Spruce Nature Trail

Dogs No Dogs

Features Birding · River/Creek · Wildlife

This short loop, similar to the Hall of Mosses Trail, offers a quick path through the lush Hoh rainforest. The Spruce Nature Trail sees slightly less elevation change over a longer distance than the Hall of Mosses Trail, making it an easier alternative.

Mild winters, cool summers and up to 12 feet of annual precipitation produce the giant conifers that dominate this rain forest, one of the most spectacular examples of temperate rain forest in the world.

Big-leaf maple and vine maple host an abundance of epiphytes (plants growing upon other plants) that give the rain forest its characteristic look and ethereal quality. A plethora of mosses, ferns and plants compete for space on the forest floor; grazing elk keep the understory open. Dead and downed trees decay slowly and support new life. The eternal cycle of life and death is strikingly apparent in this magnificent forest community.