Olympic National Park

Olympic National Park, ecologically diverse area occupying much of the Olympic Peninsula in northwestern Washington, U.S. Originally established as a national monument in 1909 and redesignated a national park in 1938, it preserves the Olympic Mountains and their magnificent forests and wildlife. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1981. In 1988 virtually the entire park was declared a wilderness area. It covers 1,442 square miles (3,735 square km), much of which is surrounded by Olympic National Forest. Although European explorers had visited the peninsula in the late 18th century, it was not until 1885 that the first expedition into the mountainous interior was made. The park’s headquarters are at Port Angeles on the north coast of the peninsula.

The park consists of two units: the main area in the mountains and a narrow strip of Pacific shoreline more than 60 miles (95 km) long along the west coast of the peninsula. Active glaciers are found on the highest peak, Mount Olympus (7,965 feet [2,428 metres]), and on others. In all, there are some 250 glaciers in the park, although most are small and localized. The ocean shore section contains scenic beaches, islets, and points; three Indian reservations (of the Makah, Quileute, and Hoh tribes) lie within it.

The mountains’ western slopes receive heavy precipitation and support an old-growth (virgin) temperate rainforest (notably the section centred on the Hoh River)—the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere—in which conifers, most notably Sitka spruce and western hemlock, reach enormous size. The forest floor is densely carpeted with mosses, lichens, and ferns, while a variety of epiphytes grow on the trees. Large yellow Pacific banana slugs (Ariolimax columbianus), 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) long, are frequently seen in the rainforest. The eastern slopes of the mountain massif, with less precipitation, are not as thickly forested as in the west and feature lakes and meadows. Firs are the typical tree species there, and in summer the subalpine meadows are covered with colourful wildflowers, including the endemic Piper’s bellflower and Flett’s violet.

Wildlife in Olympic National Park includes numerous varieties of birds, as well as deer, black bears, cougars, the rare Roosevelt elk, and such endemic species as the Olympic marmot, Olympic yellow-pine chipmunk, and Olympic torrent salamander. Salmon and trout spawn in the rivers. Mountain goats, introduced in small numbers in the 1920s, numbered more than 1,000 a few decades later; they became increasingly destructive of area vegetation, and efforts began in the 1980s to control their population (it was down to a few hundred by the early 21st century). Offshore, pods of whales can be seen moving north in early spring and south in the fall.

Vehicular access to the park is largely limited to short roads leading to trail heads around its perimeter, from which hiking trails lead into the interior. The park has more than 600 miles (1,000 km) of hiking trails and several scenic drives. The three visitors’ centres—the main one at the park headquarters and others in the Hoh Rainforest and on Hurricane Ridge in the northern part of the park— contain exhibits on the natural history of the peninsula. The facility at Hurricane Ridge is located at the end of a spectacular drive from Port Angeles through the northern Olympic Mountains. The park also maintains two lodges, one on Crescent Lake in the northwestern part of the park and the other at Kalaloch at the south end of the coastal unit.