• 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 between Upper Lake Mills Trail to Altair Campground.

  • 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.

Gray Whale

Underwater photo of a gray whale

Gray whales can sometimes be seen off the coast of the peninsula or feeding at the mouths of certain rivers.

Gray Whale – Eschrichtius robustus

Identification:
Prior to protection measures in the last 60 years, gray whale population numbers were critically low due to over-harvesting. These large sea mammals usually measure between 50 and 60 feet from head to fin, and weigh over 30 tons. They are a mottled dark gray, a result of the barnacles, or parasites, that attach themselves and eventually fall off.

Habitat:
En route to summer feeding grounds in the Bering Sea and other northern waters, gray whales often navigate the coastal waters of the Olympic Peninsula. Some even enter the Strait of Juan de Fuca and stay to feed for days or weeks. They can be seen feeding off the coast in late spring and summer, or feeding on bottom sediments at the mouths of the Hoh and Quillayute rivers in the summer.

Diet:
Typically, gray whales feed by scooping up bottom sediments, and filtering out the crustaceans from the sand and other debris with their baleen. They are also known to feed among kelp beds along the coast.

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  • Wilderness Trail & Campsite Map Wilderness Trail & Campsite Map

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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.