| Day Hikes Day hikes are a safe, easy way to gain the skills you will need to stay safe in the wild--all while learning about the natural and social history of the area. You will learn about the 10 Essentials, map and compass, trip planning, risk management, and staying found. Your Guide will lend you a kit with some of the Ten Essentials, and you will hike +/- 7 miles while learning about Olympic National Park. Trips do not leave every day, so Reserve Your Spot Today! |
Backpacking Backpacking sweeps the backpacker into the wild world of wilderness with all its grandeur and intensity. Backpackers can hike for almost as many days and almost as far as they want: for example, from Staircase in the southeast corner of the park to the Grand Valley in the northeast, from the Dosewallips in the east to Quinault in the west, or from Elwah in the north to Sol Duc in the west. Consider these routes for your ultimate wildnerness experience. Then Reserve Your Spot! |
| Leave No Trace (LNT) Trainings Leave No Trace is the national standard for outdoor recreation ethics from a conservation perspective. The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics has established two main basic trainings in LNT: Awareness Workshops and Trainer Courses. Awareness Workshops last only a couple hours and offer little or no outdoor training. Trainer Courses are an intensive overnight experience with some backpacking. Reserve Your Spot for the course that's right for you. |
Scouting Guide and owner Jason Bausher is an Eagle Scout, Vigil Honor recipient, and is Wood Badge-trained. He can advise your troop about 50-miler hikes, the Leave No Trace Awareness Award, and merit badges such as Hiking, Backpacking, Camping, and Climbing. Jason can also serve as a liaison with the National Park Service to organize work parties or service projects in Olympic National Park. PLUS: Grays Harbor Boy Scouts receive FREE TRAININGS! Reserve Time for Your Program. |
| Service Tourism on the Olympic Peninsula will only last if we work to conserve the resource by doing trailwork, raising money for political action, and by teaching wildness to the generation to whom we hand over the earth. Sign Up Today to do or give what you can for the preservation of our children's earth. Where are your talents? Clearing trails? Educating National Park visitors about Leave No Trace ethics and practices? Raising money from friends, family, and business associates? Leading Boy or Girl Scouts? YOU CAN HELP!!! |
Mountain Seminars Do the mountains, rivers, and glaciers of Olympic National Park merely form one big playground, or is wilderness essential to our Being as embodied Beings in the world? Jason Bausher works on questions such as this in his environmental philosophy, and he shares his research in mountain seminars. He received his master's degree in theology from Yale University and is finishing an M.A. while in a doctoral program in philosophy. Check out a few of the seminars. Don't see your burning "big questions" being asked on this list? Email Olympic Mountain School for a custom program. |
Handicap Accessibility
Olympic National Park is open to all visitors, and accessibility should be as little trouble as possible. Olympic Mountain School can guide those with limited access and assist in ensuring the most enjoyable experience. Three main options are available depending on a person's needs:
1. Vehicle Access. Your vehicle can bring you to many amazing locations in Olympic National Park. Hurricane Ridge, for example, offers views of the Olympic Mountains, sub-alpine flowers and shrubs, and paved trails. The river trailheads (for example, North Fork Quinault, East Fork Quinault, Dosewallips, Sol Duc, and Hoh) offer excellent access to the plant and animal life of the Park without even leaving your vehicle.
2. Flatter and Better-Maintained Trails. If steeper trails give you trouble, try a flatter and better-maintained trail. Trails alongside rivers are perfect for this, and many options are available for this: Sol Duc River, Hoh River, Bogachiel, Dosewallips (except for the washout!). Also try Obstruction Point along Lillian Ridge toward the Grand Valley.
2. Wheelchair-Accessible Trails. The Park maintains some paved or gravel trails accessible to wheelchairs:
- Hoh Mini-Loop Nature Trail (pavement)
- Rialto Beach (pavement)
- Salmon Cascades on the Sol Duc Hot Springs Road (gravel)
- Barnes Point Nature Trail on Lake Crescent (gravel)
- Marymere Falls on Lake Crescent (dirt and gravel)
- Madison Falls Trail in the Elwha Valley (pavement)
- Hurricane Hill (pavement and gravel)
- Hurricane Ridge Meadow (pavement)
A good reference book is "Accessible Trails in Washington's Backcountry: A Guide to 85 Outings" produced by the Washington Trails Association, edited by Dan Nelson, and published by The Mountaineers. This text lists 19 different options from Rialto Beach
Cost for guiding is $125 per day. Special vehicle rental is an additional charge.
