Editing Olympic National Park (section)

===Temperate rainforest===
[[File:2000-09-23 GracieByDownedCyprus.jpg|thumb|Downed [[Thuja plicata|western redcedar]]]]
The western side of the park is mantled by [[temperate rainforest]]s, including the [[Hoh Rainforest]] and [[Quinault Rainforest]], which receive annual precipitation of over {{convert|12|ft|cm}}, making this perhaps the wettest area in the [[Contiguous United States|continental United States]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Olympic National Park |author-link=Olympic National Park |title=Weather Brochure |url=https://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/weather-brochure.htm |access-date=January 11, 2023 |publisher=National Park Service}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 28, 2018 |title=11 Things You Didn't Know About Olympic National Park |url=https://www.doi.gov/blog/11-things-you-didnt-know-about-olympic-national-park |work=Blog of the Interior |publisher=[[U.S. Department of the Interior]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603051613/https://doi.gov/blog/11-things-you-didnt-know-about-olympic-national-park |archive-date=June 3, 2023 |accessdate=January 11, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Wolford |first=Brooke |date=January 6, 2021 |title=Rainforest in Washington is the wettest in the continental US, officials say |work=[[The Olympian]] |publisher=McClatchy |url=https://www.theolympian.com/news/state/washington/article248326730.html}}</ref>

As opposed to [[tropical rainforests]] and most other temperate rainforest regions, the rainforests of the [[Pacific Northwest]] are dominated by [[coniferous]] trees, including [[Sitka Spruce]], [[Western Hemlock]], [[Coast Douglas-fir]] and [[Western redcedar]]. [[Moss]]es coat the bark of these trees and even drip down from their branches in green, moist tendrils.

Valleys on the eastern side of the park also have notable [[old-growth forest]], but the climate is notably drier. Sitka Spruce is absent, trees on average are somewhat smaller, and undergrowth is generally less dense and different in character. Immediately northeast of the park is a [[rainshadow]] area where annual precipitation averages about 17&nbsp;inches.