Ultimate Olympic National Park Elopement Guide

Are you looking to have an Olympic National Park Elopement?! WHOO-HOO!! This place will leave a mark on your heart and you’ll fall in love the moment you set your eyes on this stunning national park.

Olympic National Park is one of the most incredible and versatile locations to elope! The Olympic Penninsula is truly one of the best places to elope in the PNW. It holds a wide variety of scenery, is open year-round, and is easily accessible! No matter if you’re looking for sweeping mountain views, old-growth forests, stunning beaches, or peaceful alpine lakes Olympic National Park has it all.

As a Washington Elopement Photographer, I’m here to guide you through every step of planning your Olympic National Park Elopement! Let’s dive into my ultimate guide and you then you can contact me to get started creating an unforgettable experience!

Olympic national park elopement in washington

How to Elope at Olympic National Park

1. Hire an Olympic National Park Elopement Photographer

Hiring the right Olympic National Park elopement photographer for you is SO important! I would definitely suggest bringing a professional early on in the process because it will make everything so much easier for you.

As an experienced elopement photographer who specializes in elopements, I’m able to guide you throughout the entire planning process. Everything from helping you pick out the perfect location to say your vows to creating a stress-free timeline to helping you handle the logistics and everything in between! I want to help you create the most incredible and memorable experience that’s completely focused on the two of you. If you’d like to learn more about what I do you can check it out here!

The other aspect to take into consideration when picking out a photographer for your Olympic National Park Elopement is to go with someone that you click with. Your photographer will be there with you throughout the entire day and if it’s someone that you connect with they’re going to enhance the experience of your elopement rather than take away from it.

This is one of the reasons I hop on a call with all my couples before moving forward to make sure that we’ll be a great fit! I want to make sure that we’ll get along great and have a fantastic time together. Imagine having a photographer that you feel awkward around or someone that you don’t vibe well with… your day wouldn’t that great. So, be sure to find someone whose style you love and someone that you can imagine hanging out with!

2. When is the best time to elope at Olympic National Park?

Deciding what season is best for you to have your Olympic National Park Elopement is a super important aspect to figure out. Since it’s the only national park that stays completely open year-round there truly isn’t a bad time to elope at Olympic National Park, but here is the rundown of what you can expect!

Summer (June-September)

During summer the peninsula gets more sunny days than rainy days making it a great time of year to elope! The sunsets along the coast are to die for and the mountains are filled with stunning greenery. There isn’t any snow so getting everywhere is super easy!

Winter/Fall (October-February)

The weather gets much cooler this time of year so packing those layers to stay warm is a must, but it’s 100% worth it! The mountains are covered in snow creating a magical backdrop and the fog and clouds are typically present throughout the day making it perfect for all-day moody PNW pictures and vibes!

Spring (March-May)

The weather in the springtime is a bit more fickle and unpredictable. You’ll have beautiful sunny days and then rainy days! It’s a great time of year to embrace the adventure and go-with-the-flow of whatever happens!

How to elope in olympic national park guide

3. Pick your location

There are endless amounts of gorgeous locations and hikes to have your adventurous elopement experience! Take a minute to think of what type of scenery you want for your elopement day. What would be your dream backdrop as you say your vows? Do you want sweeping mountain views? Do you want to be surrounded by trees? An alpine lake? Moody coastline? Let’s dive into some of the most epic locations that Olympic National Park has to offer.

Don’t worry, you don’t need to make an official decision! I’m here to help you pick out the best location for you! There are many hikes and drive-up locations for you to choose from and I’ll guide you through it all! You can contact me and I’d be stoked to help you plan an epic adventure!

Alpine Lake Elopement Locations:

Most of these require some type of “hiking” and by hiking, I mean more of a peaceful walk! These are all very accessible and great spots especially if you have guests at your elopement!

