Recreation and Wildlife Return to Mt. St. Helens

A morning trek of Roosevelt elk along a well-tracked slope near Strawberry Mountain continues to surprise park visitors. Long-term outlook: a return to the forest’s pre-eruption state in 150 to 200 years.

Mindful of the volcano’s furor, the forest service’s initial efforts to open Mt. St. Helens to the public were only tentative. Facilities were minimal and early entrance was via newly paved or improved surface logging roads.

Since then, major roads have been upgraded to two-way paved routes that can accommodate recreational vehicles.

The planned 1992 reopening of Spirit Lake Highway to Coldwater Lake, and the proposed Johnston Ridge Observation Site--five miles north of the crater and feet from where U.S. Geological Service volcano watcher David Johnston, one of several deaths resulting from the volcano, perished--will mark the culmination of a long-term plan for maximizing visitor use of the park.

Already, the monument offers year-round recreation as it did in the past, with hiking, fishing, bird watching, spelunking, mountain climbing, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing and, of course, volcano watching.

Before the 1980 eruption, 15,000 climbers a year ascended the back of Mt. St. Helens. With the opening of the mountain to climbers in 1987, the mountain has once again become one of the most climbed peaks in the United States.

Ape Cave, longest lava tube in the continental United States, allows one to take a lantern and probe the underground mystery created by an eruption about 1,900 years ago. For photography and sketching, the park boasts prized vantages. Sites include Lahar, Bear Meadow, Windy Ridge and Strawberry Mountain. When complete, Johnston Ridge Observation Site will allow visitors to look into the crater.

Private helicopter and small plane tours, operating out of the surrounding towns of Cougar, Toutle and Randle, provide elevated looks at the crater, the mudflows and blast zone.

Over the years the trail system has continued to grow. Norway Pass offers one of the finest St. Helena views, overlooking Spirit Lake. Cedar Flats, Harmony Falls, Lewis River and Boundary trails unravel more of the story, pre- and post-eruption, with many other trails offering long distance, overnight hikes.

The nordic trail system south of the mountain, likewise, has expanded with the Swift Creek and June Lake trails and with Sasquatch and Toutle trail systems. Meadows offer beginners an open playground. Snowmobile routes travel to Marble Meadows or follow the lahar (debris flow) to the Plains of Abraham.

Although accommodations still lie outside the park in forest service lands, utility and private campgrounds or hotel/motel services are growing more frequent in surrounding communities.

Whatever one’s favorite pursuit, Mt. St. Helens is rising to the call.