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.
18-594: The Quimper Peninsula is a narrow peninsula forming the most northeastern extent of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state in the northwestern United States of America. The peninsula is named after the Peruvian -born Spanish explorer Manuel Quimper who, in command of Princess Royal , charted the north and south coasts of the Strait of Juan de Fuca during the summer of 1790. The Spanish had given
36-1025: 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, 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 ,
54-424: A convenient means of referring collectively to Port Townsend and the surrounding communities. When non-native explorers first arrived in the late 18th century, and the first non-native settlers in the mid-19th century, there were no permanent Native American settlements on the northern part of the peninsula as fresh water was obtainable only from streams at the southern end of the peninsula. The Chimakum lived along
72-460: Is now Washington state. On July 4, 1788, British explorer John Meares gave the mountain its present name. In 1890 an expedition, led by US Army officer Joseph P. O'Neil , reached the summit, of what is today presumed to have been the southern peak . On March 2, 1909, Mount Olympus National Monument was proclaimed by President Theodore Roosevelt . On June 28, 1938, it was designated a national park by President Franklin D. Roosevelt . In 1976
90-705: Is the tallest and most prominent mountain in the Olympic Mountains of the U.S. state of Washington . Located on the Olympic Peninsula , it is also a central feature of Olympic National Park . Mount Olympus is the highest summit of the Olympic Mountains; however, peaks such as Mount Constance and The Brothers , on the eastern margin of the range, are better known, being visible from the Seattle metropolitan area . With notable local relief, Mount Olympus ascends over 2,100 m (6,900 ft) from
108-722: The Duwamish used the name Sunh-a-do for the Olympian Mountains (or Coast Range in Costello 1895); besides its unclear origin, some references misuse this name for the Native American name of the mountain. Spanish explorer Juan Pérez named the mountain Cerro Nevado de Santa Rosalía ("Snowy Peak of Saint Rosalia ") in 1774. This is said to be the first time a European named a geographic feature in what
126-1128: 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 Mount Olympus (Washington) Mount Olympus , at 7,980 feet (2,430 m),
144-931: 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 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
162-509: The 293 m (961 ft) elevation confluence of the Hoh River with Glacier Creek in only 8.8 km (5.5 mi). Mount Olympus has 2,386 m (7,828 ft) of prominence , ranking 5th in the state of Washington. Due to heavy winter snowfalls, Mount Olympus supports large glaciers, despite its modest elevation and relatively low latitude. These glaciers include Blue , Hoh , Humes , Jeffers , Hubert , Black Glacier, and White ,
180-559: The Olympic National Park became an International Biosphere Reserve . In 1981 it was designated a World Heritage Site . In 1988 Congress designated 95% of the park as the Olympic Wilderness. The peak of Mount Olympus has a tundra climate (ET) with extremely heavy precipitation from October to April and heavy precipitation from May to September. A large part of this precipitation falls as snow. The west peak
198-524: The Quimper Peninsula is geographically the most isolated part of Jefferson County, Washington , it is the most economically developed and densely populated part of the county. Port Townsend , the county seat and only incorporated city in the county, is located at the end of the peninsula. The communities of Cape George , Port Hadlock , Irondale , and Chimacum are on the peninsula south of Port Townsend . The name "Quimper Peninsula" has become
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#1732771943834216-666: 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 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
234-533: The longest of which is the Hoh Glacier at 3.06 miles (4.93 km). The largest is Blue with a volume of 0.14 cubic miles (0.57 km ) and area of 2.05 square miles (5.31 km ). As with most temperate latitude glaciers, these have all been shrinking in area and volume, and shortening in recent decades. According to Edmond S. Meany (1923), Origin of Washington geographic names , citing Joseph A. Costello (1895), The Siwash, their life, legends and tales ,
252-426: The name Quimper to today's New Dungeness Bay , which George Vancouver had renamed New Dungeness. In 1838 Charles Wilkes gave the peninsula the name Dickerson, but the U.S. Coast Survey renamed it with Quimper's name. The Quimper Peninsula is defined by Discovery Bay to the west, the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the north, and Port Townsend Bay to the east. From the isthmus it extends approximately seven miles to
270-403: The north-northwest and then curves to the northeast for another four miles before terminating at Point Wilson . For most of its length the width is less than four miles. This peninsula forms the westernmost boundary of Admiralty Inlet . Its approximate geographic center is at coordinates 48°5′N 122°50′W / 48.083°N 122.833°W / 48.083; -122.833 . Although
288-458: 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 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
306-565: 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 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
324-662: The southeastern shore of the peninsula and members of the S'Klallam along the southwestern shore. Because of strong tidal currents in Admiralty Inlet , Native Americans traveling between the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound would often portage their canoes across the Quimper Peninsula by way of a prairie they called Kah Tai , that traversed the peninsula in present-day Port Townsend . 48°3′55″N 122°48′54″W / 48.06528°N 122.81500°W / 48.06528; -122.81500 Olympic Peninsula Clallam and Jefferson Counties, as well as
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