Last summer, I went on a trip to Olympic National Park. One highlight among many was a visit to the One Square Inch of Silence. Located in the Hoh Rain Forest, it is one of the quietest places in the US according to acoustic ecologist and field recordist Gordon Hempton (of Soundtracker fame). It is symbolically marked by a small red stone:

The website explains the project better than I ever could:

One Square Inch of Silence is very possibly the quietest place in the United States. It is an independent research project located in the Hoh Rain Forest of Olympic National Park, which is one of the most pristine, untouched, and ecologically diverse environments in the United States. If nothing is done to preserve and protect this quiet place from human noise intrusions, natural quiet may be non-existent in our world in the next 10 years. Silence is a part of our human nature, which can no longer be heard by most people. Close your eyes and listen for only a few seconds to the world you live in, and you will hear this lack of true quiet, of silence. Refrigerators, air conditioning systems, and airplanes are a few of the things that have become part of the ambient sound and prevent us from listening to the natural sounds of our environment. It is our birthright to listen, quietly and undisturbed, to the natural environment and take whatever meanings we may from it.

The “Silence” at One Square Inch is not a literal one; in fact, I was surprised by how present the environment around me sounded. Instead, Silence refers to how untouched by human noise the natural soundscape is. In my twenty minutes of quiet listening, I couldn’t hear a single manmade sound — no cars, no planes, no hikers. All I heard was wind, wood movements and the distant Hoh River. I went in the middle of the day, but if you’re a morning person you might want to make the trek early in the day when the soundscape is more alive. It’s just off of the Hoh River Trail (which is a pretty easy trail). The map on the One Square Inch website has more details on how to get there.

I couldn’t help making a recording as a memento…

The website also mentions a Jar of Quiet Thoughts where visitors can leave notes. Sadly, I couldn’t find it — it might not be there anymore.

If you’re interested in finding out more about Gordon Hempton and his efforts to preserve natural soundscapes, here are two amazing podcasts that interviewed him:

Tonebenders – Episode 16: Gordon Hempton
On Being – The Last Quiet Places: Silence and the Presence of Everything