OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — It’s spring in the lowlands and winter on the peaks — and entrance to all of it in the national park is free for nine days beginning Saturday.
Olympic National Park will waive entrance fees through Sunday, April 24, with special events kicking off National Park Week on Saturday.
While winter sports lovers can find more than 150 inches of snow at Hurricane Ridge, those more interested in the buds of spring can tour the Matt Albright Native Plant Center during Saturday’s Greenhouse Day.
Saturday also is Junior Ranger Day, when youngsters can learn more about the park at the visitor center at 3002 Mount Angeles Road.
Native plants
During Saturday’s “Little Dam Party” at the park’s greenhouse at Robin Hill Farm County Park, visitors can tour the greenhouse, the center for revegetating the Lake Mills and Lake Aldwell reservoirs after the two Elwha River dams come down.
Park botanists will explain plant propagation and revegetation efforts during free tours of the park’s greenhouse at the park between Port Angeles and Sequim.
The park and the nonprofit Friends of Olympic National Park will host the open house at the Matt Albright Native Plant Center from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Poetry, live music and refreshments also are planned.
Greenhouse tours will begin at 1 p.m.
At 1:15 p.m., award-winning poet Alice Derry will read a number of poems written for the Elwha Valley, in addition to other humorous and moving poems touching on her adventures and experiences outdoors.
Me, Myself & I, the one-man band and musical show by Mike Kampaus, will perform throughout the afternoon.
More than 400,000 native plants will be grown there prior to and during the removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams, which will begin in September.
Last year, park staff propagated more than 35,000 native plants at the native plant center for revegetation projects throughout the park.
Goals for 2011 are even bigger: More than 60,000 plants will be propagated, approximately 25,000 of which will be installed in the Elwha Valley this year.
To drive to the greenhouse, turn off U.S. Highway 101 onto Old Olympic Highway and turn left onto Vautier Road at the sign for the Robin Hill park.
Turn right on Pinnell Road. The native plant center will be on the left.
For more information, visit http://tinyurl.com/3rtp6qu.
Junior Ranger Day
National Junior Ranger Day will be celebrated from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the park visitor center in Port Angeles.
All activities are free. Children must be accompanied by adults.
Thirty-minute ranger-guided walks are planned at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Microscopes will be set up for in-depth views of insects and plants.
The Children’s Discovery Room will be open for play and exploration, and the park’s award-winning orientation film will be shown.
Olympic’s Junior Ranger program is a special year-round way for children and families to experience and enjoy the park.
Children complete Junior Ranger activity booklets, attend a ranger program and explore park nature trails to earn a Junior Ranger badge and certificate.
For more information on National Junior Ranger Day, phone 360-565-3146.
Take a hike
Those who just want to take a hike during the week have plenty of options.
The Hoh Rain Forest “is just coming alive” in mid-April, said Jon Preston, the park’s lead rain-forest interpreter.
Waterfalls are another attraction. A favorite about 30 minutes west of Port Angeles off U.S. Highway 101 is 90-foot-tall Marymere Falls, reached after a 0.9-mile trail from the Storm King Ranger Station on Lake Crescent.
If you drive south of Forks on U.S. Highway 101, the 30-mile loop drive around Lake Quinault could reveal elk feeding on vine maple buds or bears just waking from their winter hibernation.
At the coast, sightseers could spot whales.
Female gray whales with calves are starting to come up the coast on their migration this time of year.
Park Service officials hope waiving entrance fees will encourage people to visit Olympic and other national parks for the first time — or go to a park they’ve not visited before.
The National Park Service also has scheduled other fee-free days for this year.
They are June 21 (first day of summer), Sept. 24 (National Public Lands Day) and Nov. 11-13 (Veterans Day weekend).
