The Ancient Groves Trail is located in the Sol Duc Area of Olympic National Park. This short trail is more of a nature walk. This loop runs barely a half mile through a beautiful grove of ancient trees. If visiting the Sol Duc area, it is a nice walk for children.
Most people visit Sol Duc (SoleDuck in some park literature) to hike Sol Duc Falls, which is an awesome hike. We found the Ancient Groves Trail to be a much more peaceful alternative. Where the falls was quite busy, we saw only one other group on the Ancient Groves Trail.
There is a small parking area on the west (right as you enter Sol Duc) side of the road. The trail starts at the far end of the parking lot. It winds among the trees, and eventually over to the far side of the grove, where it is walks along a wide open ravine. This allows you to see down into the ravine while keeping the grove on your left for a short distance.
There are many impressive trees in this grove, and it is somewhat like the rainforestes on the west side of Olympic National Park. There is nothing quite so dramatic along this trail as the massive bearded trees found in the Hoh Rainforest section, but the Ancient Groves Trail is a beautiful, serene walk without anyone there to distract you from nature.