  • Lake Cushman
    • This is a gorgeous alpine lake for your Olympic National Park Elopement! It’s a pretty lake surrounded by towering mountains. You can hike to a peak for a beautiful and peaceful view or you can simply enjoy the lake and lollygag around!
  • Lake Crescent
    • Lake Crescent is a lower elevation lake meaning it’s typically snow-free year round making it a super accessible location no matter when you want to elope! There are many hikes all around for all levels, so there’s a place for you!
  • Lake Quinault
    • This is a great lake to get those rain forest vibes! There’s a fun walk around the lake and through the forest and along the rivers that will create epic backdrops for your elopement in Olympic National Park!

Olympic National Park Elopement in Washington

Mountain View Elopement Locations:

  • Hurricane Ridge
    • Hurricane Ridge is an epic drive-up location that is accessible year-round! You explore the area around the visitors center or picnic locations which will give you sweeping mountain views. If you want a bit more privacy there are many hikes that jet out from the visitors center!
  • Mount Storm King
    • This is a 4.7-mile round trip hike that isn’t the easiest, but the views are epic! The trail is fairly steep at the end, but you just gotta come prepared, take your time, and not push yourself.
  • Lots and lots of other hikes
    • There are SO many hiking options that will give you the privacy you want along with epic views! I keep some of the most epic locations a secret and reveal them only to my couples. So, if you’re looking to go on a hike for your day, I’d be stoked to help you!

 

Olympic Coastline Elopement Locations:

The coastline in Olympic National Park is to die for! The rugged cliffs, moody forest vibes, and sea stacked rocks mixed together creates the ultimate PNW vibe. The number of locations for your Olympic National Park Elopement is endless. You have easy drive-up locations and spots with minimal ‘hiking’ making them some of the best places to elope in Olympic National Park!

  • Ruby Beach
    • Ruby Beach is a pretty well-known beach in Olympic National Park, but for a good reason! It’s a super short hike and has lots of driftwood, forest vibes, and has beautiful sunsets during the summer! This is where the Hoh River runs into the Pacific Ocean as well. It’s an absolute stunner! Dogs are allowed here as well!!
  • Kalaloch Beach
    • I have 3 words for you – Dogs allowed here! If you’re looking to include your furry friend then this is a fantastic option for you! It’s also home to the famous Tree Root Cave. It’s right by Ruby Beach so it’s totally worth making a stop here to check it out!
  • Cape Flattery
    • Although not a beach it is on the coastline! There are multiple hikes that lead to stunning overlooks on the coast through the beautiful PNW forest. It’s a gorgeous place to explore with easy hikes for everyone!
  • La Push Beach
    • La Push beach consists of 3 different beaches. The first you can park and walk to while the other 2 you have to hike to get to. I HIGHLY suggest going the adventurous route and hiking to the second or third beach where you can get privacy and all the same epic views! Don’t worry, I’ll help guide you through all of the decisions when picking out what beach is best for you!
  • Rialto Beach
    • This is another beautiful beach location! It’s a great place to plan around low tide so that you can walk out to the sea stacks and enjoy all the epicness that this beach has to offer!

Olympic Forest Locations

The home run here will definitely be Hoh Rain Forest, but all along the coast and through many hikes you’ll come across magical forests with massive trees! Just let me know what you’re looking for and I got you covered!

  • Hoh Rain Forest
    • Looking for a forest filled with moss-covered trees, loads of ferns and greenery galore? Then this is the magical land for you! There are many trails and waterfalls for you to explore. The amount of green is astounding here. I promise you, you’ve never seen so much green in your life!

4. Book your accommodation in Olympic NP

I will always suggest staying in a cabin instead of a hotel during your elopement for a couple of reasons! They provide a great space to get ready, have a first look, and celebrate afterward! You’ll have a wide variety of options and cute places to stay. You’ll typically be able to stay closer to your location in a cabin versus a hotel as well! Airbnb and VRBO are great sites to dive into to find the perfect place to stay! You can check out my other article on How to Plan an Airbnb Elopement for more in-depth advice on this subject!

Be sure you wait to book your accommodation until your location has been picked out and your permit is approved! You don’t want to book a place and then fall in love with a location that’s 2 hours away. So, be sure to wait for this step, but here are some ideas to help you get started!

