Anglers can access the downstream end of this water from the Hartzell Creek ramp. This is the only area where you’ll likely encounter other fishermen. To fish upstream, you’ll have to park at a turnout and hike. Although the river isn’t far from the road, it’s incredibly easy to get turned around in the rain forest, especially since you usually spend as much time walking around fallen trees and side channels as you do moving in a straight line. There are also creeks too deep to wade, and places where the forest ends abruptly on bluffs above the river.

When fishing the Queets away from your car, always carry safety gear, including a compass and flashlight. The woods get quite dark early and late in the day and when it rains. It’s also a good idea to leave a note on your vehicle saying when you plan to return, and where you plan to fish.

The same tackle and lures work in this area as below Hartzell. But many of the anglers who hike into the Queets are flyfisherman. Spey rods have become increasingly popular, both for the ease with which they let an angler make 80-plus-foot casts and, perhaps more importantly, for their excellent line-handling qualities.

Whether you use a two-handed or traditional single-handed rod, most steelheaders now favor “multi-tip” lines. These lines have floating, intermediate and several densities of sinking tips. Type 3 to Type 6 and 200 to 400 grain tips are those most commonly used on the Queets. As with lures, flies featuring purple or black colors are more productive. Larger flies, some as long as 5 inches, are often most productive in the Queets’ colored water.

Call (360) 565-3131 for recorded updates on weather and road closures. Pinpoint them on a park map. A “walk in the park” might just be your road to great steelhead fishing.