About Olympic Park Institute
Welcome to Olympic Park Institute
Olympic Park Institute courses are designed to provide quality programming, delicious meals (served at the Rosemary Inn) and modest, comfortable housing for our guests.
Facilities
While staying at Olympic Park Institute, you'll find that many program activities take place in the field. Meals, lectures and evening programs are conducted inside historic Rosemary Inn lodge. The lodge is also where free time may be spent reading by the fire, or sitting on the porch overlooking Lake Crescent.
Modern but modest cabins are available. Each cabin has four private rooms with individual thermostats, two sets of bunk beds per room (2 people per room). Several hooks on which to hang clothes and one dresser are provided for each person. A modern rest room with showers is located in a separate building about 40 feet from each cabin across a lighted walkway. Our campus host will provide a group orientation to the Olympic Park Institute programs and its campus after your arrival. The host is available to assist you throughout your stay.
In addition to Elderhostel programs, Olympic Park Institute offers field seminars for adults and residential programs for families and school students. Occasionally Elderhostel programs are scheduled concurrently with other programs on campus.
Meals
Delicious home prepared meals are served cafeteria style at Rosemary Inn, typically at 7:30am, noon and 6:00pm. Sack lunches are available to facilitate taking field trips off campus. If you like, we can provide a vegetarian alternative; please indicate this on your registration form. Elderhostelers are asked to participate in meal clean-up which involves wiping tables and sweeping the dining hall.
What to Bring
Please pack for your course using the CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT LIST provided in this packet.
Olympic Park Institute assumes no liability for loss or theft of personal belongings left while participants are in a program. We suggest you leave valuables at home or lock them in your vehicle.
Contact with the Outside World
- A pay phone is located at OPI outside the back door of Rosemary Inn.
- Limited coin-op laundry facilities available on site. Check with campus host.
- Nearest grocery, pharmaceutical supplies and services are located in Port Angeles, a 25 minute drive east.
- Phone messages may be left at 360-928-3720 (messages relayed at meal time) or via the Emergency Only phone at 360-808-0412 if dire emergency after hours.. Mail may be sent c/o Olympic Park Institute, 111 Barnes Point Rd, Port Angeles, WA, 98363.
For Your Information
We ask all guests who are staying at Rosemary to help by:
- Conserving water and electricity
- Using recycling containers: Paper, bimetal, aluminum and glass
- Observing "quiet hours" on campus 10:00pm-7:00am
- Bringing dishes to the dishracks after each meal
- Consuming food and beverages in the dining area of the Inn only
- Smoking in outside designated areas only
CABIN CHECK OUT TIME IS 9:00 a.m. Please leave belongings on your covered cabin porch or load into your personal vehicle so that our cleaning staff may prepare for the next group.
Olympic Park Institute operates on NationalPark Service property and, as such, abides by all park regulations. Those that pertain to our guests staying at Rosemary Inn include the following:
- Pets and camping on the grounds in an undesignated campsite are not permitted.
- Feeding wild animals is prohibited in National Parks (birds, deer, etc.)
- Picking and collecting any plants or plant parts, except edible berries and mushrooms, is also prohibited. Please help minimize impact on the landscape by walking on maintained trails.
We have Olympic Park Institute t-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs and postcards for sale. All proceeds support a scholarship fund that helps school children who are unable to afford full tuition to participate in our Residential Field Science Program.
About OPI
The Olympic Park Institute (OPI) is a private non-profit organization committed to promoting environmental literacy and stewardship. OPI offers a variety of environmental education programs using the spectacular setting of Olympic National Park as an outdoor classroom. Programs for adults and children are designed to stimulate an appreciation and connection to the natural world and to encourage our students to be good stewards of the environment.
Programs offered through OPI include: Residential Field Science programs for K-12 students, community-based Outreach initiatives, Elderhostel programs for those 55 years of age, Field Seminar programs for adults and families to take weekend and week long courses on a variety of natural and cultural topics and Conference facilities for retreat and meeting planners seeking modest, low-cost facilities in a beautiful setting.
The Olympic Park Institute is a campus of the Yosemite National Institutes, a nationally recognized environmental education organization serving the community since 1971. Over 25,000 adults and children participate annually at all three campuses including the Headlands Institute, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Sausalito, California; and the Yosemite Institute, Yosemite National Park, California. The Institute was incorporated in the state of Washington in 1987 and established its campus here at Rosemary Inn under a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service.
We hope your stay at Olympic Park Institute is a pleasurable and memorable one.
become INVOLVED
OPI news
Today's Weather- Apr. 24/08
Olympic Park Institute Sends 2000 Children to Olympic National Park thanks to Challenge Grant from Dept. of Interior - Mar. 31/08
Olympic Park Institute Chair Emeritus Joins Smithsonian - Feb. 25/08
Rowell Award with Annie Leibovitz and James Balog, April 16 - MORE NEWS & INFORMATION