Highway 101 rejoins the coast at Ruby Beach, just south of the mouth of the Hoh River. A very popular trail leads down to beautiful sandy shoreline dotted with red pebbles (garnets, not rubies), with piles of driftwood and the flat top of Destruction Island several miles offshore. The island is capped by a 94-foot lighthouse.

The tiny, 400-acre Hoh Indian Reservation is a couple miles north of Ruby Beach at the mouth of the Hoh River. A three-mile road leads to the tribal center building (360/374-6582). Stop here to ask about locally made cedar bark baskets, but be ready to pay upward of $200. The village is a trashed, badly littered place, but the ocean views are impressive. On the north side of the river is the area called Oil City, accessible via a partly gravel 11-mile road off Highway 101.

South of Ruby Beach, the highway cruises along the bluff, with five more trails dropping to shoreline beaches, creatively named Beach 1, Beach 2, Beach 3, and so on. A massive western red cedar tree stands just off the highway near Beach 6.