The Hoh area receives between 120-150 inches of precipitation each year. The results of all of this moisture can be seen below. On the left one tree grows on the remains of a dead stump. In the center fungus grows on the side of a large tree. On the right moss, one of 90 species of epiphytes, can be seen clinging to the branches of a number of trees.
Epiphytic plants can absorb over a ton of water but do no harm to the tree they live on.
There are more of these plants here than in any other temperate rain forest on earth. The Olympic Mountains act as a rain shield, ringing the moisture out of the air flowing east across the park. The result is that area east of the mountains may receive only 18 inches of rain per year. Additional pictures of the Hoh Rain Forest are visible on another page. Hoh River Near the rain forest runs one of the park's major rivers, the Hoh.