• Olympic: Three Parks in One

    Olympic

    National Park Washington

There are park alerts in effect.
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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.

Fire Monitoring

Composite burn index plot on the Griff Fire

Composite burn index plot on the Griff Fire.

NPS photo

In order to see if vegetation resource objectives are being met by prescribed burns and wildland fires, Olympic National Park collects pre and post fire data at field plots. These plots involve counting and measuring trees, identifying understory vegetation, and calculating fuel loading on the forest floor. The NPS Fire Effects Monitoring Crew based at North Cascades National Park assists with the plots, as well as ONP employees. Fire effects on wildlife are also monitored by park biologists.

 
Griff Fire Effects

Griff Fire Effects

NPS Photo

For more information about fire effects monitoring, check out the following link:

--Fire Effects Monitoring Handbook

Did You Know?

marmot

Although related to other marmots and groundhogs of North America, the Olympic marmot is unique.  An endemic species, it is found only in the Olympic Mountains.  Visitors to the high country of Olympic National Park may be lucky enough to encounter a marmot sunning itself near its burrow.