Adult Education Programs
Recommended Reading List
We suggest the following resources for your interest.
Many titles are available at:
Olympic National Park Visitor Center
600 E. Park Ave.
Port Angeles, WA 98362
(360) 452-4501
General Reference
Cascade-Olympic Natural History, Daniel Mathews.
An excellent and comprehensive field guide, small enough to take on the trail but extensive in its coverage of regional natural and cultural history. Includes illustrations and color photos and written in an enjoyable and informative style. 625 pages.
Island of Rivers, Nancy Beres, Mitzi Chandler & Russell Dalton, editors.
An anthology celebrating 50 years of Olympic National Park. A collection of essays, memoirs, poems, and historical prose spanning nearly a century of perspectives on the land within Olympic National Park. Writings from such well known American conservation writers as William O. Douglas, Gifford Pinchot, James Wickersham, and E.B. Webster. Includes illustrations and photographs. 178 pages.
Olympic National Park: Where the Mountains Meet the Sea, Tim McNulty & Pat O'Hara.
An authoritative text and stunning collection of photographs in a large format book featuring some of the park's most notable natural wonders and scenic views. 72 pages.
Olympic, The Story Behind the Scenery, Henry Warren, Jr. Excellent book describing the park's geology, plants, animals, and history. Features 10 full color photographs. 64 pages.
Olympic National Park and the Olympic Peninsula, Robert Steelquist. An ideal traveler's companion, this tour guide contains accurate road maps and information on points of interest. Divided into three main sections for easy trip planning. Complete with historical photos and beautiful colored photographs. 72 pages.
Olympic National Park: A Natural History Guide, Tim McNulty. This is a comprehensive guide for the serious reader written by a nationally known local poet and writer. He weaves tales of personal experience of backpacking in the Olympic National Park with scientific explanations of geology, wildlife diversity, and much, much more! Includes color photographs. 258 Pages.
Pioneer and Native American History
The Land That Slept Late: The Olympic Mountains in Legend and History, Robert L. Wood. A comprehensive and well written history of the first recreational explorations of the mountains. With photos. 175 pages.
Prehistoric Life on the Olympic Peninsula, Eric O. Bergland & Jerry Marr. Written in an easily read and entertaining style, this book discusses the cultural history of the Olympic Peninsula from the early prehistoric era to the present. 88 pages.
Gods & Goblins: A Field Guide to Place Names of Olympic National Park, Smitty Parratt. Identifies over 700 place names in Olympic National Park with emphasis on significant human events in recorded history. Includes eighteen two-color foldout maps; 40 scenic and historical photos. 181 pages.
Haboo, Native Stories from Puget Sound. Translated and edited by Vil Hilbert. U W Press, 204 pages.
Wisdom of the Elders, Ruth Kirk. An illustrated presentation of Native American culture on the Northwest Coast. Cedar, Hillary Stewart. A look at NW Coast indigenous peoples through their multi-faceted relationship with the use of the cedar tree.
Exploring Washington's Past, Ruth Kirk and Cassandra Alexander. An illustrated book on Washington's human history.
Geology
Guide to Geology of Olympic National Park, Rowland Tabor. Covers more than 50 years of geologic exploration in the Olympic mountains. Gives basic course in geology and history information; composition of rocks and minerals. Includes two topographic maps outlining geologic points of interest. 144 pages.
Roadside Geology of Washington, David Art & D. Hyndman. Special emphasis on intriguing aspects of Washington State geology. Written for people who are not geologists. Maps and illustrations. 282 pages.
Geology of the Washington Coast, Weldon Rau. Two volumes from the Washington Department of Natural Resources describe the coastal geology in detail.
Plants and Animals
Northwest Trees, Stephen Arno. A guide for discovering and identifying the remarkable trees of the northwest. Outstanding illustrations. 161 pages.
Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia & Alaska, Pojar /MacKinnon. Includes 794 species of trees, shrubs, wildflowers, acquatic plants, grasses, ferns, mosses & lichens covering the coastal region from shoreline to alpine. 527pages.
Plants and Animals of the Pacific Northwest, Eugene Kozloff. Illustrated guide to natural history of Western Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Colored photos. 264 pages.
Wildflowers of the Olympics, Charles Stewart. Identifies 100 wildflowers, each with color photo and text. 60 pages.
Pacific Coast Tree Finder, Tom Watts. A pocket manual for identifying Pacific Coast trees. 59 pages.
The New Wild & Savory Mushroom, Margaret McKinney, David Stuntz and Joseph Ammirati. A general introduction to common fungi of the area accompanied by beautiful photographs.
Marine Birds and Mammals of Puget Sound, Tony Angel and Ken Balcomb. Striking illustrations and clear descriptions of local birds and mammals.
Marine Science
Audubon Society Nature Guide to the Pacific Coast, Bayard H. & Evelyn McConnaughey. Comprehensive field guide with color plates to the birds, plants, seashore creatures, fishes and whales of the Pacific Coast from Alaska to southern California. 633 pages.
The Intertidal Wilderness, Anne Wertheim. A photographic journey through rocky-shore tide pools produced by Sierra Club books. An authoritative book including a section on tide pool etiquette. 156 pages.
Olympic Seashore, Ruth Kirk. Comprehensive guide to the roads, trails, natural, and human history of the coast area of the Olympics. Includes detailed maps, tide pool life sketches, and 62 photographs. 79 pages.
Sea Life at the Ocean's Edge, Julia Corbett. A young person's guide to Pacific Northwest beaches. 24 pages.
Mountain in the Clouds, Bruce Brown. An ecological history of the wild Pacific salmon and its habitat, management and struggle to survive on the Olympic Peninsula.
Pacific Intertidal Life, Ron Russo and Pam Olhausen. A pocket guide to organisms of rocky reefs and tide pools of the Pacific coast. 59 pages.
Seashore Life of Pacific Northwest, Eugene Kozloff. Illustrated guide to the coastal natural history.
If you would like ideas for classroom curriculum resources, please call us at 360-928-3720.
You may also visit the Olympic National Park teaching resource web site.
Or, write to:
Washington Office of Environmental Education
17011 Meridian Ave N, Room 16
Seattle, WA 98133
