Hoh Rainforest

{{Short description|Temperate Rainforest in the Olympic Peninsula}}

File:BIG LEAF MAPLES HOH.jpg in the Hoh Rainforest]]

Hoh Rainforest is one of the largest temperate rainforests in the U.S., located on the Olympic Peninsula in western Washington state. It encompasses {{convert|24|sqmi|sqkm}} of low elevation forest along the Hoh River, ranging from {{convert|394|to|2493|ft|m}}.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} The rainforest receives an average of {{convert|140|in|cm}} of annual precipitation—among the rainiest places in the United States.{{cite web |title=Visiting the Hoh Rain Forest |url=https://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/visiting-the-hoh.htm |publisher=National Park Service |accessdate=November 27, 2024}}{{cite news |last=Mapes |first=Lynda V. |date=February 2, 2010 |title=Hoh Rain Forest revels in wet, 'wild ballet' |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/hoh-rain-forest-revels-in-wet-wild-ballet/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=November 27, 2024}} The Hoh River valley was formed thousands of years ago by glaciers and is the ancestral home of the Hoh people.

Within Olympic National Park, the forest is protected from commercial exploitation. Between the park boundary and the Pacific Ocean, {{convert|48|km|mi|abbr=on}} of river, much of the forest has been logged within the last century, although many pockets of forest remain.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} According to the National Park Service, in 2024 approximately 460,000 people visited the Hoh District, which includes the rainforest and its visitors center.

The protected portion of the forest includes the "One Square Inch of Silence", a {{convert|1|sqin|cm2|adj=mid}} monument to mark what it deems the "quietest place in the United States". It was placed in 2005 as part of a demonstration in favor of noise control.{{cite news |last=Patel |first=Samir S. |date=August 10, 2018 |title=Are You Listening? Hear What Uninterrupted Silence Sounds Like |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/08/10/633201540/are-you-listening-hear-what-uninterrupted-silence-sounds-like |work=All Things Considered |publisher=NPR |accessdate=November 27, 2024}}

History

On December 20, 2024, the Jefferson County government announced the closure of the Upper Hoh Road—the only vehicular access to the rainforest and visitors center—after flooding of the Hoh River had washed out portions of the road. The embankment separating the road from the Hoh River had been weakened by a major bomb cyclone a month earlier that eroded and saturated the soil.{{cite news |last=Uyehara |first=Kai |date=March 14, 2025 |title=Olympic's Hoh Rain Forest could reopen in May after state, private grants |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/olympics-hoh-rain-forest-could-reopen-in-may-after-state-private-grant/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=March 14, 2025}} Portions of the road that had been damaged or destroyed in previous winter storms and floods had been repaired and reopened using emergency federal funding, but the mass layoffs and disruption to federal services beginning in early 2025 led to an uncertain timeline.{{cite news |last=Hill |first=Sam |date=March 1, 2025 |title=Olympic National Park's Hoh Rain Forest needs federal funds to reopen. No one knows when it will. |url=https://www.sfgate.com/national-parks/article/olympic-hoh-rain-forest-closed-indefinitely-20192069.php |work=SFGate |accessdate=March 14, 2025}} Washington Governor Bob Ferguson announced in March 2025 that the state government would fund the majority of the estimated $650,000 in repairs to the Upper Hoh Road, with the remainder from more than 100 private donors. The state government's $623,000 portion was derived from an economic strategic reserve fund that includes unclaimed lottery prize money and requires a portion of the total cost to be covered by private contributions.{{cite news |last=Hill |first=Sam |date=March 13, 2025 |title=Prime national park attraction to reopen thanks to unclaimed lottery money |url=https://www.sfgate.com/national-parks/article/national-park-gateway-town-rescues-hoh-rain-forest-20218273.php |work=SFGate |accessdate=March 14, 2025}} The Upper Hoh Road was fully repaired by May 5 and reopened to traffic on May 8, restoring public access to the visitors center.{{cite news |last=Uyehara |first=Kai |date=May 5, 2025 |title=Olympic National Park's Hoh Rain Forest to reopen Thursday |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/life/outdoors/olympic-national-parks-hoh-rain-forest-to-reopen-thursday/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=May 16, 2025}}

Climate

Hoh Rainforest is the wettest forest in the Contiguous United States, receiving {{convert|129|in}} of rain per year.

