This is one of the most popular state parks in Washington thanks to the scenery. A day, or even a week here can be spent walking the miles of beach outside of town, searching for sea anemones in the shadow of Haystack Rock, or simply relaxing while waiting for an incredible pacific sunset.ĭeception Pass State Park, Whidbey Island, Washington This quaint little village on the Oregon coast offers one of the most popular beaches in the region. Here are some of the best beaches in the Pacific Northwest has to offer.Ĭannon Beach is more famous for Haystack Rock than it is for the US Navy cannon that washed ashore here in the mid-1800’s, after which the town is named. And while the unforgiving weather may dampen days spent at the beach for much of the year, the abundance of nature, monolithic shorelines, and sunshine that accompanies the summer months make the Pacific Northwest coast a beach experience like no other. The same is true of the Washington and Oregon coast. They include species endemic to the Olympic Mountains as well as species that are disjunct from other mountainous areas.The upper left corner of the country gets a bad rap because of all the rain, but for what the Pacific Northwest lacks in consistent sunshine, it makes up for with pristine wilderness, incredible seafood, and some of the most majestic scenery nature has to offer. The Olympic Mountains are rich in rare plant species due to their isolation, the number of unusual habitats, and the presence of steep environmental gradients. Other special habitats include coastal dunes, wetlands, riparian areas, and sphagnum bogs. Two of the largest estuaries on North America’s west coast are part of this ecoregion. High elevations in the Olympic Mountains have subalpine parkland and alpine habitats. Forests in the mountains are mostly dominated by Pacific silver fir and mountain or western hemlock.
In the coastal fog belt, Douglas-fir is rare and Sitka spruce becomes abundant. Lowland forests are dominated by western hemlock, Douglas-fir, and western redcedar. Plants & AnimalsĬoniferous forests dominate the vegetation of the ecoregion. Along the outer coast and adjacent valleys, fog and cool temperatures in the summer are important climatic factors. As a result of a rain shadow effect, the northeastern Olympic Mountains receive the lowest precipitation of equivalent elevations anywhere in western Washington. Snow pack and rain-on-snow zones cover a considerable area only in the Olympic Mountains. Most precipitation falls as rain from November through April.
High precipitation typifies the ecoregion, averaging 60 to 240 inches annually. The Willapa Hills are well-rounded highlands with old, well-weathered soils. Major estuaries and associated dunes are found on the southern coast.
The coastal plain is up to 20 miles wide on the Olympic Peninsula and mostly underlain by glacial till and outwash. Streams and rivers typically begin as deeply incised, steep gradient drainages that eventually feed large, low-gradient river systems on the coastal plain. Glaciated peaks in the Olympic Mountains rise to an elevation of nearly 8,000 feet above sea level. The Olympic Mountains, the ocean coast and coastal plain, and the Willapa Hills are the ecoregion’s dominant landforms in Washington.
As of 1991, about 5 percent of the Washington portion had been converted to agricultural or urban uses. Approximately 11 percent of Washington is within this ecoregion. The Pacific Northwest Coast ecoregion includes most of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, the coast mountain ranges extending down to central Oregon, and most of Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
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