On the Olympic Peninsula in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, there is a mountain range known as the Olympic Mountains. Although Mount Olympus, the tallest peak in the Pacific Coast Ranges, is not very high, the western slopes of the mountains are separated from the Pacific Ocean by the low-lying 12 to 22 mi wide Pacific Ocean coastal plain, while the eastern slopes rise out of Puget Sound from sea level. In the 48 contiguous states, the western slopes are the wettest region. Within the boundaries of Olympic National Park and nearby sections of the Olympic National Forest, the majority of the mountains are protected.
The mountains are dispersed throughout four counties in western Washington, in the United States: Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, and Mason. They are a component of the wider Pacific Border province, which is itself a segment of the larger Pacific Mountain System, from a physiographic perspective.
The Olympic Mountains are a collection of peaks with high sides, encircled by wooded foothills, and cut by deep valleys. Three of their sides are bordered by water, and the 12- to 22-mile wide coastal plain separates them from the Pacific. The range's basic shape is roughly horseshoe-shaped or round, and the drainage pattern is radial.
Rivers spread forth in all directions. The major watersheds are the Satsop, Wynoochee, Humptulips, Quinault, Queets, Hoh, Bogachiel, Sol Duc (flowing west into the Pacific Ocean, with the Satsop and Wynoochee passing through Grays Harbor at the mouth of the Chehalis River and the Humptulips passing through Grays Harbor), Lyre, Elwha, Dungeness (flowing north into the Strait of Juan de Fu (all flowing east into Hood Canal).
