Parc national Olympique (Olympic National Park)
Le parc national Olympique (en anglais : Olympic National Park) est un parc national américain situé à proximité de la ville de Seattle, dans l'État de Washington, dans le Nord-Ouest des États-Unis.
Couvrant une superficie de 3 733,8 km2, ce parc est célèbre pour ses forêts pluviales, ses paysages de montagne et ses zones côtières. Le parc, situé sur la péninsule Olympique, englobe une grande partie du massif des montagnes Olympiques. Le début de la formation de ces montagnes, causé par la collision de plaques tectoniques, ne date que d'une vingtaine de millions d'années. Le toponyme provient du mont Olympe, le point culminant de la région, dont le nom lui est donné en 1788 par le capitaine de la marine John Meares lors d'un voyage d'exploration.
L'occupation humaine de la région remonte à plus de 10 000 ans, lorsque des Paléoaméricains l'arpentaient pour chasser et pratiquer la cueillette. Au fil des siècles, ils améliorèrent leurs techniques pour finalement se spécialiser dans la pêche jusqu'à l'arrivée des premiers explorateurs d'origine européenne. Alors que les premiers colons commencent à s'installer dans la région vers le milieu du XIXe siècle, les tribus amérindiennes locales, à la suite de traités signés en 1855, sont placées dans des réserves.
Depuis sa création le 29 juin 1938, le National Park Service est chargé de la protection de ses richesses naturelles et culturelles, qui attirent chaque année plus de trois millions de visiteurs. En 1976, le parc obtient de l'UNESCO le titre de réserve de biosphère et en 1981 il est promu en tant que patrimoine mondial. Avec le proche Sanctuaire national marin de la côte olympique (Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary), il forme un vaste écosystème marin et terrestre où de nombreuses espèces animales et végétales peuvent jouir d'une protection renforcée.
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1
Géographie
- 1.1 Relief
- 1.2 Climat
- 1.3 Hydrographie
- 2 Géologie
- 3 Milieu naturel
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4
Histoire
- 4.1 Amérindiens
- 4.2 Européens
- 5 Gestion et administration
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6
Tourisme
- 6.1 Accessibilité
- 6.2 Infrastructures
- 6.3 Environs
- 6.4 Culture populaire
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7
Annexes
- 7.1 Bibliographie
- 7.2 Liens externes
- 7.3 Notes
- 7.4 Notes et références
Links
Images Gallery
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Logo du National Park Service.
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Panorama du littoral dans le parc national Olympique.
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Les montagnes Olympiques enneigées.
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Rivière Sol Duc.
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Membres de la tribu Makah procédant à la découpe d’une baleine (1910).
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Portrait de George Vancouver, un des nombreux explorateurs à être passé dans la région avant que ne commence la colonisation européenne.
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Randonnée et camping dans le parc.
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L'abri Canyon Creek.
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Comments
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This is our last family trip before kids go head back to school. This was a nice cool place to escape all the wildfire smoke and the hustle and bustle of city life. The Olympic National park is a rainforest full of giant green trees, packed with over 20 waterfalls, beautiful lakes, rivers, creeks, and so much more! We drove the entire peninsula. Here are a few photos from our trip through the park. See specific places for other photos.
3 days ago -
Olympic NP was amazing for my couple! They flew in all the way from New York and wanted to spend their elopement on the lake, in the forest and on the beach! We even hiked to a waterfall in between all things! Such a well-rounded park that is a short drive to everything. Lake Crescent was my absolute favorite and Ruby Beach was super magical for sunset with the sunlight shining through almost all of the rock formations!
4 weeks ago -
Olympic national park is a very large park with different scenery. You can easily spend a few hours driving every day to get to the popular spots. I'd recommend around 3 days at the park especially in the summer time when the weather is perfect. Our favorite spots were hurricane ridge on a clear day, rialto beach and hole in the wall tide pools, and crescent lake. Bring some warm clothing as the temperatures fluctuate greatly.
3 weeks ago -
Absolutely breathtaking. Quite a few people on the trails, just a heads up. Everything else was magical. Walking thru the large trees and becoming one with the forest is unreal. Definitely recommend to folks visiting the state or just people that want to try something new.
5 days ago -
What a beautiful park. The photos doesn't do justice to the experience u feel seeing the magnificent mountains with your eyes..Plan for atleast 2 days in the park..
a week ago -
This summer we did a cross-country trip where we had an opportunity to travel from Massachusetts all the way over to Washington and looped back. Throughout that trip we stopped at 11 National Parks and in both of my husband and my ranking of the final National Park tally Olympic National Park topped both our lists! It truly has a little bit of everything you might want to do to explore. Since we had spent a number of our visits up in the mountains right before this we decided to instead spend the vast majority of our days here over at some of the beautiful beaches like Ruby Beach as well as exploring the amazing rainforest hikes further inland. If we get an opportunity to come out this way again I can say that we would happily spend three days at least exploring Olympic National Park again!
2 weeks ago -
This has got to be the most amazing national park in the US. It is supposedly the wildest. The Hoh rainforest trail, in particular, is a must. It is strenuous as you proceed, but we'll worth it. There's just nothing like it in the US. The trees, the ferns, the creeks and might rivers, the mountains, the glaciers, the beaches, the wildlife! Look at pictures if you don't believe me :)
a day ago -
Always love coming up here. It's beautiful and great for the family. Be aware though that you'll have to do quite a bit of climbing over rocks and large driftwood trees.
a week ago