Glacial-carved Valleys   `

1995

As glacial ice squeezes into V-shaped river valleys from the upper mountains, the grinding rock-filled ice carves out the valley bottom. After the ice melts away, the valley appears U-shaped. At Olympic, you will find glacial-carved valleys such as the Hoh River Valley on the west side of the park. 

You may also notice that Lake Crescent on the north side of the park is U-shaped. Its valley was carved by the Cordilleran Ice sheet as it flowed out from Canada over 13,000 years ago.