Port Angeles tour company to welcome more hikers with new location

In Port Angeles, Washington, Olympic Hiking Co. is moving just one mile from its storefront at The Wharf to a new space at 720 Marine Dr., but the shift marks a major step forward for the local excursion company.

On Oct. 31, it will vacate the downtown location where it’s operated since 2021, and over the next two weeks, it will transfer the contents of its office – including the wall-size map of the Olympic Peninsula, mileage markers, equipment and benches – to what owner Tommy Farris is calling the new “OHC HQ.”

“We wanted to set down long-term roots,” Farris said.

Olympic Hiking Co. had just one employee when Farris founded the guided tour, backpacking and trailhead shuttle service company in 2016. It has since grown to 25 full-time, part-time and seasonal employees.

Farris estimated Olympic Hiking Co. will serve between 5,000 and 6,000 clients this year — more than double the number it did in 2021. In addition to being a commercially authorized tour operator in Olympic National Park, it now has authorization to provide tour services in the North Cascades and Mount Rainier national parks as well.

“It’s been baby steps every year,” Farris said. “We’ve been building steadily and carefully, with a sustainable model for growth. We’ve been doing really well with the volumes that we have, but we needed a bigger operational space.”

The company’s operations center at The Wharf gave it visibility, and it was easy to access for clients traveling to Port Angeles on the Black Ball Ferry Line and Clallam Transit’s Strait Shot service, the latter whom make up 40 per cent of the its half-day Olympic National Park tour.

However, it couldn’t accommodate the growing inventory of gear it has acquired as it expanded its offerings.

For its guided summer backpacking trips in the park, for example, Olympic Hiking Co. takes care of all meals and equipment, including backpacks, tents, sleeping bags, cooking utensils, stoves and fuel. In the winter, it provides snowshoes and trekking poles for excursions to Hurricane Ridge.

Its new space has plenty of room to clean and store all of it. Farris said he is looking forward to no longer having to tote equipment home, hose it off in his backyard, wait for it to dry and then return it to The Wharf.

“It’s extremely important to be able to keep up and maintain what we’ve been doing, and this building and location will allow us to do that,” Farris said. “This is also opportunity for us to expand what we do.”

Farris said he is working with a design consultant on the lobby space, where people will check in and can sit down, have a cup of coffee and grab a snack.

“We want them to feel like they have a welcoming experience and help get them situated before their hikes,” he said.

Operations manager Trevor Sly said the company will spend its annual two-month break, beginning in November, settling into the new location, arranging the space and getting oriented. The company’s winter schedule will be available by Nov. 1 at hikeolympic.com/hurricane-ridge-snowshoe-tour.

A ribbon-cutting at the new space is tentatively scheduled for April, although Farris said his focus is less on the date and more on what it will mean for Olympic Hiking Co.

“This will be the heart and soul of the operation,” Farris said. “It’s a place to call home.”

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