Washington’s 1,923 black bear records cover nearly every forested corner of the state. Pierce, Clallam, and King counties lead, and 33 counties appear in all, but the named clusters tell the real story: Mount Rainier National Park with 306 records, the Daniel J. Evans Wilderness and Olympic National Park on the peninsula, and North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National Recreation Area, and the Alpine Lakes and Glacier Peak wilderness areas strung along the Cascade crest.
Bear country on both flanks of the Cascades
Black bears are creatures of cover, and Washington offers it in two forms. West of the crest they work the wet conifer forests of the Olympics and Cascades, feeding on sedges, berries, and carrion where streams and meadows break the canopy. East of the crest the record continues through Chelan and Okanogan counties into the drier pine and Douglas-fir forests of the east slope, a reminder that the species needs forest and food, not rain. Despite the numbers, most Washingtonians never see a bear. The animals hear or smell people long before they are seen and slip away.
Feeding hard while the season allows
Washington bears den through the cold months, and the record shows it: reports run near zero from November through March, climb sharply in April as bears emerge, and crest in June, when fresh green growth and the breeding season put bears on the move. Counts stay high through September as hyperphagia sets in and bears feed for much of the day to build the fat that carries them through winter.
Status in Washington
NatureServe ranks the American black bear S5, Secure, in Washington, and the species is native to the state. USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous here.
Full species profile
