Quillayute River Estuary and Slough
IBA (Important Birding Area)
Directions: From Forks drive north for 1.5 miles. Then continue west on SR 110 for 7.7 miles to Quillayute Prairie, where SR 110 splits. Bear right (Mora Road), and drive 3.3 miles to trailhead at Mora Ranger Station. For beach parking at Rialto continue west another 1.7 miles.
Ownership: Olympic National Park
Trail Distance: 1.8 miles roundtrip
Difficulty: easy
Fees/Permits: National Park Entry fee or Interagency Pass
Notes: Kid-friendly, dogs prohibited, water and restrooms available, camping available
The Quillayute River is revered for its steelhead and salmon fishing. But this wide river, formed by glacier-fed tributaries also provides excellent habitat for a wide array of avian species. Here at its mouth on the Pacific in the Quileute Tribe’s reservation is an estuary teeming with nutrients attracting scads of birds.
You can hike the short Quillayute River Slough Trail along the river from the Mora Ranger Station. Follow the trail through a rainforest of giant spruces. It travels above a slough and lush bottomlands. Look for bald eagles, great blue herons, double-crested cormorants, and mergansers. North of the ranger station is the short James Pond Trail leading to a bird-rich oxbow pond.
Near Rialto Beach is an overlook of the estuary with interpretive displays. Watch here for buffleheads, Barrow’s goldeneyes, common goldeneyes, Caspian terns, scoters, black-legged kittiwakes, peregrine falcons, and brown pelicans.
