Cape Flattery and Neah Bay, WA

December 17, 2025

The atmospheric river finally ran its course. There was more rain forecast in the coming week (now I know why the Olympic peninsula hosts one of the largest temperate rain forests). I had always wanted to visit the western most point of the contiguous United States, so we continued counterclockwise around the Olympic peninsula toward Cape Flattery. Technically, it's the northwestern-most point. Another cape further south on the Washington coast has the distinction of being the west-most, but I think it depends on whether we're talking low or high tide. At any rate, if you look at a map of the USA, at the left tippy top, there is a lone spur of Highway 112 that goes out to a jut of land called Cape Flattery.

It's a 2 hour drive from Port Angeles to Neah Bay, the closest town to Cape Flattery. I was impressed at how quickly the WSDOT made this remote 2-lane winding road passable after a storm. We drove it at daybreak, and already the wind debris from the night before had been cleared, including some large tree trunks that had been freshly hewn to make way for motorists. As we approached Neah Bay, the intermittent showers let up, and a full rainbow appeared. It felt like we were being blessed.

Neah Bay, population 935, is on the Makah Tribal Reservation. We stopped at the Makah Cultural Center and Museum to purchase the $20 recreational permit to enter Makah land. What a delightful little museum. Several tribal nations, including the Makah, have lived on these coastal lands from time immemorial. "People who live by the rocks and the seagulls" is what they called themselves. Makah is what their neighbors called them: "generous with food." The museum tells the story of one of the Makah permanent villages, Ozette, that was buried in a mudslide 500 years ago, and rediscovered by an archeological excavation in the 1970s. The Makah were skilled mariners and hunters of whale and seal and fish. They built longhouses and canoes from cedar, and traded extensively up and down the coast and with their kindred to the north in what is now Vancouver Island. At the museum, there are canoes and artifacts on display, accompanied by well written informational placards. It's very well worth an hour or two, and the $10 per adult admission ticket.

All this talk of halibut fishing made us hungry, so we stopped for some fish 'n chips before heading out to Cape Flattery. What luck! The sun made a brief appearance as we walked along the 1.5 mile out-and-back trail. From several viewing platforms, we could admire the steep drop from the Cape to the pounding surf of the Pacific Ocean, the sea caves, and Tatoosh Island and its lonely decommissioned lighthouse.

The days are short approaching the Winter Solstice, and we took such advantage of the sunshine on Cape Flattery that the light was fading when we left. We decided to stay out on the Cape, at the little Hideaway RV Park. It was little more than a small field, and no one manned the kiosk nor answered our calls and texts. The next morning, we slid $40 under the kiosk door for our nights accommodations before continuing our journey south along the Pacific Coast.