The Hoh Rain Forest is renowned for its natural quiet; a spot deep in the valley has been promoted as one of the quietest places in the United States, with long intervals free of human-made noise. The dense, moss-laden forest absorbs sound, and the area's remoteness from roads and flight paths preserves an increasingly rare acoustic environment.
Roll your window down and just listen for a moment. Notice how quiet it is in here. The Hoh holds a spot researchers have called one of the quietest places in the country, a square inch of ground deep in this valley where you can go a long stretch without hearing a single human-made sound. No traffic, no planes, nothing but dripping water, birdsong, and the river. In a world that's gotten loud just about everywhere, a silence this complete has become its own kind of rare wonder. The forest swallows sound the way it swallows light.
Photo: Ron Clausen · CC BY-SA 4.0
