Olympic National Park 75th Anniversary

Your Park, Your Heritage
Seventy-five years ago, on June 29, 1938, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the bill establishing Olympic National Park.

In establishing Olympic National Park, Congress defined the park's purpose as to:

"… preserve for the benefit, use and enjoyment of the people, the finest sample of primeval forests of Sitka spruce, western hemlock, Douglas fir, and western red cedar in the entire United States; to provide suitable winter range and permanent protection for the herds of native Roosevelt elk and other wildlife indigenous to the area; to conserve and render available to the people, for recreational use, this outstanding mountainous country, containing numerous glaciers and perpetual snow fields and a portion of the surrounding verdant forest together with a narrow string along the beautiful Washington coast."

We invite you to join us in celebrating the 75th anniversary of Olympic National Park in 2013.

 

Rugged mountains, temperate rain forests, and wild Pacific Coast - these three distinct ecosystems are all found within Olympic National Park.

 

Discover Your Park
The geographically isolated Olympic Peninsula boasts some of the greatest ecological variety in the contiguous United States. Olympic National Park protects 922,651 acres encompassing three distinctly different ecosystems - rugged glacier-capped mountains, more than 70 miles of wild Pacific coast, and magnificent stands of old-growth and temperate rain forest. This World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve is lauded the world over for its dramatic variety and beauty. Click here to discover your Olympic National Park.

 

The story of Olympic National Park is shared by many diverse cultures and people, including (L to R) Lower Elwha Klallam, European settlers, and World War II soldiers.  Local communities continue to be closely linked to the park in cluture, heritage, and tradition.

 

Discover Your Heritage
The land now protected within Olympic National Park first received federal protection in 1897 when President Grover Cleveland designated the Olympic Forest Reserve, but its history has much deeper roots.

The story of Olympic National Park's past, present, and future is one shared by many diverse cultures and people. It is a story that has deeply-rooted personal connections. Interwoven throughout the outstanding and diverse landscape of Olympic National Park is an array of cultural and historic sites that tell the human story of this park. Click here to discover the history of Olympic National Park.

"People have lived in and loved this spectacular place since time immemorial. Even as we celebrate the park's first 75 years, we realize that the National Park Service is still a newcomer to the area. This anniversary gives us a chance to reflect on the outstanding natural and cultural heritage protected within the park."

- Olympic National Park Superintendent Sarah Creachbaum