5. Permits and Marriage License

How to get legally married in Olympic National Park?

If you live in Washington or if you arrive in the state a minimum of 3 days before your elopement day, you can head to any local county clerks office to get a marriage license. If you’re coming from out of state the easiest scenario would be to apply online and have it mailed to you. Keep in mind you can’t apply any more than 60 days before your elopement date! You can check out all the information about getting legally married here.

You will also need to have 2 witnesses and an officiant to make it legal. If you want to go this route I can definitely recommend officiants to you! I’d also be happy to sign as a witness!

Symbolical Elopement Ceremony

If you want to have a ‘just us’ elopement I would highly suggest going the route of having a symbolical ceremony. What is that you ask? A symbolical ceremony means not legally binding. So, you would get legally married where you live and handle all the paperwork there, and then when you’re elopement day rolls around you don’t have to worry about dealing with paperwork.

Olympic National Park Elopement Permits

Depending on where you are getting married in the Olympic Penninsula will determine what kind of permit you might need. Certain permits may or may not be needed depending on location and guest count, so it’s always best to contact the appropriate people and ask to make sure you have every squared away that needs to be! You can find all the information here.

elopement in olympic national park in washington

6. Everything else you need to be prepared for your Olympic National Park Elopement

It’s always wise to be prepared for everything when eloping! Here are my top recommendations for you, but I’ll be sure to send you a complete list of everything before your elopement!

  • National Park Pass
  • Permits
  • Headlamps
  • Rain jacket
  • Layers of clothes
  • Bear spray
  • Sunscreen
  • Bug spray
  • Anti-itch cream
  • Extra socks (always!)
  • Water
  • Snacks

Phew!! That’s a lot of information! I hope this has helped you get an idea of how to elope in Olympic National Park! It’s an absolutely breathtaking park and you truly can’t go wrong when choosing to have an Olympic National Park Elopement! If you’re looking for a photographer to help you and guide you through planning out your epic adventurous elopement you can CONTACT ME to get started!!

Want more elopement tips?!

Best Places to Elope in Oregon

Best Places to Elope in the PNW

Tips for Eloping in a National Park

Complete Guide for Eloping in Washington State

How to Plan the Elopement Timeline of Your Dreams

How to Elope in Olympic National Park | Courtney Lynn

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  1. […] The Olympic Peninsula is home to some of the most beautiful beaches and rugged coastlines, mountain peaks, rain forests, and even hot springs! It holds some of the most stunning views in Washington. There is SO much explore here and the location options for your elopement are truly endless. No matter if you want to adventure in the mountains or enjoy a peaceful stroll around a lake or meadow Olympic National Park is the best place to be! From the moment you set your eyes on this place, you’ll see in an instant why it’s one of the best places to elope in the Pacific Northwest! Be sure to check out my Ultimate Olympic National Park Elopement Guide! […]

  2. […] WOW. What an epic elopement day!! This Hurricane Ridge Elopement at sunrise was absolutely incredible. We woke up way before the crack of dawn to make sure we got the most epic light for their sunrise ceremony. I met Joy & Ty at their cabin at 5:00am and we hopped in their car and headed off to Hurricane Ridge which is located in Olympic National Park! […]

  3. […] was a beautiful and easy elopement day!! Be sure to check out my Ultimate Olympic National Park Elopement Guide for more information on this epic […]

  4. […] Be sure to check out my Ultimate Olympic National Park Elopement Guide! […]

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Courtney made the process SO easy! She does more than just photograph your day. She cares about you having the BEST elopement experience possible! I'll never be able to thank Courtney enough for making our dream day happen!

Contact me about your Elopement!

You probably have a million thoughts running through your head making you a bit overwhelmed.

How does this work? What can I do during my elopement? How do I choose my location? Is the ceremony legal? Can I elope with family?

One of the reasons you're probably eloping is because you want to have a stress-free day, but with so much uncertainty on how to plan an elopement how is it even possible?!

