Olympic National Park

Help your class connect Olympic National Park from mountain snow to salmon rivers and the Pacific coast

This virtual field trip helps a grades 6–12 class understand Olympic National Park as a connected system. Students follow water from mountain snow through temperate rain forests, glacial lakes, salmon rivers, and the Pacific coast while considering Indigenous homelands, public-land decisions, and ecological restoration.

The seven-stop route moves from Hurricane Ridge to the Hoh Rain Forest, Rialto Beach, Lake Crescent, Sol Duc Falls, the Quinault Rain Forest, and the Elwha River at Glines Canyon. Each place gives students concrete evidence for climate, decomposition, coastal change, glacial geology, watershed connections, salmon migration, dam removal, and recovery.

Designed for grades 6–12. Middle school classes can focus on visible landforms, habitats, and cause-and-effect relationships; high school classes can extend the discussion to linked systems, evidence limits, tribal stewardship, governance, and restoration tradeoffs.

At each stop, students explore a real place on the map, study gallery images and diagrams, listen to short audio, follow the transcript when they need support, and discuss a guiding question. Plan 45–65 minutes with map exploration, gallery comparison, supplemental experiences, and class discussion pauses.

Try the free preview of Stop 1 (Hurricane Ridge) to see the format with your students. When you are ready for the full trip, purchase the lesson to get an unlock code. After you unlock, you can share a student link for whole-class projection or 1:1 devices. The printable teacher guide, worksheets, and answer key come with the Shopify purchase—you receive them with your order, separate from the online trip.