Hoh Rainforest , Olympic National Park, Pacific Northwest, United States

Hoh Rainforest is located on the Olympic Peninsula in the Pacific Northwest. It is located in western Washington state, and is one of the largest temperate rainforests in the U.S. Within Olympic National Park, the forest is protected from commercial exploitation. This includes 24 miles (39 km) of low elevation forest 394 to 2,493 feet (120 to 760 m) along the Hoh River. The Hoh River valley was formed thousands of years ago by glaciers. Between the park boundary and the Pacific Ocean, 48 km (30 mi) of river, much of the forest has been logged within the last century, although many pockets of forest remain. Hoh Rainforest is the wettest forest in the Contiguous United States, receiving over 150 inches of rain per year. Its a Oceanic climate.

The Hoh lies on the west side of Olympic National Park, about a two-hour drive from Port Angeles and under an hour from Forks. The Hoh Rain Forest is accessed by the Upper Hoh Road, off of Highway 101.

The Hoh Rain Forest, pronounced "Hoe", earns its name from the ever-flowing Hoh River that carves its way from Mount Olympus towards the Pacific Coast. However, where the name originates, is up for debate. The word "Hoh" undoubtedly comes from Native American languages; possibly the Quileute word "Ohalet" which means "fast moving water" or "snow water." Since the river itself forms from glacial runoff, that origin seems straightfoward. Other explanations state that the Quinault word "Qu," meaning "boundary," could be the root of the name as a river as massive as the Hoh certainly forms a formidable boundary across the landscape. A third consideration claims that the word "Hoh" translates to "man with quarreling wives." What the actual history behind the name is appears to be lost to time. 

Regardless of the name, there's no question as to the allure that draws visitors back to the rainforest year after year. Throughout the winter season, rain falls frequently in the Hoh Rain Forest, contributing to the yearly average of 140 inches (3.55 meters) of precipitation each year. The result is a lush, green canopy of both coniferous and deciduous species. Mosses and ferns that blanket the surfaces add another dimension to the enchantment of the rainforest.

The Hoh Rain Forest is located in the stretch of the Pacific Northwest rainforest which once spanned the Pacific coast from southeastern Alaska to the central coast of California. The Hoh is one of the finest remaining examples of temperate rainforest in the United States and is one of the park's most popular destinations.

The dominant species in the rainforest are Sitka  spruce (Picea sitchensis) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla); some grow to  tremendous size, reaching 95 meters (312 ft) in height and 7 m (23 ft) in diameter. Coast  Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii), western red cedar (Thuja plicata), bigleaf  maple (Acer macrophyllum), red alder (Alnus rubra), vine maple (Acer circinatum), and  black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) are also found throughout the forest.

Many unique mosses and lichens are also present in the rainforest, such as lettuce lichen (Lobaria oregana), which "requires the cool, moist conditions found under the canopy of old-growth forests" and is consumed by deer, elk, and other animals

Many native fauna also make the Hoh Rainforest their home, including the  Pacific tree frog (Pseudacris regilla), northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina), bobcat  (Lynx rufus), cougar (Puma concolor cougar), raccoon (Procyon lotor), Olympic black bear  (Ursus americanus altifrontalis), Roosevelt elk (Cervus canadensis roosevelti), and  black-tailed deer (Odocoileus columbianus).

The area is also home to the banana slug (Ariolimax columbianus), which has recently been threatened by the encroachment of a new species of slug, the black slug (Arion ater), an invasive species from Northern Europe. The Hoh Rainforest is home to a National Park Service ranger station, from which backcountry trails extend deeper into the national park.

Near the visitor center is the Hall of Mosses Trail, a short trail—0.8 miles (1.3 km)—which gives visitors a feel for the local ecosystem and views of maples draped with large growths of spikemoss. There is also the Spruce Nature Trail (1.2 miles (1.9 km)), which includes signs that identify various trailside trees and plants. Plucked straight from a storybook, the trail is filled with old trees—a mixture of temperate bigleaf maples and Sitka spruces—draped in green and brown mosses.  Along the main trail, there is an otherworldly 200-foot side path which leads to an enchanting grove of giant maple trees, cloaked in hanging moss. One visitor to the trail wrote that “the trees stand like green-robed figures of eld.”