How Crowded Is Olympic National Park in January?

January runs about 0.3× Olympic National Park's average month, which makes it a very quiet month here — roughly 3% of the park's yearly visitors come in January.

In a typical January the park sees about 88,000 recreation visits, based on National Park Service monthly counts from 1979 to 2025.

That makes January the 11th-busiest of the park's twelve months, sitting between the August peak (2.6×) and the December low (0.3×).

On our Best Time to Visit score January rates 41/100 ("Poor"), versus the top-rated May at 67/100 — best overall balance of crowds, weather and daylight.

Typical January weather, from 1991–2020 NOAA climate normals at the nearest station, averages a daytime high near 41°F and an overnight low around 33°F, with about 8.9" of precipitation.

That average of about 37°F is cool, so layers and a shorter daylight window matter.

Because June, July and August together draw about 50% of annual visitors, choosing January instead steps outside that summer crush — the single biggest lever on how crowded the park feels.

You'll have about 8.6 hours of daylight in January to explore — between the 8.2-hour midwinter low and the 15.8-hour summer high.

Park-wide, 2025 drew 3,584,187 recreation visits, down 3.6% from 3,717,267 in 2024.