It is an Oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfb), with a much higher rainfall during the winter.

{{Weather box

|location = Hoh Ranger Station, Olympic National Park, Washington

|single line = Y

| Jan record high F = 54

| Feb record high F = 62

| Mar record high F = 69

| Apr record high F = 86

| May record high F = 87

| Jun record high F = 93

| Jul record high F = 94

| Aug record high F = 93

| Sep record high F = 88

| Oct record high F = 71

| Nov record high F = 58

| Dec record high F = 53

|Jan high F = 40.8

|Feb high F = 44.3

|Mar high F = 47.1

|Apr high F = 54.8

|May high F = 61.1

|Jun high F = 63.9

|Jul high F = 71.6

|Aug high F = 71.5

|Sep high F = 66.6

|Oct high F = 55.2

|Nov high F = 46.3

|Dec high F = 40.2

|Jan low F = 33.5

|Feb low F = 33.0

|Mar low F = 34.0

|Apr low F = 37.1

|May low F = 42.6

|Jun low F = 47.4

|Jul low F = 50.7

|Aug low F = 51.2

|Sep low F = 47.4

|Oct low F = 41.2

|Nov low F = 36.0

|Dec low F = 32.7

| Jan record low F = 12

| Feb record low F = 20

| Mar record low F = 23

| Apr record low F = 28

| May record low F = 26

| Jun record low F = 31

| Jul record low F = 39

| Aug record low F = 38

| Sep record low F = 37

| Oct record low F = 27

| Nov record low F = 18

| Dec record low F = 17

|precipitation colour=green

|Jan precipitation inch =24.86

|Feb precipitation inch =11.70

|Mar precipitation inch =14.45

|Apr precipitation inch =10.27

|May precipitation inch =6.30

|Jun precipitation inch =3.72

|Jul precipitation inch =2.60

|Aug precipitation inch =3.67

|Sep precipitation inch =7.07

|Oct precipitation inch =10.12

|Nov precipitation inch =20.88

|Dec precipitation inch =14.27

|Jan snow inch = 7.7

|Feb snow inch = 7.6

|Mar snow inch = 2.7

|Apr snow inch = 0.7

|May snow inch = 0.0

|Jun snow inch = 0.0

|Jul snow inch = 0.0

|Aug snow inch = 0.0

|Sep snow inch = 0.0

|Oct snow inch = 0.0

|Nov snow inch = 2.3

|Dec snow inch = 6.5

|source 1 = {{cite web

|url=http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?wa3710

|title=HOH RS, WASHINGTON (453710)

|access-date=May 2, 2018

|publisher=Western Regional Climate Center

|archive-date=February 13, 2017

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170213134116/http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?wa3710

|url-status=live

}}

|date=June 2016

}}

{{climate chart

| Hoh Rainforest, Washington (U.S. State)

|0.8|4.9|631

|0.6|6.8|297

|1.1|8.4|367

|2.8|12.7|261

|5.9|16.2|147

|8.6|17.7|94

|10.4|22.0|57

|10.7|21.9|80

|8.6|19.2|162

|5.1|12.9|257

|2.2|7.9|530

|0.4|4.6|362

|float=right

|maxprecip=147

|clear = none

|source=[http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?wa3710]

}}

Flora

File:Sitkaspruce.jpg growing as an epiphyte on an older tree in the Hoh Rainforest]]

The dominant species in the rainforest are Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla); some grow to tremendous size, reaching over {{convert|300|ft|m}} in height and {{convert|23|ft|m|abbr=on}} in diameter.{{cite magazine |last=McCarty |first=Laura P. |date=May–June 1992 |title=America's Rainforests |pages=46–48 |url=https://npshistory.com/npca/magazine/may-jun-1992.pdf |magazine=National Parks |volume=66 |issue=5–6 |publisher=National Parks Conservation Association |issn=0276-8186 |oclc=1245780644 |accessdate=November 27, 2024}} Coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii), western red cedar (Thuja plicata), bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), red alder (Alnus rubra), vine maple (Acer circinatum), and black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) are also found throughout the forest.

