If you're willing to search all the high and secret places of the park, you may discover more than 300 lakes. The forest is fantastically verdant and filled to abundance with wildlife, including the world's largest herd of Roosevelt elk. Black bears are everywhere. Mountain goats wander into camps. The nearby ocean and the sudden rise of the Olympic Mountains together create unpredictable weather conditions that tend toward the sodden.
Winter snows smother the high country.
Separate from the vast interior portion, the park includes 57 miles of beach, most of it grandly isolated, splendidly wild, and wracked by waves and storms. Almost 600 miles of trails lead into the interior of the park. Overuse threatens some of the park, and the easily accessible and popular Flapjack Lakes and Lake Constance require advance camping permits. Whenever you come, visit with care. You'll find that the delights of the Olympic Wilderness are never-ending.