U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt originally created Mount Olympus National Monument in 1909[3]and after Congress voted to authorize a re-designation to National Park status, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the legislation June 29, 1938. In 1976, Olympic National Park became an International Biosphere Reserve, and in 1981 it was designated a World Heritage Site. In 1988, Congress designated 95 percent of the park as the Olympic Wilderness.[4][5]
Glaciated Mtns: Within the center of Olympic National Park rise the Olympic Mountains whose sides and ridgelines are topped with massive, ancientglaciers. The mountains themselves are products of accretionary wedge uplifting related to the Juan De Fuca Plate subduction zone. The geologic composition is a curious mélange of basaltic and oceanic sedimentary rock. The western half of the range is dominated by the peak of Mount Olympus, which rises to 7,965 feet (2,428 m). Mount Olympus receives a large amount of snow, and consequently has the greatest glaciation of any non-volcanic peak in the contiguous United States outside of the North Cascades. It has several glaciers, the largest of which is the Hoh Glacier, nearly five kilometers in length. Looking to the east, the range becomes much drier due to the rain shadow of the western mountains. Here, there are numerous high peaks and craggy ridges. The tallest summit of this area is Mount Deception, at 7,788 feet (2,374 m).
Distance: Loop is 18.2 miles
Elevation change: 3050 feet gain
Ecology: Because the park sits on an isolated peninsula, with a high mountain range dividing it from the land to the south, it developed manyendemic plant and animal species (like the Olympic Marmot and Piper's bellflower). The southwestern coastline of the Olympic Peninsula is also the northernmost non-glaciated region on the Pacific coast of North America, with the result that - aided by the distance from peaks to the coast at the Last Glacial Maximum being about twice what it is today - it served as a refuge from which plants colonized glaciated regions to the north.
It also provides habitat for many species (like the Roosevelt elk) that are native only to the Pacific Northwest coast. Because of this importance, scientists have declared it to be a biological reserve, and study its unique species to better understand how plants and animals evolve.
The park contains an estimated 366,000 acres (572 sq mi; 1,480 km2) of old-growth forests
When settlers began to appear, extractive industry in the Pacific Northwest was on the rise, particularly in regards to the harvesting of timber, which began heavily in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Public dissent against logging began to take hold in the 1920s, when people got their first glimpses of the clear-cut hillsides. This period saw an explosion of people's interest in the outdoors; with the growing use of the automobile, people took to touring previously remote places like the Olympic Peninsula.
illegal logging continued in the park, and political battles continue to this day over the incredibly valuable timber contained within its boundaries. Logging continues on the Olympic Peninsula, but not within the park. A book detailing the history of the fight for ONP's timber is Olympic Battleground: The Power Politics of Timber Preservation by Carsten Lien.
http://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/high-divide-loop.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_National_Park
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