Temperate rainforests, cool and wet rather than tropical, are globally rare, occurring on only a few mist-prone coastlines worldwide. The western Olympic valleys hold one of the finest examples. This scarcity makes the Hoh, Quinault, and neighboring valleys internationally significant, not merely large stretches of wet forest.
You're entering true rainforest country now, and it's worth knowing how rare that phrase really is. When people hear rainforest they picture the steamy tropics, but a temperate rainforest, cool and wet like this one, is a far scarcer thing on Earth. There are only a small handful of them left in the whole world, scattered along a few mist-soaked coastlines, and this is one of the finest. So this isn't just a big wet forest. It's a member of an exclusive club, and you're about to drive right into the heart of it.
Photo: Ron Clausen · CC BY-SA 4.0
