Camping, Fly Fishing, and Hiking: Building Community with Project Healing Waters

On Thursday, August 1st, 2024, the National Park Trust, in collaboration with the National Park Service and Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, hosted a fly fishing clinic and overnight camping experience at Olympic National Park on the Olympic Peninsula. This event blended fly fishing, hiking, camping, and connection for veterans from Project Healing Waters chapters in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. 

National Park Trust, funded by the NPS and in partnership with Project Healing Waters, aims to provide veterans and active-duty military personnel with access to fly fishing opportunities in national park sites nationwide.

At Olympic National Park, participants and volunteers were treated to fee-free camping at Klaloch Campground on the Olympic coast, where they spent three nights while fishing the surrounding streams and rivers. The day’s events began with a discussion of the history of the park and its water and fish management by Chief Fisheries Biologist Sam Brenkman and Outreach and Education Specialist Dean Butterworth. During the welcome and discussion, each veteran also received their veteran’s lifetime pass, granting them lifetime access to over 2,000 federal recreational sites, including all National Park Service locations.

After the morning welcome and fishing discussions, groups were split into skill levels and traveled to different streams and rivers in the park to learn to cast their fly rods or attempt to catch and release native fish species. The sunny weather and beautiful scenery provided ample opportunity for quiet reflection and peaceful fishing, and the group campsite Klaloch allowed for many friendships and connections to be made between participants. 

This event at Olympic National Park is the second of five outdoor recreation events planned for 2024 at national park sites nationwide. Other locations include Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River (PA), Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area (WY), Gulf Islands National Seashore (FL), and Great Smoky Mountains National Park (NC/TN). These events promise more opportunities for veterans to find solace and strength in the great outdoors.