future

A winding, crackling river. Layers of green in all textures and sizes. Western maidenhair ferns, wild rhododendron bushes and big Western red cedar trees. And a shifting landscape dominated by water. What else could be more Olympic Peninsula?

• The Olympic Peninsula Outdoor Recreation Collaborative
• The Olympic Peninsula Outdoor Recreation Collaborative formed in 2021. The Collaborative convenes partners like land managers, interest groups, and communities to foster sustainable, equitable, and seamless outdoor recreation across the peninsula. As part of our commitment to building bridges between trail users throughout our state, WTA has participated in the collaborative since its formation.

The North Hood Canal is on the east side of the Olympic Peninsula. It’s an area where people love getting outside — including on beloved trails near the Duckabush and Dosewallips rivers — but some of the area’s trails and campgrounds have become less accessible throughout the years due to environmental causes and maintenance needs that prevent access.

Now, you can share what you love about recreating in this area of the North Hood Canal, including what you’d like to see in the future for this beautiful area. Take the Olympic Peninsula Outdoor Recreation Collaborative’s survey, open until Oct. 30, to contribute your thoughts on this special place.

Share Your Thoughts

The survey is part of a larger project to look at the future of outdoor recreation between the towns of Brinnon and Quilcene, on either side of Highway 101.

There are many places to enjoy the outdoors in the North Hood Canal, including Mount Walker, Tunnel Creek, Rocky Brook Falls and the main trails near the Duckabush and Dosewallip rivers. Photo by trip reporter enkephalin

A road with a long history

The Dosewallips River Road, which branches off the Olympic Peninsula’s Highway 101, has long been a beloved access point for hikers and campers. This survey gives people a chance to weigh in on the future of this area.

Twenty years ago, the road offered vehicle access to the Forest Service’s 20-site Elkhorn Campground as well as Olympic National Park facilities, including the 30-site Dosewallips Campground, a ranger station and several trailheads. After a landslide in 2002, passenger vehicle access was cut off around 3.3 miles before the Elkhorn Campground. In 2016, a second washout earlier in the road lengthened the vehicle closure by about a mile.

Share your hopes for the future of the Dosewallips River Road, and more. Photo of West Fork Dosewallips River trail by trip reporter enkephalin

There is now a small parking area for Dosewallips trails before the washouts. Recreators must walk or bike 6.5 miles to get to the former Olympic National Park campground and the end of the road. Since the washouts, both Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park have stopped maintaining the campgrounds. They are now used as dispersed campsites, without picnic tables or other facilities that were previously available. Nature has reclaimed the edges of the old road corridor.

In 2017, WTA, in partnership with Olympic National Forest, helped build a temporary trail to bypass the 2002 landslide — a temporary solution meant to support recreation while Olympic National Forest made decisions about future management of this road. But those decisions are yet to be made.

In order to invest in a stronger future for the Dosewallips river corridor, we need to understand how people used to use the area, how they use it now, and how they would like to use it in the future.

The survey: Dosewallips and beyond

The Olympic Peninsula Outdoor Recreation Collaborative, with the support of the National Park Service’s River, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program, is considering how recreation in the North Hood Canal can be improved for the future, including management of the Dosewallips River Road. The new survey asks those with connections to the North Hood Canal how they recreate in the area and their thoughts on future management. WTA is part of the collaborative’s core team.

Take the North Hood Canal recreation survey to share things like:

• How you recreate in the North Hood Canal.
• What you’d like to see more or less of in your recreation experience.
• What are your hopes for the future of the Dosewallips River Road.

Map of project area courtesy of the Olympic Peninsula Outdoor Recreation Collaborative. 

The survey is part of a multi-year study of North Hood Canal recreation. The work will culminate with a report of collaborative recommendations that will be shared with the U.S. Forest Service and regional land managers.

Your insights will shape the efforts to ensure sustainable, equitable access and thoughtful planning in the North Hood Canal for generations to come. The collaborative project team will use these results to draft management proposals. The team will return to the public in 2027 to gather feedback on these drafts.

The survey closes on Oct. 30, 2026.