The Olympic Peninsula is cut off from the southern Washington coast by the spade-shaped bay of Grays Harbor, named for the early American sea captain and explorer, Robert Gray. Long the state’s prime lumber port, Grays Harbor still processes huge piles of trees, but in many ways what’s most interesting is the contrast between the two towns here, Hoquiam and Aberdeen.
At the western end of Grays Harbor, tidy Hoquiam (pop. 9,097; kind of rhymes with requiem) celebrates its lumber-based history with an annual Logger’s Playday bash, complete with ax-throwing and tree-climbing competitions, the second weekend in September. The rest of the year, get a feel for the bygone days of the lumber industry at red-shingled Hoquiam’s Castle (daily; $4; 360/533-2005), on a hillside three blocks off US-101 at 515 Chenault Avenue, a 20-room mansion built in 1897 by a local lumber baron. If you like the looks of it, you can stay overnight in a B&B room for $90–150. Another grand old timber-magnate mansion now houses the Polson Museum (Wed.–Sun; $2; 360/533-5862), on US-101 at 1611 Riverside Drive. It’s devoted to the history of logging.
East of Hoquiam along the Chehalis River at the head of Grays Harbor, Aberdeen (pop. 16,600) is much more heavily industrialized and thus has been even harder hit by the continuing downturn in the Northwest timber industry. The downtown area has more than a few rough edges, but it also holds one of the more high-profile of the state-sponsored efforts to move from timber to tourism: Grays Harbor Historical Seaport (daily; $3; 360/532-8611), a half mile east of US-101. A reconstruction of American explorer (and Grays Harbor namesake) Capt. Robert Gray’s ship, the Columbia Rediviva, can be toured—when she’s not off on one of her regular “goodwill” cruises. The original ship was the first American vessel to visit the area, way back in 1788, and the replica was completed here in 1989 to celebrate the Washington State centennial. When the Columbia Rediviva is in port, you can hop on board for an unforgettable trip ($40).
Across the river from Aberdeen, the region’s largest employer, a Weyerhaeuser pulp mill, looms alongside US-101 through the inappropriately named town of Cosmopolis, before the road cuts inland toward Raymond and Willapa Bay.
Heading east from Aberdeen, US-12 cuts inland, passing the Satsop nuclear power plant and one of the most heavily logged areas in Washington before joining the I-5 freeway at the state capital of Olympia. Midway along, the Grays Harbor HI Hostel in Elma (360/482-3119) has $14-a-night beds (and a small golf course!).
