Beginner
Many places in the world are loud. Cars, planes, and machines make a lot of noise. It is hard to find a quiet place.
A man named Gordon Hempton loves quiet. He records the sounds of nature. He lives in Washington State, in the United States.
In 2005, Hempton started a project called One Square Inch of Silence. He put a small red stone on a log in a forest. The forest is in Olympic National Park. Hempton said it may be the quietest place in the United States. You can walk to the stone. The walk takes about two hours.
Why such a small place? Hempton had an idea. A loud plane can bother people for many miles. So a quiet spot can help many miles, too. When a plane flew over the park, he asked the airline to stay away. Three airlines helped.
Loud airplanes are the biggest problem for quiet places. In 1984, Hempton found 21 quiet places in Washington State. Ten years later, only three were left.
The project ended in 2018. But Hempton still works to protect quiet. In 2019, he started a group called Quiet Parks International.
Vocabulary
- quiet — with very little sound
- noise — a loud or unpleasant sound
- forest — a large area with many trees
- stone — a small piece of rock
- log — a long piece of a tree that has fallen down
- project — a piece of work with a special goal
- airline — a company that flies planes with passengers
- protect — to keep something safe
Comprehension Check
Discussion Prompts
- What is the quietest place you know? How does it feel to be there?
- What sounds do you like in nature, such as rain, birds, or the ocean?
- Would you walk for two hours to find a quiet place?
Intermediate
Gordon Hempton is an acoustic ecologist, a person who records and studies the sounds of nature. He has recorded in the Australian Outback and the Amazon Rainforest, but his favorite place is close to home. It is Olympic National Park in Washington State, which he calls “the listener’s Yosemite.”
On Earth Day in 2005, Hempton started a project called One Square Inch of Silence in the Hoh Rainforest, inside the park. He placed a small red stone on a moss-covered log, 3.2 miles from the visitor center on the Hoh River Trail. The walk takes about two hours. Hempton called the spot “very possibly the quietest place in the United States.”
His idea was simple. A loud aircraft can disturb many square miles. So a single point of quiet, if it stays free of human noise, might protect a large area. Hempton says this worked. Between 2005 and 2018, when he noticed noise, he used internet flight-tracking data to find the aircraft and asked the airline to avoid the park. Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines all cooperated.
Hempton’s concern is serious. In 1984, he began to list quiet places and found 21 in Washington State. Ten years later, only three were left. He says jet aircraft are the biggest problem.
The project ended in 2018. In 2019, Hempton started Quiet Parks International, a nonprofit that gives certifications to quiet places around the world. He says parts of Olympic National Park still qualify as quiet. One of his favorite spots is Rialto Beach, where the surf, rattling pebbles, and driftwood logs make a natural concert.
Vocabulary
- acoustic ecologist — a scientist who studies the sounds of nature
- trail — a path for walking in nature
- disturb — to bother or interrupt
- aircraft — a plane or other machine that flies
- nonprofit — a group that works for a good cause instead of making money
- certification — an official paper that says something meets a standard
- qualify — to meet the rules needed for something
- surf — ocean waves that break on the shore
Comprehension Check
Discussion Prompts
- Do you think one tiny quiet spot can really protect a large area? Why or why not?
- How much noise is there where you live? How does it affect you?
- Should airlines change their flight paths to protect quiet places?
Advanced
Gordon Hempton has spent his career recording the natural world, from the Australian Outback to the Amazon Rainforest. Yet he calls the place closest to home, Olympic National Park in Washington State, “the listener’s Yosemite.” In 2005, he launched a private research project there that he named One Square Inch of Silence. Its marker is a single red stone resting on a moss-covered log in the Hoh Rainforest, 3.2 miles from the visitor center along the Hoh River Trail. Hempton described the spot as very possibly the quietest place in the United States.
The project rested on a deceptively simple premise. If one aircraft can intrude on many square miles, Hempton reasoned, then a single point kept free of noise might exert a comparably wide influence. He says that held true between 2005 and 2018. When a noise intrusion occurred, he traced the aircraft through internet flight-tracking data and asked the operator to avoid the park voluntarily. Alaska, American, and Hawaiian Airlines all cooperated.
The urgency is clear from his own research. When Hempton began to catalog quiet places in 1984, he found 21 in Washington State. A decade later, only three remained. Road traffic contributes, but he identifies jet aircraft as the biggest culprit. He has argued that Europe no longer has a single silent square inch.
The project ended in 2018, but Hempton’s work continues. In 2019, he launched Quiet Parks International, a nonprofit that certifies quiet places worldwide. Its stated mission is to save quiet for all life, not just in one place. Hempton still considers Olympic National Park exceptional. He calls it the most sonically diverse national park, with alpine glaciers, the largest contiguous coniferous forest in the country, and the longest stretch of uninterrupted wilderness coastline on the western United States. At Rialto Beach, he says, the surf and the Sitka spruce logs produce a concert with four seasons of sound.
Vocabulary
- premise — an idea that an argument or plan is based on
- intrusion — an unwelcome interruption
- voluntarily — by choice, without being forced
- catalog — to make a complete list of things
- culprit — the main cause of a problem
- certify — to officially confirm that something meets a standard
- contiguous — connected and sharing a border without a break
- diverse — made up of many different kinds
Comprehension Check
Discussion Prompts
- Hempton argues that one point of quiet can have a large “quiet impact.” Is protecting a tiny space an effective strategy? Why or why not?
- Light pollution already has “dark sky” protections. Should quiet get similar recognition?
- Noise rarely gets the same attention as air or water pollution. Why might that be?
Original story: “This national park is home to the quietest spot in the continental US: ‘Listen to a concert by the natural world'”, Good Good Good (September 29, 2026), by Kamrin Baker. Learn more at One Square Inch of Silence and Quiet Parks International.
Photo: A trail sign in the Hoh Rain Forest, by Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
