The upper Sol Duc valley holds stands of old-growth forest dominated by Douglas-fir and western hemlock, some trees centuries old. Old-growth is defined less by tree size than by structural complexity: standing dead snags, large fallen logs, and multiple canopy layers that develop only over very long, undisturbed timespans.
Glance at the trees as you pass. The biggest, straightest ones, the Douglas-firs and western hemlocks, can be hundreds of years old, and this is old-growth forest, the real thing. It isn't just big trees. It's the dead ones too, the standing snags and the giants fallen across the forest floor, slowly rotting into nurseries for the next generation. A forest like this takes centuries to build itself, and you're driving through the finished work.
Photo: Niagara66 · CC BY-SA 4.0
