• Olympic: Three Parks in One

    Olympic

    National Park Washington

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  • Olympic Hot Springs Road Closed

    The Elwha Valley's Olympic Hot Springs Road is closed to public entry beyond the Altair Campground during removal of the Glines Canyon Dam. Olympic Hot Springs is not accessible from the Elwha.

  • Elwha River Closures

    Boating is prohibited on the Elwha River from Upper Lake Mills Trail downstream to the Highway 112 bridge, except for the stretch between Altair Campground and the Highway 101 bridge.

  • Changes to Visitor Services Due to Sequestration

    Due to mandatory, across the board budget cuts, some visitor services at Olympic National Park have changed. See the Plan Your Visit section for more information.

Alpine

Bright pinkish red flowers in gravel with rocky peak with snow patches in back

Red willow-herb brightens the rocky, glaciated terrain in upper Royal Basin.

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings...” John Muir

The lure of mountains persists, for good reason. Valleys and coast are far below, trees no longer block views, and jagged, snow-capped peaks rise to the sky. You’re in the alpine, a zone stretching from treeline to the highest peaks, where bright clumps of low-growing wildflowers decorate a backdrop of rock and snow.

Life on the Edge
Conditions in the alpine would be hard for humans to endure, yet the wildflowers and the wildlife that call this zone home are well-adapted. Wiry grasses, sedges and flowers are often arrayed in vertical stripes, due to freezing and thawing of thin mountain soils. Above, tiny ferns and flowers cling to rocky ledges, and on the highest peaks the only life form may be a bright orange blotch of crustose lichen. Wildflowers strategies include:

  • Hugging the ground to avoid the drying winds
  • Having small waxy or hairy leaves to conserve moisture
  • Having bulbs or tap roots to store energy over winter and fuel growth each spring
  • Being able to grow at cold temperatures and even while snow-covered
  • Forming their buds the year before

Where to See the Alpine Zone
Both the Obstruction Point Road at Hurricane Ridge and the Deer Park Road provide access to the alpine zone. (Both roads are gravel, steep and narrow; neither is suitable for RVs or trailers.)

Many of Olympic's wilderness trails also offer access to ridges and summits throughout the Olympics. Wherever you explore this lofty zone, look for the following wildlife and wildflowers.

 
Low-growing star-shaped blue flowers grow in rock crack

Piper's bellflower, a wildflower unique to the Olympic Mountains, often grows in cracks in rocks.

Alpine Wildlife
Golden eagle – Aquila chrysaetos
Gray-crowned rosy finch – Leucosticte tephrocotis
Horned lark – Eremophila alpestris
Olympic chipmunk – Tamias amoenus caurinus (unique to the Olympic Mountains)
Olympic marmot – Marmota olympus (unique to the Olympic Mountains)
Raven (seen at all elevations!) – Corvus corax

Alpine Wildflowers
Flett’s violet – Viola flettii (unique to the Olympic Mountains)
Piper’s bellflower – Campanula piperi (unique to the Olympic Mountains)
Scalloped onion – Allium crenulatum
Smooth douglasia – Douglasia laevigata
Spreading phlox – Phlox diffusa

Did You Know?

closeup of cow elk face

Olympic National Park protects the largest unmanaged herd of Roosevelt elk in the world. Olympic was almost named "Elk National Park" and was established in part to protect these stately animals.