• 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.

Historic Anadromous Fish Runs in the Elwha

The Elwha River

After restoration of the Elwha River is complete, the pristine waters have the potential of supplying optimum habitat for the thousands of salmonids that return each year. 

Scott Church

Historical Range:
Before construction of the dams, native fish used the Elwha River and its diverse habitats for spawning. The inaccessibility created by the dams has seriously diminished all 10 native Elwha River anadromous fish runs, including all five types of Pacific salmon, as well as native char (bull trout and dolly varden), winter and summer-run steelhead, and sea-run cutthroat trout. In addition, sediment has been caught behind the dams, preventing gravel and debris from entering the lower 5 miles of the river, and thus rendering the available reaches practically unsuitable for the spawning of particular populations of native fish.

Historic Range Diagrams:
Bull trout
Chinook Salmon
Chum Salmon
Coho Salmon
Pink Salmon
Sockeye Salmon
Steelhead

Other Useful Links:
Map of the Elwha River Watershed
Potential Range after dam removal

 
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This webpage was made possible in part by a grant from Washington's National Park Fund.
  • The Salmon Life Cycle The Salmon Life Cycle

    Click here to learn more about the life cycle of Pacific salmon! Read More

Did You Know?

dam with water flowing

Removal of two dams on the Elwha River is the second largest ecosystem restoration project in the National Park System.