Olympia National Park Bigleaf maple and alder prefer the wet edges of streams. One acre of this forest can grow some 6,000 pounds of moss, lichens, and epiphytes. Vanilla leaf, western trillium, salal, Oregon grape, and Pacific bleeding heart all provide flowers. Huckleberries, salmonberries, thimbleberries, and blackberries are tasty edibles that grow wherever they can get some sun. Those health indicators of old-growth forest, the northern spotted owl and the marbled murrelet, are found here.
Winter wrens scurry about on the forest floor.
And kinglets, varied thrushes, chickadees, finches, vireos, and other small birds are heard more often than seen. Large mammals include black-tailed deer, Roosevelt elk, black bear, cougar, bobcat, and mountain goats, though the latter are not native. Deer mice are everywhere. The Pacific salamander is a creature that can rattle, scream, or yell. Watch for a green flash that could be a tree frog.