Buckhorn Wilderness
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Buckhorn Wilderness is a
mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...
ous
wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...
on the northeastern
Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and th ...
in
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
,
USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. Named after Buckhorn Mountain (), the wilderness abuts the eastern boundary of
Olympic National Park Olympic National Park is a United States national park located in the State of Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest, and the forests of the drier ...
which includes nearby Mount Constance (), Inner Constance (), Warrior Peak (), and Mount Deception ().


History

In 1984, the
U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...
established five wilderness areas within the
Olympic National Forest Olympic National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in Washington, USA. With an area of , it nearly surrounds Olympic National Park and the Olympic Mountain range. Olympic National Forest contains parts of Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jeffer ...
: * Buckhorn Wilderness * Colonel Bob Wilderness * Mount Skokomish Wilderness * The Brothers Wilderness *
Wonder Mountain Wilderness Wonder Mountain Wilderness is a designated wilderness area encompassing Wonder Mountain in the Olympic National Forest on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington in the United States. The wilderness comprises bordering Olympic National Park and admi ...
Buckhorn Wilderness is the largest of the five, all of which sit on the eastern flank of the Olympic Wilderness within Olympic National Park. Buckhorn Wilderness is administered by the Hood Canal Ranger District of the Olympic National Forest.


Geography

The lowest
elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...
s of the Buckhorn Wilderness are found in the lower parts of the three principal
drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic condition ...
s: at the Big Quilcene River, at the
Dungeness River The Dungeness River is a long river located in the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington. It rises near Mount Constance in the Olympic Mountains within the Olympic National Park, flows through the Buckhorn Wilderness, passes by the ...
, and at
Townsend Creek Townsend Creek is a stream in Bourbon and Harrison counties, Kentucky, in the United States. It is a tributary of the South Fork Licking River. It was named for John Townsend, who settled near the creek in 1775. See also *List of rivers of Kent ...
. The highest point in the wilderness is at the summit of
Mount Fricaba Mount Fricaba is a double summit mountain located in the Olympic Mountains, in Jefferson County of Washington state. It is situated on the shared border of Olympic National Park with Buckhorn Wilderness, and is the highest point in that wilder ...
, which lies on the western boundary of the wilderness area, shared by Olympic National Park. The tallest peak entirely within the wilderness is Buckhorn Mountain at . A notable historical site in the Buckhorn Wilderness is the
Tubal Cain mine Tubal Cain Mine is an abandoned copper mine in the Buckhorn Wilderness, east of Olympic National Park in the US state of Washington. The main adit penetrates 450 meters into Mount Worthington. The mine is named after Tubal-Cain, a character ment ...
.


Ecology

The wilderness lies within the rain shadow of the
Olympic Range The Olympic Mountains are a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are not especially high – Mount Olympus is the highest at ; however, the easter ...
, resulting in a relatively drier
climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...
. Despite this, the lowland forests (below about 4,000 feet) are still dominated by stands of
old-growth An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological feature ...
western red cedar ''Thuja plicata'' is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to western North America. Its common name is western redcedar (western red cedar in the UK), and it is also called Pacific redcedar, giant arborvitae ...
,
western hemlock ''Tsuga heterophylla'', the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern Sonoma ...
, and Douglas fir, in addition to numerous understory organisms such as
devil's club Devil's club or devil's walking stick (''Oplopanax horridus'', Araliaceae; syn. ''Echinopanax horridus'', ''Fatsia horrida'') is a large understory shrub native to the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, but also disjunct on islands in Lak ...
,
salal ''Gaultheria shallon'' is an evergreen shrub in the heather family (Ericaceae), native to western North America. In English, it is known as salal, shallon, or (mainly in Britain) gaultheria. Description ''Gaultheria shallon'' is tall, spra ...
,
thimbleberry ''Rubus parviflorus'', commonly called thimbleberry, (also known as redcaps) is a species of ''Rubus'' native to northern temperate regions of North America. The plant has large hairy leaves and no thorns. It bears edible red fruit similar in ...
,
fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...
, and mosses. Above about , alpine vegetation prevails where conditions are not too dry. Some slopes, such as the south side of Buckhorn Mountain, are rather arid above
tree line The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snow ...
due to fast-draining
soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debri ...
s, sunny exposure, and low precipitation in the summer months.


Recreation

More than of trails provide access to the wilderness for backpacking, horseback riding, mountain climbing, hunting, hiking, camping, viewing wildlife, and fishing.


See also

*
List of U.S. Wilderness Areas The National Wilderness Preservation System includes 803 wilderness areas protecting of federal land . They are managed by four agencies: *United States National Park Service (NPS) *United States Forest Service (USFS) *United States Fish and Wild ...
*
List of old growth forests This is a list of existing old-growth (including "virgin") forests, or remnants of forest, of at least . ecoregion information from "Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World". (NB: The terms "old growth" and "virgin" may have various definitions and ...


References


External links


Buckhorn Wilderness
U.S. Forest Service
Buckhorn Wilderness
Wilderness.net (The University of Montana) {{Protected Areas of Washington Protected areas of Clallam County, Washington Protected areas of Jefferson County, Washington Wilderness areas of Washington (state) Olympic Mountains Olympic National Forest Protected areas established in 1984 1984 establishments in Washington (state)