No need to stress, you're in the right place! This is where I come in and do the heavy lifting for you.

I'm Courtney, and I specialize in documenting adventurous elopements for couples who love the outdoors, but role is so much more than just an elopement photographer.

I'm here to guide you through every single step of planning your elopement and to give you a clear path tossing that stress out the window!

So, if you're ready to have a unique elopement experience that's actually focused on you, then let's friggin' do this!!


You know you want to elope,

and you know you want it to be meaningful and adventurous, but where do you start?!

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Courtney has a very warm and bubbly personality that shows through her work! She made my husband and I feel SO comfortable throughout the whole day.

We were very confused on how to start planning our adventure and she was there to answer a lot of our questions in the beginning and honestly with a very short time frame! We planned and got married in 6 weeks, because we knew we really wanted her there for our day and that is what she had available! It was a challenge well accepted for all three of us.

Our day was perfect. She captured our true essence of love and laughter and each photo shows it. There weren't very many set up photos unless we asked for them. She just gets you in the moment!

You can absolutely tell that Courtney loves what she does and wants your day to be perfect. She listens to you and really tries to understand you as a couple first and then uses that within her photography skills.

If you are looking for an adventure/elopement photographer I would highly suggest Courtney Lynn. We will be looking at and reliving our elopement forever thanks to her amazing photos. You won't be disappointed!

Amber & Ryan

Courtney was so helpful during the whole process! She helped put together a wonderful day!  She really wanted to make sure our wedding was just right for us. She made our elopement perfectly formulated for us, and I can't think of a more beautiful day!

One of our concerns going into an elopement was wanting to have pictures that let us remember the entire day. Courtney was there from start to finish and captured the whole day! Because of her outstanding work, we can share it with our loved ones, and they can experience the event almost as if they were there. We also really appreciated that she captured genuine moments between us instead of making it a photoshoot.

It felt like we were hanging out with a friend, and we think that helped us enjoy our day to the fullest.
If your dream wedding is an adventurous elopement day, I couldn't recommend Courtney more. She went above and beyond and was such a joy to work with throughout this whole experience.

She made us feel at ease and relaxed. Some wedding photographers are all about capturing posed moments that can be really awkward; that's NOT Courtney's style at all. Not only was she down to do whatever we wanted and go on little side adventures, but she made us feel comfortable.

She captured our true personalities and who we are as a couple! When looking at our gallery, our love for each other and our personalities can be seen in each image! She is extremely talented and did a phenomenal job of capturing the beauty of our wedding location. If you hire her, you will not regret it!

Sadye & Matthew

We are SO happy we decided to go with Courtney for our wedding photos! Originally we were supposed to elope in Italy, and she helped a TON with planning things like travel and what our day was going to look like.

Then the pandemic hit and we realized we probably weren't going to be able to go to Italy. So, we decided to change locations to Glacier!

She made it super easy and stress free, and helped plan what our new day in Glacier was going to look like!

Courtney was super easy to spend the entire day with, very friendly and fun to talk to! Even though our day didn't go exactly how we planned due to the weather, we all just went with the flow of it and it still turned out to be an amazing day!

If you're in doubt, just hire her!! You won't regret it one bit and you will get so many incredible photos to look back on your day!!

robbie & Aryton

When my now husband and I started planning our elopement, we were confused to the max. We didn’t know where to start or how to go about planning anything. We knew we wanted to get married in Ireland, but had too many options on exactly where. After doing some research of elopements, I was scrolling on Pinterest and came across some BEAUTIFUL photos taken by Courtney!

Courtney  made the process so easy! She is organized, professional, sweet, and so so funny!! Courtney does more than just photograph your day, she cares about you having the BEST day! She helped us plan EVERYTHING! Even down to the little details, like what type of shoes to wear! She helped us narrow down where, giving us her informative opinions on each of our options! She gave us cool ideas that we could incorporate into our special day. No idea was too big! When the day came, we had the absolute best time exploring and getting married! After we exchanged our vows, we went to celebrate at a local pub (Courtney’s idea ;) ). It was a blast!!