Many unique mosses and lichens are also present in the rainforest, such as lettuce lichen (Lobaria oregana), which "requires the cool, moist conditions found under the canopy of old-growth forests" and is consumed by deer, elk, and other animals.{{cite book| author=Bolen, E.G.| year=1998|title=Ecology of North America|publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=0-471-13156-3 |pages=346}} Ferns like the Western Sword fern (Polystichum munitum) also grow in the rainforest.{{Cite journal |last1=Hamilton |first1=Kaela M. |last2=Woods |first2=Carrie L. |date=August 2024 |title=Diversity Begets Diversity: Structural Heterogeneity Determines Fine-Scale Epiphyte Community Structure in a Temperate Rainforest |journal=Diversity |language=en |volume=16 |issue=8 |pages=484 |doi=10.3390/d16080484 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2024Diver..16..484H |issn=1424-2818}}

Fauna

Much native fauna also makes the Hoh Rainforest their home, including the Pacific tree frog (Pseudacris regilla), northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina), bobcat (Lynx rufus), cougar (Puma concolor cougar), raccoon (Procyon lotor), Olympic black bear (Ursus americanus altifrontalis), Roosevelt elk (Cervus canadensis roosevelti), coyote (Canis latrans), Cascade red fox (Vulpes vulpes), and black-tailed deer (Odocoileus columbianus). Recently, naturalists have been planning on reintroducing fishers to the forest and surrounding forests due to their almost extirpated population in Washington and the introduced Virginia opossum is beginning to make way to the region in and around the forest.

The area is also home to the banana slug (Ariolimax columbianus), which has recently been threatened by the encroachment of a new species of slug, the black slug (Arion ater), an invasive species from Northern Europe.Cowie R. H., Dillon R. T., Robinson D. G. & Smith J. W. (2009). "Alien non-marine snails and slugs of priority quarantine importance in the United States: A preliminary risk assessment". American Malacological Bulletin 27: 113–132. [https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/36420/PDF PDF].

Trails

The Hoh Rainforest is home to a National Park Service ranger station, from which backcountry trails extend deeper into the national park.

Near the visitor center is the Hall of Mosses Trail, a short trail—{{convert|0.8|mi}}— which gives visitors a feel for the local ecosystem and views of maples draped with large growths of spikemoss. There is also the Spruce Nature Trail ({{convert|1.2| mi}}), which includes signs that identify various trailside trees and plants.

Gallery

: See also {{Commons category-inline|Hoh Rain Forest|Hoh Rainforest}}

File:Lettucelichen.jpg|Lobaria oregana on the forest floor

File:Hoh Rain Forest Entrance Sign.jpg|National Park Service sign at the entrance of the park

File:Hoh river in spring.jpg|The Hoh River that runs through the forest

File:ElkAtTheHoh.JPG|A herd of elk grazing at the forest

File:Banana slug in the Hoh Rainforest.jpg|A banana slug

File:NurseryTree.JPG|A nurse log providing nutrients for other growing trees

References

External links

[https://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/visiting-the-hoh.htm Visiting the Hoh Rain Forest] at the National Park Service
[https://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/temperate-rain-forest.htm Temperate Rain Forest] at the National Park Service
[http://www.hohrivertrust.org/ The Hoh River Trust] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161015151848/http://www.hohrivertrust.org/ |date=2016-10-15 }}, founded by the Wild Salmon Center and the Western Rivers Conservancy

Category:Geography of Washington (state)

Category:Natural history of Washington (state)

Category:Pacific temperate rainforests

Category:Forests of Washington (state)

Category:Olympic National Park

Category:Protected areas of Clallam County, Washington

Category:Protected areas of Jefferson County, Washington

Category:Washington (state) placenames of Native American origin