Ruby Beach is know for being one of the best tide-pooling beaches on the Olympic Peninsula. It has great tidepools and allows you see to see intertidal creatures such as starfish and gooseneck barnacles up close. It also has incredible rock formations and unique logs on the beach.
Visiting Ruby Beach should be an essential part of your visit to Olympic National Park. This guide will give you all the information you need to know prior to visiting Ruby Beach.
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*****Everything in this article is my personal opinion and experiences. Check your own resources and choose to do anything I discuss at your own risk. Some of the things in this post may be dangerous and not recommended for every body.
About Olympic National Park and Ruby Beach
Ruby Beach is the classic Olympic Peninsula Beach. It is also one of the most visited beaches on the Olympic Peninsula. Olympic National Park is incredible due to its varying types of nature, from mountains, to rainforests, and of course tidepools.
Intertidal life that you can spot at Ruby Beach includes starfish, mussels, crabs, snails, sea urchins, anemones, chitons, limpets, and barnacles of all kinds. For more information on the intertidal life, visit the Olympic National Park website.
There are many pieces of trees that have washed up onto the shore after being weathered and shaped by the ocean.
The sand is also unique here. Ruby Beach is called so due to the reddish color of the sand.
We love all the different animals, plants, and creatures that we find when exploring here. The ocean washes up all kids of different things and you never know what you’ll find.
How to Get to Ruby Beach
Ruby Beach is located along Highway 101. Ruby Beach is 27 miles south of Forks, and 40 miles away from the Quinault area of Olympic National Park. There are not any towns close by. Going by car is pretty much the only way to get to Ruby Beach.
There is a decent-sized parking lot off the highway and restrooms at before the short trail down to the beach.
To get to the beach from the parking lot, there is a mostly paved trail down a hill to the beach. Once you get to the beach, you may need to step over some logs to get to the main part of the beach.
What to Do at Ruby Beach
Explore the Tidepools
If you have read this far, you will have realized that our favorite part of Ruby Beach is the incredible tidepools that are easily accessible. To see the tidepools, you will need to access the beach at low tide. Low tide is when the water will recede enough off of the rocks to allow you to see the life that lives under the water half of the time.
Our favorite place to see tide pools at Ruby Beach is to the left (south) once you get onto the beach. There are some large rocks that are submerged by water at high tide, but are surrounded by sand at low tide. Gooseneck barnacles, mussels, and tiny crabs all cling to the rocks here. Starfish can be seen in the nooks and crannies (they are usually red/pink or purple). Green anemones also fill pockets of rocks, and if still covered in water, waving their tentacles around. Tiny yellow sponges cling to the outside of mussels, and limpets creep along rocks shaving off other organisms from the rock.
It is easy to just walk right by all of the cool intertidal life as it they all blend together, but the closer and slower you look, the more you realize that it is jam-packed full of life.
Walk around the Rock Formations (aka sea stacks)
Depending on the tides when you visit, there are several tall rocks that are surrounded by water at high tide, but can be walked around at low tide. One of my favorite sea stacks can be found at the main part of the beach when you descend from the parking lot. It is tall and pointed and has a hole in the middle that you can walk through. The rock is essentially a sea arch. It is hard to imagine that just a few hours from when you are standing there, that where you’re standing will be covered in water.
Walk on the Beach
While most people hang out near the tidepools and sea stacks, you can actually walk down the beach too, especially at low tide. The farther down the beach you walk, the rockier it becomes. If you like cool-looking rocks, than I recommend walking down the beach. There are so many interesting different rocks on the beach here. There are rocks of all colors and rocks with really neat marble inclusions creating shapes and pictures within the rock itself.
Walking down the beach will also allow you to get away from the crowds as many don’t walk down the beach. If you are looking for some more solitude on Ruby Beach, walk down the beach and it feels like a completely different beach.
Watch the Sunset
Since Ruby Beach faces west, it is a great place for watching sunset. It is a very popular place for watching the sunset and can get crowded in the evening, even in the off season. If you plan for seeing sunset at Ruby Beach, I recommend getting there early so you make sure you can find a place to park and make it down to the beach before the sky starts to get pretty!
There are plenty of logs that are perfect for sitting on as you watch the sun go down. What’s a better way to end your day at the national park than sitting on the beach and watching the sky during all the shades of orange?
Tips for Visiting Ruby Beach
Visit at Low Tides
To get the most out of your time visiting Ruby Beach, it is best to visit at low tide. It is still pretty if you can only visit at high tide, but the best time to visit Ruby Beach is at low tide. At low tide you can check out all of the tidepools and be able to walk on more the beach. At high tide, the water comes up pretty high on the beach and doesn’t allow a lot of room for walking.
To check the tides, you can visit the national website for tide predictions.
Bring a Rain Jacket
Weather on the Olympic Coast can be wet and unpredictable. There is a high chance that it could be rainy on your trip to Ruby Beach and Olympic National Park in general. Don’t let a little rain stop you from exploring Ruby Beach! Washingtonians tend to get outside no matter what the weather is like. There is a saying “there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.” I recommend bringing a nice waterproof rain jacket so that you can enjoy Ruby Beach, no matter what the weather is.
Some rain jackets I recommend are this Eddie Bauer rain jacket, this Columbia rain jacket, or if you’re on a budget, this one on Amazon looks good too. Even a cheap poncho will do if that is all you have!
Respect Nature
Since it is a national park, taking pieces of the beach or forest home with you isn’t recommended. I say this here just because there may be people visiting that don’t realize that there are more protections within the national park! At Ruby Beach, we saw a person carrying an entire log she could barely lift back to her car. Please don’t do this. Not only does it prevent other people from seeing the same cool log, it is also illegal.
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I hope you enjoy Ruby Beach as much as we do! Please let me know if you have any questions or comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Liz
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