The Calming, Healthful Joy of Visiting an Old-Growth Forest Near You

I almost miss the inconspicuous brown sign on the side of the North Cascades Highway, which passes through Washington state’s famous mountain range, and nearly drive right pastRockport State Park. When I pull into the lot on a clear spring Saturday, only two other cars are here.

But as I meet the first of the park’s colossal Douglas firs, their hulking, wrinkled trunks alive like enormous elephants, I realize that the only fleeting, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it apparition in this ancient forest is me. Here, among 670 preserved acres, all the organisms collaborate in harmony as they’ve done for countless generations. Saplings sprout from fallen logs, slugs meander across dying leaves, and spongy moss covers the earth, muffling my footsteps.