What I learned camping, hiking, and photographing Washington’s most famous Sitka spruce, and how the trip became my feature in CM Digital Artist Magazine.
By Tom Buscher
I drove west from Sequim with camping gear and cameras to photograph the Kalaloch Tree of Life, the Sitka spruce whose exposed roots stretch across an opening in the coastal bluff above Kalaloch Beach. I camped, hiked along the coast, and spent time at the tree. Then I researched its story and wrote “The Tree of Life,” a four-page feature with my photographs, published in the Fall 2025 issue of CM Digital Artist Magazine.
I had seen the familiar image of the tree suspended above the gap. Being there gave me a chance to look at more than that striking shape: the coast around it, and why the ground beneath it keeps disappearing. This post shares what I learned, including how to visit safely and how to photograph the tree well.
What is the Kalaloch Tree of Life?
The Tree of Life is a Sitka spruce on the bluff above Kalaloch Beach in Olympic National Park, just north of Kalaloch Lodge and near the Kalaloch Campground. The opening beneath it is sometimes called the Tree Root Cave. The tree’s roots span the gap, and a small stream runs through the opening toward the beach.
Kalaloch is one of the most visited areas of Olympic National Park. It sits on the southwest coast of the Olympic Peninsula and is reached directly from Highway 101.
Why the ground beneath the tree is disappearing
Visitors often describe the Tree of Life as a symbol of resilience. The tree has earned that. But the opening beneath it tells a second story, about change on this coastline.
The gap was not carved by the ocean alone. According to National Parks Traveler, a culvert built above the tree in the 1960s to supply the nearby campground sent runoff toward it, and later efforts to stabilize the bluffs added to the erosion around it.
In early January 2025, storm surge and runoff enlarged the cave, and the tree dropped about five feet. People had once been able to stand beneath the roots. Afterward, the base of the tree sat near the bottom of the cave, partly resting on logs the tides had pushed in. The park has said it will let nature take its course rather than prop the tree up.
The bluffs around the tree are moving too. Ian Miller, a coastal hazards specialist with Washington Sea Grant, told The Daily World that over a decade of his measurements, bluffs north of Kalaloch Creek retreated a few inches a year, while those south of the creek, closer to the lodge, retreated as much as 3.5 feet a year.
That is the part of the story the word “resilience” leaves out. The tree has held on. The ground beneath it has not.
Visiting the Tree of Life: what to know before you go
Check current conditions first. The tree has changed repeatedly, so don’t plan around anyone’s photographs, including mine. Call Olympic National Park at 360-565-3130 before you make the drive.
Check the tides. The National Park Service advises checking tides before hiking this coast, because some areas become impassable at high tide. Current tide charts are available at the Kalaloch Information Station.
Plan your camping early. Kalaloch Campground is open year-round with 175 sites and fills quickly in summer, so reserve as early as possible through Recreation.gov. South Beach, just to the south, has about 50 sites and is open from Memorial Day to late September.
Make a day of it. The Hoh Rain Forest is about a 45-minute drive north of Kalaloch, and Ruby Beach is nearby as well.
Give the tree space. Stay off the roots and the bluff edge. The ground there is already failing, and climbing adds to the problem.
How to photograph the Tree of Life
A familiar landmark raises a practical question for any photographer: how do you make an image that isn’t the one everyone already has?
My advice works at any famous location. First, make the photograph of the detail people came to see. Then step back and make one that shows where it is and what is happening around it. At Kalaloch, keeping the bluff and beach in the frame tells the fuller story of a tree on a changing coast.
My current photography kit includes a Canon EOS R6 Mark II, an RF 15-35mm f/2.8, and an RF 70-200mm f/2.8. The wide lens gives me room to show the tree within its surroundings, and the telephoto isolates root and bluff details from a respectful distance. These are my recommended starting points for a visit today, not the settings behind my magazine photographs:
Wide views of the tree and coastline: Start at f/8. That keeps both the nearby roots and the distant shoreline sharp. Focus about a third of the way into the scene, and watch the corners of the frame, where wide lenses stretch anything close.
Root and bluff details: Start between f/5.6 and f/8 with the telephoto. Use f/5.6 to isolate a single root against a softer background, and move toward f/8 when several layers need to be sharp.
Shutter speed and ISO: Set these by the light, the wind, and what you want the water to do. For sharp handheld frames, use 1/125 or faster on the wide lens and 1/250 or faster at 200mm. Freeze waves and spray at 1/500 or faster. For softened surf, use a tripod and a shutter speed between 1/4 second and 2 seconds, usually with a neutral density filter in daylight. Start at ISO 100 and raise it whenever you need a faster shutter speed. A sharp photograph at a higher ISO beats a blurred one at base ISO.
Protect your highlights. The opening beneath the tree is often much darker than the sky and surf behind it. Bright sky and white water lose detail permanently when overexposed, so turn on your camera’s highlight warning. When the contrast is too great for one frame, bracket several exposures from a tripod and blend them later.
Welcome the overcast. Soft, cloudy light is common on this coast, and it reveals the texture of roots and soil without harsh shadows.
Protect your gear. Use a lens hood in rain and spray, carry a microfiber cloth, and wipe your equipment down after each day on the beach. Salt spray dries into a haze that ruins sharpness.
Tree of Life, Kalaloch Beach. Available as a high-resolution digital download in the Cedar & Shore Studio shop.
From the coast to CM Digital Artist Magazine
After the trip, I reviewed my photographs and researched the tree and its changing setting. I wrote “The Tree of Life” and submitted it with my images to CM Digital Artist Magazine, an art and photography magazine focused on the Olympic Peninsula. The magazine published the four-page feature in its Fall 2025 issue.
The digital edition is free to read: Read “The Tree of Life” in CM Digital Artist Magazine, beginning on page 40.
A photograph of one moment
A photograph records how the Tree of Life stood at one moment. It cannot promise the same view will be there on the next visit. That is the best reason to go: not to collect the famous image, but to see a coastline in motion and photograph it honestly while you can.
All photographs © Tom Buscher / Cedar & Shore Studio.
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Learn More About the Tree of Life
You can read more about the Tree of Life in Washington State on Visit Olympic Peninsula or explore its location near Kalaloch Beach in Olympic National Park via NPS.gov.