Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument is a

U.S. National Monument In the United States, a national monument is a protected area that can be created from any land owned or controlled by the federal government by proclamation of the President of the United States or an act of Congress. National monuments prot ...

that includes the area around Mount St. Helens in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. It was established on August 27, 1982, by U.S. President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

, following the 1980 eruption. The 110,000 acre (445 km²) National Volcanic Monument was set aside for research, recreation, and education. Inside the monument, the environment is left to respond naturally to the disturbance. It was the third national monument to be managed by the

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

. At dedication ceremonies on May 18, 1983, Max Peterson, head of the USFS, said, "we can take pride in having preserved the unique episode of natural history for future generations." Since then, many trails, viewpoints, information stations, campgrounds, and picnic areas have been established to accommodate the increasing number of visitors each year. Beginning in 1983, visitors have been able to drive to Windy Ridge, only northeast of the crater. Mountain climbing to the summit of the volcano has been allowed since 1986.

Mount St. Helens Visitor Center at Silver Lake

The Mount St. Helens Visitor Center at Silver Lake, about west of Mount St. Helens and five miles (8 km) east of

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

(outside the monument), opened in 1987 by then-

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

George H.W. Bush and has been operated by

Washington State Parks The Washington State Park System is a set of State park, state parks owned by the state government of Washington (state), Washington, United States, USA. They are managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. There are over 140 ...

since October 2007. Exhibits include the area's culture and history, and the natural history and geology of the volcano and the eruption, including the recovery of the area's vegetation and animal life. The Center includes a theater, a gift shop and outdoor trails. By the end of 1989, the center had hosted more than 1.5 million visitors. A small admission fee is charged. The center was formerly operated by the U.S. Forest Service.

Johnston Ridge Observatory

The Johnston Ridge Observatory is east of

Castle Rock, Washington Castle Rock is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington. Located between the Willapa Hills and the western base of Mount St. Helens, Castle Rock is at the heart of Washington timber country in the Pacific temperate rain forest. Castle Rock is part o ...

, at the end of Washington State Route 504, four miles from the mountain. Open daily mid-May through October, exhibits focus on the geologic history of the volcano, eyewitness accounts of the explosion, and the science of monitoring volcanic activity. Two movies and ranger-led programs are available every hour. A half-mile paved trail provides views of the

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or ...

dome,

crater Crater may refer to: Landforms * Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet * Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surf ...

pumice Pumice (), called pumicite in its powdered or dust form, is a volcanic rock that consists of highly vesicular rough-textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals. It is typically light-colored. Scoria is another vesicular v ...

plain, and landslide deposit, with access to hiking trails in the restricted area. The observatory is located near the site of

volcanologist A volcanologist, or volcano scientist, is a geologist who focuses on understanding the formation and eruptive activity of volcanoes. Volcanologists frequently visit volcanoes, sometimes active ones, to observe and monitor volcanic eruptions, col ...

David A. Johnston David Alexander Johnston (December 18, 1949 – May 18, 1980) was an American United States Geological Survey (USGS) volcanologist who was killed by the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in the U.S. state of Washington. A principal scientist on ...

's camp on the morning of May 18, 1980, and was opened in 1997 by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

Science and Learning Center at Coldwater

The Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center in the Coldwater Lake area opened in 1993, operated by the Forest Service, but closed in November 2007 by

George W. Bush due to a lack of funding. The center reopened as the Science and Learning Center at Coldwater in May 2013, operating as an educational facility and conference center in cooperation with the Mount St. Helens Institute. It was open to the public on weekends from 10am to 6pm. Many of the exhibits have been removed, but the gift shop, theatre, and some signage still exist. It appeared to be closed to the public throughout 2018 and 2019, though it was available for educational residential visits. The Winds of Change Trail #232, a short, barrier-free interpretive trail, departs from the Science and Learning Center.

