At 7,980 ft (2,432 m), Mount Olympus is the highest peak in the Olympic Mountains. Reaching this secluded mountain is not easy—you will need to hike 17 miles up the Hoh River valley in Olympic National Park to set foot on its flanks.
The mountain is located at the center of the Olympic Peninsula, known for being the MOUNT OLYMPUS rainiest region in the contiguous 48 states. Due to its prominence, Mount Olympus receives more precipitation than any other mountain on the peninsula—an estimated 261 inches annually (see the precipitation map and profile below)! N The precipitation falls not only as rain, but also as voluminous amounts of snow. Wild Heart of the Olympic Mountains This snowfall feeds several large glaciers on Mount Olympus, the most glaciated peak in the Olympic Mountains. Thousands of years ago, during past ice ages, these glaciers were much longer rivers of ice. The ice-age glaciers carved out the great rainforest valleys of the Olympic Peninsula. As the climate warmed over the last century, the glaciers of Mount Olympus and the Olympic Mountains retreated significantly to their current extent. Find the Blue Glacier on the map to compare its present-day extent to that of 1899.
Map data: base—USGS 10-meter digital elevation model (DEM) and 2017 National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) t r aerial photography, place names—US Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), trail data—© OpenStreetMap e r ier Bliz EAST MIDDLE b ie contributors, https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/, precipitation data—PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State s Glac z u c Hume P a a a r r PEAK PEAK H l University, http://prism.oregonstate.edu/normals/ created 10 July 2012, and US National Park Service, Blue Glacier ss d ie ac G E h Gl 1899 extent—National Park Service. G MOUNT Ho WEST PEAK 7,980 ft N MATHIAS Glac Map by Daniel E. Coe A ier MO P UNT ©2019 Washington Geological Survey, a Division of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources R a O MOUNT s L www.dnr.wa.gov/geology s YM TOM Y PU E S L MOUNT I er FERRY A SNOW ci la HOH B DOME G e r t PEAK Ic ie i e c h G R la la i W c ve G ie r e S r u o l u t B h F o r k H o h R i v e r
approximate STEPHEN 1899 extent PEAK
Dragon L I Lake A R T
R E V I R M o u n H t T O o m H C r e e k Elk Lake k e e r C C r arr i e ie a c Glacier G l MOUNT B A I L E FAIRCHILD MOUNT Y R A N G CARRIE E W AY T R O r A L ie I Y M P I C c L la d G Fairchil N CAT PEAK A T I O N A L
WASHINGTON P A R K inset map location H to Hoh Rain Forest o h R i v e r Olympic Peninsula HIGH H O H L A K E T R A I L A I L DIVIDE H O H R I V E R T R
direction of map view BOGACHIEL UC PARK Hoh D H I G H D I V I OL D E T R PEAK Lake Mount S A I L Olympus
map ~261 inches viewshed (~6,629 mm) annual precipitation Lake Sequim in inches S MOUNT Haigs Number 8 260 N st ~17 inches OLYMPUS I ore P Lake f (~432 mm) 240 A ain a No Name Queets r Mount r T ai 220 c N Olympus n S Y Lake Lake i U ~105 inches s 200 f O E ~261 inches h i M a c C (~6,629 mm) OLYMPI (~2,667 mm) d 180 V r o O a in w 160
c E f PROFILE LINE e Morgenroth r o 140 N ain r a s e Lake OLYMPIC PENINSULA h Queets s 120 n ad t o Sequim ~105 inches L PRECIPITATION PROFILE w 100 Long (~2,667 mm) A ~17 inches 80 Lake SEE CORRESPONDING LINE A K (~432 mm) OLYMPIC 60 PPL ON MAP AT RIGHT PENINSULA ETO E prevailing N PASS ANNUAL 40 TRAIL SO S L D wind direction PRECIPITATION UC 20 RI VE B R TR A AI to Sol Duc S Sol Duc L I N Lake