Where the mountains meet the sea, Olympic National Park captures nearly every landscape imaginable within a single boundary. Located on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, the park spans over a million acres of rugged coastline, temperate rainforests, and glacier-capped peaks. Mist rolls in from the Pacific to blanket moss-draped trees, while alpine ridges rise above the clouds in shades of silver and blue. Each ecosystem feels like a world of its own! From the crashing waves of Rialto Beach to the quiet stillness of the Hoh Rain Forest and the sweeping views atop Hurricane Ridge. Olympic is a rare place where nature’s diversity and drama unfold side by side.
Olympic’s biodiversity is astonishing. Roosevelt elk wander through fern-filled valleys, tide pools along the coast reveal bursts of color from sea stars and anemones, and marmots whistle across the subalpine meadows. Hikers can travel from sandy shores to snowfields in a single day, crossing ecosystems that range from coastal dunes to icy peaks. The park’s rainforests receive up to 14 feet of rainfall each year, creating lush, emerald worlds where every surface drips with life. Olympic is both vast and intimate, an ever-changing tapestry of light, water, and wilderness.
Conservation lies at the heart of Olympic National Park’s purpose. The National Park Service and local tribal nations work together to restore salmon habitats, protect coastal ecosystems from erosion, and monitor the effects of climate change on glaciers and forests. Rewilding projects, such as the removal of obsolete dams on the Elwha River, have helped revive one of the Pacific Northwest’s great salmon runs. Visitors to Olympic are invited to experience its beauty with reverence, to listen to the rhythm of rain, waves, and wind, and to carry forward the responsibility of protecting this extraordinary corner of the world.
Our Experience
We had such an amazing time exploring this park. Jumping from the beaches, to the rainforest to the mountains was such a unique experience. One of the hikes we did entailed hiking through a jungle like forest while climbing walls using ropes! Also, very memorable and unique, when it came time to drive over to the Mt Olympus viewpoint, we were shocked to hear that the park had just left a lockdown after someone had entered with an assault rifle and intent to hurt someone! We never learned what actually happened, which was crazy! Lastly, we were fortunate enough to have an actual camp spot in the park as we met up with a co-worker who had a reserved spot in the Hoh forest! It was the first time a person from our “real life” got to see us on our journey! We made pasta, had wine & hiked a few miles into the glacier hike.