South and east sides of Mount St. Helens

The southern and eastern sides of Mount St. Helens are accessible only by U.S. Forest Service roads. The main roads are: * Forest Route 25

U.S. Forest Service Road 25 – Monument entrance from

U.S. Route 12 U.S. Route 12 (US 12) is an east–west United States highway, running from Aberdeen, Washington, to Detroit, Michigan, for almost . The highway has mostly been superseded by Interstate 90 (I-90) and I-94, but unlike most U.S. routes that ...

to Road 90. * Forest Route 26

U.S. Forest Service Road 26 – Road 99 to Norway Pass to Road 25. * Forest Route 81

U.S. Forest Service Road 81 – SR 503/Road 90 to Merrill Lake, Kalama Horse Camp, and Climber's Bivouac. * Forest Route 83

U.S. Forest Service Road 83 – Road 90 to Ape Cave, Ape Canyon, Lava Canyon lahar, and Smith Creek. * Forest Route 90

U.S. Forest Service Road 90 – Monument entrance from State Route 503. * Forest Route 99

U.S. Forest Service Road 99 – Road 25 to Bear Meadows, Meta Lake and Miner's Car, and Windy Ridge.

Bear Meadows

Bear Meadows is an alpine meadow and viewpoint northeast of Mt. St. Helens. It is located on U.S. Forest Service Road 99. Gary Rosenquist camped here with friends on May 17–18, 1980. He started taking his famous eruption photographs from this location. The sequence of eruption photos provide a time-lapse view of the developing eruption. As the lateral blast developed, he and his friends abandoned their campsite fearing for their lives. He continued taking photos as they escaped in a car. The eruption's lateral blast narrowly missed the site as it was deflected by a ridge just west of the meadow. In an interview with

KIRO-TV KIRO-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Seattle, Washington, United States, affiliated with CBS and Telemundo. Owned by Cox Media Group, the station maintains studios on Third Avenue in the Belltown section of Downtown Seattle, and its ...

in 1990, a friend called that ridge "the line of death."

Windy Ridge

Windy Ridge is the closest view point accessible to the general public. Beginning in summer 1983, visitors have been able to drive to Windy Ridge, on U.S. Forest Service Road 99, only northeast of the crater. From this vantage point overlooking Spirit Lake, people see not only the evidence of a volcano's destruction, but also the remarkable, gradual (but faster than originally predicted) recovery of the land as revegetation proceeds and wildlife returns.

Ape Cave

Ape Cave is a

lava tube A lava tube, or pyroduct, is a natural conduit formed by flowing lava from a volcanic vent that moves beneath the hardened surface of a lava flow. If lava in the tube empties, it will leave a cave. Formation A lava tube is a type of lava ...

located in

Gifford Pinchot National Forest Gifford Pinchot National Forest is a National Forest located in southern Washington, managed by the United States Forest Service. With an area of 1.32 million acres (5300 km2), it extends 116 km along the western slopes of Cascade Ran ...

just to the south of Mount St. Helens in

state. Its passageway is the longest continuous lava tube in the continental United States and the third longest (in total mapped length) lava tube in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

at 2.5 miles (4,023 meters). Ape Cave is a popular hiking destination with beautiful views of the Mount St. Helens

lahar A lahar (, from jv, ꦮ꧀ꦭꦲꦂ) is a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley. Lahars are extr ...

region. Lava tubes are an unusual formation in this region, as volcanoes of the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

are mostly

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and peri ...

s and do not typically erupt with

pahoehoe Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or und ...

(fluid basalt). The cave was discovered circa 1951 by Lawrence Johnson, a logger, when he noticed a tree that "looked wrong." After investigating the tree, he discovered it tilted into a lava tube collapse. A few days later, Johnson brought the Reese family back to the cave, and Harry Reese was lowered to the floor and became the first person to explore the interior. Subsequent explorations were conducted by members of the Mount St. Helens Apes, a local

Boy Scout A Scout (in some countries a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, or Pathfinder) is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split ...

troop. Ape Cave Trail No. 239, which runs along the interior of the cave, is a

National Recreation Trail The National Trails System is a series of trails in the United States designated "to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources of the Nati ...

receiving 170,000 visitors each year.

References

External links

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
– official U.S. Forest Service site
Mount St. Helens Visitor Center at Silver Lake
– official Washington State Parks site

– Visit a Volcano, includes maps and volcano information
Travel information about Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument

Johnston Ridge Observatory
{{Authority control National Monuments in Washington (state) Mount St. Helens Gifford Pinchot National Forest Museums in Cowlitz County, Washington Natural history museums in Washington (state) Protected areas of Cowlitz County, Washington Protected areas of Lewis County, Washington Protected areas of Skamania County, Washington Protected areas established in 1982 1982 establishments in Washington (state) United States Forest Service National Monuments