Our elopement was an absolute DREAM COME TRUE! I will never be able to thank Courtney enough for making it happen. So for anyone on the fence, swaying back and forth about whether or not work with Courtney on your big day, SWAY NO MORE! You’ve found your person!! My day couldn’t have been any better and my pictures are beautiful and capture the fun we had!!! I can’t wait to work with her again!

Taylor & andrew

"Planning for our day and the day itself would have been completely different without Courtney. We only knew that we wanted to share our vows in the Tuscan countryside and have beautiful photos, and Courtney planned the perfect agenda for that to happen.

She coordinated our timing around sunset, and not only were the photos breathtaking, but the actual evening was too. I remember looking out over the vineyards as the sun set, the view becoming more and more stunning by the minute. There were no moments that felt forced or posed, every shot was comfortable and fun and full of love.

Courtney is such a sweet, kind, fun person and we truly enjoyed spending the day with her. Courtney helped us to turn our dreams into reality, and we hardly had to do a thing. She allowed us to be in control of our day but gently took all of our wants and needs into consideration while making everything happen. Lastly, our pictures are just magical. Courtney is an incredibly talented photographer, and I feel so lucky that we were able to work with her. I would recommend her over and over again to anyone eloping."

Ellie & Zac

"Let. Me. Tell. You. It's not the technical aspects of photography that are the most difficult. It's the human aspect. Remembering that as a Photographer, you may be behind the lens but you are still a human, in front of other humans, in some of the most raw and intimate of moments.

Courtney balances both of these necessities (but rarities) with poise, great direction, and an overall kind calmness that just makes you breathe a sigh of relief. If you've come across Courtney's page and see what you like already, BOOK HER NOW. Don't spend another second looking for another Photographer that doesn't bring anywhere near the amazing light and spirit that this girl brings right here. Thank you again Courtney for allowing my husband and I to marry each other all over again! The images are stunning and I can't wait to blow them up and hang them in our home."

Shannon & Brandon

"Working with Courtney was an extremely easy experience, seamless, positive and obviously fun. My wife and I went on our honeymoon and wanted to surprise her with a surprise honeymoon adventure session.

Courtney worked with me to make that dream gift for my wife a reality. Meeting and posing for a photographer for the first time can be intimidating, but with Courtney it was anything but that.

Courtney is extremely positive and helpful and made us feel very comfortable in front of the camera. She played some of our favorite songs and before we knew we were just having fun and she was catching them every second. Perhaps the best part of our session was that Courtney knew all the characteristic and peaceful places of where we were, which made our photos even more extraordinary.

She kept the focus on my wife and me. When we shared our images with friends and relatives, everyone complimented on Courtney's aesthetics and the emotion she was able to capture. I can't thank Courtney enough for exceeding all our expectations with this photo shoot!!"

NINA & JASON

"Pick her -- she's the best! Courtney is amazing! Seriously! If you're thinking about eloping you should snatch her up to capture your day. She makes the entire experience fun and relaxed plus the pictures just blew us away. I will never forget our magical time in Venice and I'm obsessed with the gorgeous photos Courtney took of us. She's so so good!"

Jami & Tim

Courtney is not only a talented photographer, but she makes you feel so comfortable even though being in front of the camera can be nerve-wracking! She did such an amazing job with our day and if I had to pick my favorite photo it would take FOREVER, because I love so many! Definitely consider her if you want adventurous and beautiful photos coupled with an amazing experience!

walker & mac
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Don't take it from me,
Take it from my past couples!

You’re in the right place!

I’m here to guide you through EVERY. SINGLE. STEP.

Let’s toss that’s confusion out the window and focus on how you want to get married!

Let me relieve those feelings of being lost, save you time, tell the story of your day and let’s get started creating a day that you’ll never forget!

So, if you know you want to elope,
but feel unsure on where to start, 

contact me & let's get starting creating your dream elopement!

...and you want an amazing storyteller to document your day

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Let's freaking do this!!