The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle , and contains Olympic National Park . It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean , the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca , and the east by Hood Canal . Cape Alava , the westernmost point in the contiguous United States , and Cape Flattery , the northwesternmost point, are on the peninsula. Comprising about 3,600 square miles (9,300 km ), the Olympic Peninsula contained many of the last unexplored places in the contiguous United States . It remained largely unmapped until Arthur Dodwell and Theodore Rixon mapped most of its topography and timber resources between 1898 and 1900.
12-765: The Copalis River is a stream on the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington . It originates in the foothills on the southwest side of the Olympic Mountains and empties into the Pacific Ocean . The name "Copalis" comes from the Quinault language term /k'ʷpíls/. The Copalises are a Native American group. Both the Chehalis people and Quinault Indian Nation claim the Copalis are
24-487: A population of kokanee sockeye salmon from Indian Creek and Lake Sutherland which, unable to access the Pacific Ocean , used the reservoir as their habitat during their adult lives. These salmon accessed the reservoir via Indian Creek and spawned in Lake Sutherland, just below Lake Crescent . The lake also contained bull trout , rainbow trout , and a population of introduced eastern brook trout . In 2012,
36-459: A small peninsula that serves as refuge for migratory birds. The bank of the Copalis is the site of a ghost forest . Olympic Peninsula Clallam and Jefferson Counties, as well as the northern parts of Grays Harbor and Mason Counties, are on the peninsula. The Kitsap Peninsula , bounded by the Hood Canal and Puget Sound, is an entirely separate peninsula and is not connected to
48-760: A subdivision of their tribe. The Copalis River originates in the southwestern portion of the Olympic Peninsula a few miles south of the Quinault Reservation and just north of the Humptulips River . It flows southwest for about 24 mi (39 km) to the Pacific Ocean, emptying into the ocean at Copalis Beach in Griffiths-Priday State Park . At its mouth, the river is bordered by the Copalis spit,
60-510: Is home to temperate rain forests , including the Hoh , Queets Rain Forest, and Quinault . Rain forest vegetation is concentrated primarily in the western part of the peninsula, as the interior mountains create a rain shadow effect in areas to the northeast, resulting in a much drier climate in those locales. Major salmon-bearing rivers on the Olympic Peninsula include, clockwise from the southwest,
72-633: The Elwha Ecosystem Restoration project removed the Elwha Dam and began to restore the fisheries of the river. Immediately after the draining of Lake Aldwell, revegetation crews began planting native vegetation to stabilize the slopes from erosion and speed up ecological restoration . It is expected that the fish populations that reside above the lake will return to their original anadromous lifestyle shortly thereafter. This Clallam County, Washington state location article
84-1023: The Humptulips , the Quinault , the Queets , the Quillayute , Bogachiel , the Sol Duc , the Lyre , the Elwha (see Elwha Ecosystem Restoration ), the Dungeness , the Dosewallips , the Hamma Hamma , the Skokomish , and the Wynoochee River . Natural lakes on the peninsula include Lake Crescent , Lake Ozette , Lake Sutherland , Lake Quinault , and Lake Pleasant . Two dammed rivers form
96-1081: The Olympic National Forest . Within the Olympic National Forest, there are five designated wilderness areas : The Brothers , Buckhorn , Colonel Bob , Mt. Skokomish , and Wonder Mountain . Just off the west coast is the Washington Islands Wilderness . The Olympic Peninsula is represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by Democrat Derek Kilmer . It is represented in the Washington State Legislature by Democratic state senator Kevin Van De Wege and Democratic state representatives Mike Chapman and Steve Tharinger . 47°47′54″N 123°37′05″W / 47.79833°N 123.61806°W / 47.79833; -123.61806 Lake Aldwell Lake Aldwell
108-554: The Olympic Peninsula, protect salmon streams under the Wild and Scenic River Act and provide a means for Olympic National Park to offer to buy land adjacent to the Park from willing sellers. Most of the peninsula has an oceanic climate , or Cfb under the Köppen climate classification . Most populated areas, however, have a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, or Csb . The Olympic Peninsula
120-556: The Olympic Peninsula. From Olympia , the state capital, U.S. Route 101 runs along the Olympic Peninsula's eastern, northern, and western shorelines. The Olympic mountain range sits in the center of the Olympic Peninsula. This range is the second largest in Washington State. Its highest peak is Mt. Olympus . A major effort called the Wild Olympics campaign is under way to protect additional wilderness areas on
132-614: The reservoirs of Lake Cushman and Wynoochee Lake ; two previous reservoirs, destroyed in the Elwha Ecosystem Restoration were Lake Aldwell (behind the former Elwha Dam ) and Lake Mills (behind the former Glines Canyon Dam ). The peninsula contains many state and national parks, including Anderson Lake , Bogachiel , Dosewallips , Fort Flagler , Fort Worden , Lake Cushman , Mystery Bay , Old Fort Townsend , Potlatch , Sequim Bay , Shine Tidelands , and Triton Cove state parks; Olympic National Park ; and
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#1732776593920144-539: Was a reservoir located about 4.9 miles (7.9 km) from the mouth of the Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington. The reservoir was created in 1913 behind the Elwha Dam , which was fully removed in 2012. The Elwha Dam blocked at least 70 miles (110 km) of fish habitat for Pacific Salmon and steelhead within Olympic National Park . Lake Aldwell was home to
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