Anyone who loves the outdoors but enjoys a little luxury has had this fantasy. You live inside a national park next to a vast, beautiful lake. You swim, kayak, and sleep to the sound of waves, but you have a proper kitchen, sparkling bathroom and pillow top beds instead of a camp stove and sleeping bags. At the end of the day you settle into a soaking tub on a deck overlooking the water. You breathe some of the cleanest air left in the United States while you beam at adorable twin fawns that come right up to the house. Then you realize that the little horrors are chowing down on the Japanese cherry tree lovingly planted next to the deck .....

Well, it's real, fawns and all. Lake Crescent Cottage is one of the last private houses inside Olympic National Park. It's a dazzling little place right on the water on the sunny side of Lake Crescent. The cottage has its own dock for swimming and kayaking, and you can walk or bike from the back door to the Spruce Railroad Trail.  It's the perfect base for exploring Hurricane Ridge, the Hoh Rainforest, Sol Duc Falls, Rialto Beach, Kalaloch, and Cape Alava, all of which are an easy drive away. Two delightful wineries, Harbinger and Camaraderie, are less then thirty minutes from the cottage door.

Filled with light and color, the cottage is simple, graceful, and filled with luxurious little touches. Window seats float above the water. The three bedrooms all have views of the lake; each has pillow top beds, high thread count sheets, light blocking shades, and good reading lamps. There are one and a half baths with huge fluffy towels. You will need them. Outside, on the side deck facing the lake, is a two person jetted tub along with a hot shower, and an enormous cedar deck directly in front of the lake has room for dining, entertaining, and sipping local wine. Even in July, the nights are cool, so there is a wood stove, for fun, not necessity, since the cottage is, of course, heated. The kitchen has stove, oven, microwave, refrigerator, coffeemaker, dishwasher, pots, pans, plates, and cutlery. There is a full laundry room in the basement.

The cottage is a ten minute stroll to Log Cabin Resort, operated by the Park, which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner in season, so you can take a break if you get tired of cooking. Log Cabin Resort also rents canoes and kayaks, and it has a small general store.

If you visit in the summer you'll see people, but you'll still feel secluded since the Park owns many of the small cluster of nearby houses. There are occasional motor boats, but jet skis are banned. If you come in the off season, you will have total privacy, except for the kingfishers, the ducks, and those pesky deer.

The Cottage is twenty minutes from Fairchild International Airport. thirty minutes from the Port Angeles Ferry. Bring your boat, your bike, and your kayak. We'll provide everything else.