Hood Canal, One of the Seven Wonders of the Olympic Peninsula - Olympic Peninsula, Washington

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Hood Canal, One of the Seven Wonders of the Olympic Peninsula - Olympic Peninsula, Washington

Seeing the Seven Wonders of the Olympic Peninsula is a great way to do a self guided tour of the area.  You can see Hood Canal which is called the Olympics’ Emerald Fjord. It divides the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas and is over 600 feet deep in some places.  Here you will find a large salmon population, oysters, lams, shrimp and geoducks. 

Hood Canal stretches more than 70 miles.  You can enjoy sea kayaking from the town of Union on the Canal, go sport fishing for cutthroat, spinrays, kokanees and rainbow trout in the lakes around the area.

Hood Canal, a slender saltwater fjord, flows inland throughout the area from the Straits of Juan de Fuca along scenic Highway 101 past Hoodsport, bordering the Great Bend at Union and continuing further inland to the rugged ORV trails of the Tahuya State Forest and the gentle bird-watching trails of the Theler Wetlands in Belfair.

Hood Canal has a Shrimp Fishery where you can shrimp fish for 4 days a year under the supervision of the Washing Department of Fish and Wildlife in Marine Area 12.  This is in May so check to see if the 4 days are during the time you will be visiting. 

Take a drive up the Road to Staircase area of Olympic National Park.  The road is closed during the winter just beyond the Mount Rose subdivision since the 2006 Bear Gulch Fire because of increased rock and debris falling.  It is open during the summer.

The view from Hood Canal Bridge on State Route 104 connects Olympic Peninsula and the Kitsap Peninsula across Hood Canal is one of the best to see the area.  This bridge is 7,869 feet long which makes it the longest floating bridge in the world located in a saltwater tidal basin and the third longest floating bridge overall.

The water depth below the pontoons ranges from 80 to 340 feet (24 to 104 m). In its marine environment, the bridge is exposed to tide swings of 16.5 feet (5 m).
During inclement weather, the draw span is retracted (closing the bridge to vehicle traffic) when winds of 40 miles per hour (64 km/h) or more are sustained for 15 minutes.