• 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.

Roosevelt Elk

A male Roosevelt elk eats from a shrub in the rainforest

A Roosevelt bull takes a bite from a shrub in the Hoh Rain Forest.

Ken and Mary Campbell

Roosevelt Elk – Cervus elaphus roosevelti

Identification:
Olympic National Park is home to the largest unmanaged herd of Roosevelt elk in the Pacific Northwest. Named for President Theodore Roosevelt, they are the largest variety of elk in North America. Both males and females have dark brown heads and pale brown bodies. Males are larger than females, and identifiable by a set of antlers. Roosevelt elk are much larger than the black-tail deer that inhabit the same areas.

Habitat:
Elk are relatively versatile, and often occupy a range of habitats, from montane meadows and forests down to the lowland rain forests, where there is ample food. An excellent place to see elk is the Hoh Rain Forest. These non-migratory herds stay in the Hoh area throughout the year, banding together in herds of around 20 and consisting of females and their calves. Male elk, or bulls, can be seen singly or in pairs. September is a great time to hear them bugling, as it is mating season and the males compete for groups of females.

Diet:
Roosevelt elk feed mainly on ferns, shrubs, and lichens from the rain forest, as well as meadow grasses.

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  • Forest Ecosystems Forest Ecosystems

    Learn more about Olympic's forests. Read More

Did You Know?

Mt. Olympus in winter

That Mount Olympus receives over 200 inches of precipitation each year and most of that falls as snow? At 7,980 feet, Mount Olympus is the highest peak in Olympic National Park and has the third largest glacial system in the contiguous U.S.