Service Animals

By Disability

• Accessibility
• Physical / Mobility
• Deaf / Hearing Loss
• Blind / Low Vision

Olympic National Park welcomes all individuals with a disability! Explore the accessibility pages for relevant information categorized by disability type. Please contact us with any questions or for help planning your visit.

 

In October 2018, the National Park Service (NPS) issued a policy memorandum regarding the use of service animals by persons with disabilities in national parks. The revised policy aligns the NPS policy with the standards established by the Department of Justice and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Dogs classified as service animals are individually trained to perform a specific task that assists a person with a disability. Service dogs are legally permitted anywhere that visitors can go. They must be allowed wherever visitors are allowed.

Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability.

Emotional support, therapy, and companion animals are not service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), they have not been trained to provide a task directly related to a disability. Emotional support animals are considered to be a pet.

Service dogs-in-training are not service animals under ADA, but are considered pets. Pets must abide by the Individual Park Pet Regulations.

 

B.A.R.K.

As you explore the park, please follow the rules of B.A.R.K.!

Bag Your Pet's Poop

Service animal handlers are responsible for removing animal waste from all areas in the park including campgrounds, picnic areas, parking lots, roads, trails, and other developed areas. Every visitor center throughout the park has trash cans for disposing of animal waste; however, there are no plastic bags provided, so please remember to bring your own.

Always Wear a Leash

Service animals must be on a leash no longer than 6 feet in length at all times.

Respect Wildlife

Wildlife can be encountered anywhere in the park even near developed and busy areas, like the visitor center. Elk, bears, deer, and other animals deer could cause issues for service animals who may not be used to encountering wildlife. Birds of prey may also be a concern for particularly small service animals.

Know Where You Can Go

• It is not recommended to take any dogs, including service animals into tidal areas on onto tidal rocks. Sharp stones, barnacles, and mussles can easily cut their paws and become infected. These zones are incredibly delicate.
• Animals should not be left unattended. Summer heat poses a threat to pets left in vehicles.

Become a Bark Ranger

Well-behaved dogs are invited to bring their human companions and become official Olympic National Park Bark Rangers! Learn the rules of B.A.R.K., where and how to enjoy Olympic National Park with your pet, and earn your Bark Ranger Badge! To participate in the Bark Ranger Program, please visit the Kalaloch Ranger Station.

 

Safety

Terrain

Park trails are generally surfaced with compacted gravel or a mix of native soils and rocks - more detailed descriptions can be found on our mobility and physical accessibility page.

Tidepools

It is not recommended to take any dogs, including service animals into tidal areas on onto tidal rocks. Sharp stones, barnacles, and mussles can easily cut their paws and become infected. These zones are incredibly delicate.

Water

Drinking water is available year-round at:

• Olympic National Park Visitor Center
• Hurricane Ridge picnic areas
• Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center
• Heart O' the Hills Campground
• Hoh Campground
• Kalaloch Camgpround
• Mora Campground.

Drinking water is available during the summer season at:

• Fairholme Campground
• Log Cabin Campground
• Ozette Campground
• Sol Duc Campground
• Staircase Campground.

While there are many natural water sources (lakes, ponds, creeks, rivers, etc) throughout the park, be aware that water-born microorganisms that can cause illness like giardia lambia or cryptosporidium could be present.