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East Fork Quinault River Trail and Enchanted Valley Overcrowding
Olympic National Park » East Fork Quinault River Trail and Enchanted Valley Overcrowding » Document List
Issue: In many of Olympic National Park's popular wilderness locations, overnight use is subject to an established limitation regarding the maximum number of daily permits issued. This is due to a variety of reasons to include, but not limited to, an area may be able to contain only a certain number of established camp areas based on the type of resources present; there may be sensitive natural or cultural resources within the area; or there may have been past damage to natural or cultural resources from overuse and quotas were issued to alleviate damage and allow these resources to recover naturally. The remaining park wilderness areas remain unrestricted, and some of these areas experience negative impacts to park resources, wilderness character, and visitor experience due to the frequent large number of permitted users.
These impacts include campsite overcrowding, trailhead congestion and limited parking, insufficient holding capacity for human waste in pit toilets, decreased opportunities for visitor solitude, and the expansion of current established, or the creation of new, camp areas by visitors. While bears are frequently in the Enchanted Valley area, to date there have been no issues with human-wildlife interactions and wildlife, in general, obtaining food rewards.
This project's primary focus is the loss of solitude along the East Fork Quinault River Trail and in the Enchanted Valley. Olympic National Park currently does not limit the number of overnight groups or people there, and the wilderness character, specifically opportunities for solitude, may be negatively impacted by the quantity of use that occurs.
Every person that uses the Daniel J. Evans Wilderness overnight is required to obtain a permit. Daily camper nights are tracked through the park's reservation system and indicates the total number of permitted users. Overnight use within the East Fork Quinault River Trail and in the Enchanted Valley has greatly increased in recent years. See table on page 2 of the MRA.
Daily camper nights for Enchanted Valley alone exceeded 300 people on one occasion in 2022, and twice in 2023. Camper nights in the valley, ranging between 100 and 299 people, occurred 31 times in 2022, and 34 times in 2023. This level of nightly use results in frequent overcrowding of campsites and a degradation of wilderness character. Parties are forced to camp close to, or within close sight of, numerous other campers. The crowding can be like that of a front-country campground. This contrasts wilderness values of:
• "generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable"
• "outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation"
Need: Although park management has been identifying many of these issues during the scoping process of a Wilderness Stewardship Plan, immediate changes may be necessary to reduce ongoing resource degradation and improve the wilderness experience in the East Fork Quinault River Trail and in the Enchanted Valley.
Preferred alternative (alternative 4 in the MRA): Establish limitations on the number of permits issued and overnight users.
This alternative would establish a limitation dependent upon the number of permits issued or overnight users within the East Fork Quinault River Trail and Enchanted Valley, whichever was first reached. Current ONP compendium limits party size in this area to no more than twelve individuals per permit. Overcrowding at these sites could occur if the maximum number of permits were issued with 12 people in each party.
There would be a maximum of 30 permits allowed and up to 208 overnight users per night, whichever number is reached first; however, each site is limited to the below:
o Pony Bridge = 3 permits or 18 overnight users
o Fire Creek = 2 permits or 12 overnight users
o O'Neil = 6 permits or 36 overnight users
o Pyrites = 7 permits or 42 overnight users
o Enchanted Valley = 12 permits or 100 overnight users
Reservations for the 2024 summer season open on April 15, 2024; the action would start this calendar year (2024) and could be piloted for up to 3 years, at which point it would be revisited and determined whether the number of permits needs to be adjusted.
Monitoring of the action would take place during regular and routine foot patrols of the East Fork Quinault River Trail and the Enchanted Valley. Wilderness camping occurs by park rangers and wilderness information assistants as a regular part of their job duties. Rangers patrol this area independently or as a pair, and typically for 1-2 nights each trip. Rangers do not patrol with stock, therefore there would be no overnight stock use with ranger patrol staff.
Christina Miller, Planning & Compliance Program Manager, 360-565-3008
These impacts include campsite overcrowding, trailhead congestion and limited parking, insufficient holding capacity for human waste in pit toilets, decreased opportunities for visitor solitude, and the expansion of current established, or the creation of new, camp areas by visitors. While bears are frequently in the Enchanted Valley area, to date there have been no issues with human-wildlife interactions and wildlife, in general, obtaining food rewards.
This project's primary focus is the loss of solitude along the East Fork Quinault River Trail and in the Enchanted Valley. Olympic National Park currently does not limit the number of overnight groups or people there, and the wilderness character, specifically opportunities for solitude, may be negatively impacted by the quantity of use that occurs.
Every person that uses the Daniel J. Evans Wilderness overnight is required to obtain a permit. Daily camper nights are tracked through the park's reservation system and indicates the total number of permitted users. Overnight use within the East Fork Quinault River Trail and in the Enchanted Valley has greatly increased in recent years. See table on page 2 of the MRA.
Daily camper nights for Enchanted Valley alone exceeded 300 people on one occasion in 2022, and twice in 2023. Camper nights in the valley, ranging between 100 and 299 people, occurred 31 times in 2022, and 34 times in 2023. This level of nightly use results in frequent overcrowding of campsites and a degradation of wilderness character. Parties are forced to camp close to, or within close sight of, numerous other campers. The crowding can be like that of a front-country campground. This contrasts wilderness values of:
• "generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable"
• "outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation"
Need: Although park management has been identifying many of these issues during the scoping process of a Wilderness Stewardship Plan, immediate changes may be necessary to reduce ongoing resource degradation and improve the wilderness experience in the East Fork Quinault River Trail and in the Enchanted Valley.
Preferred alternative (alternative 4 in the MRA): Establish limitations on the number of permits issued and overnight users.
This alternative would establish a limitation dependent upon the number of permits issued or overnight users within the East Fork Quinault River Trail and Enchanted Valley, whichever was first reached. Current ONP compendium limits party size in this area to no more than twelve individuals per permit. Overcrowding at these sites could occur if the maximum number of permits were issued with 12 people in each party.
There would be a maximum of 30 permits allowed and up to 208 overnight users per night, whichever number is reached first; however, each site is limited to the below:
o Pony Bridge = 3 permits or 18 overnight users
o Fire Creek = 2 permits or 12 overnight users
o O'Neil = 6 permits or 36 overnight users
o Pyrites = 7 permits or 42 overnight users
o Enchanted Valley = 12 permits or 100 overnight users
Reservations for the 2024 summer season open on April 15, 2024; the action would start this calendar year (2024) and could be piloted for up to 3 years, at which point it would be revisited and determined whether the number of permits needs to be adjusted.
Monitoring of the action would take place during regular and routine foot patrols of the East Fork Quinault River Trail and the Enchanted Valley. Wilderness camping occurs by park rangers and wilderness information assistants as a regular part of their job duties. Rangers patrol this area independently or as a pair, and typically for 1-2 nights each trip. Rangers do not patrol with stock, therefore there would be no overnight stock use with ranger patrol staff.
Contact Information
Scott Jacobs, Chief Ranger, 360-565-3110Christina Miller, Planning & Compliance Program Manager, 360-565-3008