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Olympic Ecosystems
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Olympic National
Park is located on the Olympic Peninsula in the northwestern
corner of Washington State. The park ranges from sea level to glaciated
peaks of nearly 8000 feet, encompassing over 3800 square kilometers
of the most pristine forest, mountain, and coastal ecosystems in
the Pacific Northwest. The steep elevation and climatic gradients
of the Peninsula set the stage for a rich assortment of natural
environments.
Temperate coniferous rainforests with massive Sitka
spruce dominate river valleys on the rain-soaked west side of the
park and dry subalpine fir parklands and alpine tundra occur in
the rainshadow of Mount Olympus on the northeastern side of the
park. The diversity of protected ecosystems found in Olympic National
Park provides an incomparable opportunity to study, monitor, and
understand terrestrial, aquatic, and coastal systems and ecological
processes representative of the Pacific Northwest.
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