Lake Chelan gets the crowds, but Olympic National Park hides a bigger claim to lake fame. Ozette Lake, on the park's remote coastal edge, is Washington's largest fully natural lake — nearly 7,500 acres, 20 miles of shoreline, and depths over 300 feet in a glacially carved basin. Better still, it sits just three miles from the Pacific Ocean, framed by temperate rainforest and wild coast in a combination few lakes anywhere can match.

Getting there takes commitment: you'll drive Hoko-Ozette Road off State Route 112 to the Ozette Ranger Station at the lake's northern end, where parking requires an Olympic National Park or America the Beautiful pass. From there, the lake's wilder corners are reached on foot or by paddle. Three islands — Tivoli, Garden and Baby — make rewarding targets for kayakers and canoeists.

The signature hike here is the Ozette Triangle, a 9.4-mile loop that stitches together the lake's northern shore, a stretch of Pacific coastline, and dense forest into one three-sided trek. Hardier hikers can tackle the Ericson's Bay Primitive Trail, an unmaintained 11-mile-plus route along the lake's northern and western shores.

Anglers get an April-to-October season with a catch: artificial lures and barbless single hooks only. The trade-off is a healthy population of around a dozen gamefish, including salmon, trout, steelhead, perch, bass and pikeminnow. Shore fishing works near the developed areas, or launch a boat at the campground or Swan Bay to reach open water.

Camping is simple but spectacular. Ozette Campground has just 15 sites on the northern shore, open year-round on a first-come, first-served basis for $20 a night. It's rougher than most Olympic campgrounds, but you're steps from the trail network and the water. If that's too rustic, Port Angeles — the park's main gateway town with more comfortable lodging — sits under two hours away.

One more reason to come: the lake's shores guard a remarkable human story. A 1970 storm exposed a buried Makah Tribal village near the lake, preserved for roughly 300 years and yielding around 55,000 artifacts — one of the best-preserved Native American archaeological sites in the country, with history at the site stretching back at least 2,000 years.

For travellers who want Olympic's famous scenery without Lake Crescent-level crowds, Ozette delivers rainforest, ocean, fishing and paddling in one quiet corner of the peninsula.

Thanks to Islands for the original reporting.