The Sol Duc River (also spelled Soleduck) is a river in the U.S. state of Washington.About 78 miles (126 km) long, it flows west through the northwest part of the Olympic Peninsula, from the Olympic Mountains of Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest, then through the broad Sol Duc Valley.
Near the Pacific Ocean the Sol Duc River joins the Bogachiel River, forming the Quillayute River, which flows about 4 miles (6.4 km) to the Pacific Ocean at La Push.
Although the Quillayute River is short, its large tributary rivers—the Sol Duc, Bogachiel, Calawah, and Dickey Rivers—drain the largest watershed of the northern Olympic Peninsula, 629 square miles (1,630 km2).
The Sol Duc and the other tributaries of the Quillayute River support some of the healthiest stocks of wild winter steelhead in the Pacific Northwest, with as many as 19,000 steelhead returning to spawn in some years. There are also large runs of chinook and coho salmon. The lack of glaciers at stream headwaters keeps the consistency of river fish habitats. It is the only Quillayute tributary that supports spring chinook salmon. It contains sockeye salmon in June and July and so-called summer coho salmon in August and September. Coastal cutthroat trout also spawn in the Sol Duc River.
The Sol Duc River is one of the only rivers of the Olympic Peninsula that supports all five major species of salmon. The upper Sol Duc is a prime coho spawning stream.
