Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Cinedome Theater ( & 877/ERUPTION or 360/274-9844), which is located
at exit 49 off I-5 (tickets $6 adults, $5 seniors and children).
Continuing east from the visitor center, you'll come to the Hoffstadt Bluffs
Visitor Center ( & 360/274-7750; www.mt-st-helens.com) at milepost 27
(open daily 9am-8pm in summer; shorter hours other months), which has a
snack bar and is the takeoff site for 25-minute helicopter flights over Mount St.
Helens ($99 with a three-person minimum). A few miles farther, just past mile-
post 33, is the Forest Learning Center ( & 360/414-3439 ), open mid-May
through September daily 10am to 6pm (10am-5pm in early May and Oct).
This is primarily a promotional center for the timber industry but, in a theater
designed to resemble an ash-covered landscape, you can watch a short, fascinat-
ing video about the eruption. Outside either of these centers you can usually see
numerous elk on the floor of the Toutle River valley far below.
The Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center ( & 360/274-2114 ), which is at mile-
post 47 on Wash. 504, only 8 miles from the crater, is the second of the national
monument's official visitor centers. This center features interpretive displays on
the events leading up to the eruption and the subsequent slow regeneration of
life around the volcano. You'll also find a picnic area, interpretive trail, restau-
rant, and boat launch at Coldwater Lake. The visitor center is open daily from
10am to 6pm.
Of the many visitor centers, none offers a more awe-inspiring view than that
from the Johnston Ridge Observatory ( & 360/274-2140 ), 10 miles past the
Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center. Built into the mountainside and designed to
blend into the landscape, this observatory houses the equipment that is still used
to monitor activity within Mount St. Helens. The observatory is open between
early May and October or November daily from 10am to 6pm. If you're up for
a bit of hiking, the single best trail on this side of the monument is the Bound-
ary Ridge Trail, which heads east from the Johnston Ridge Observatory, with a
jaw-dropping view of the blast zone the entire way. This trail leads for many
miles across the monument, so you can hike as much or as little as you want.
There is a good turnaround point about a mile out from the observatory.
MOUNT ST. HELENS EAST
For a different perspective on the devastation wrought by Mount St. Helens's erup-
tion, drive around to the mountain's east side and take the road up to Windy
Ridge. Although it takes a couple of hours longer to get to this side of the moun-
tain, you will be rewarded by equally amazing views, better hiking opportunities,
and smaller crowds. To reach the east side of the mountain, take U.S. 12 east from
exit 68 off I-5. In Randle, head south on Forest Road 25. The Woods Creek
Information Station, on Forest Road 25 just before the junction with Route 26,
has information on this part of the monument. South of Woods Creek, watch for
Forest Road 99, the road to the Windy Ridge Viewpoint. This road crosses many
miles of blown-down trees that were felled by a single blast, a reminder of the
awesome power of nature. More than 2 decades after the eruption, life is slowly
returning to the devastated forest. At the Windy Ridge Viewpoint, visitors get
one of the best close-up views of the crater. A staircase of 439 stairs climbs 220 feet
up the hill above the parking area for even better views. Below Windy Ridge lies
Spirit Lake, once one of the most popular summer vacation spots in the Wash-
ington Cascades. Today the lake is desolate and lifeless. The 1-mile Harmony Trail
leads down to the shore of Spirit Lake and is a very worthwhile hike. Just keep in
mind that it is a 600-foot climb back up to the trail-head parking lot.
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