Until May 17, 1980, this was a symmetrical cone.
The next morning about 1,300 ft of it was gone.
Part of the flattened forest still floats on Spirit Lake.
Scroll –
the mountain loses its summit
Nowhere else in the United States does volcanism look this fresh: a horseshoe crater open to the north, a pumice plain where the forest is only now coming back, a lake still full of trees felled in 1980. The planning problem is not the volcano – on September 18, 2026 the Cascades Volcano Observatory again reported NORMAL / GREEN. It is a road: since a landslide in May 2023 you can no longer drive to the famous Johnston Ridge Observatory.
The Spirit Lake Memorial Highway (SR 504) is closed between mileposts 45.2 and 51 – continuously since June 10, 2024, after the South Coldwater landslide of May 14, 2023 buried the road and destroyed the Spirit Lake outlet bridge. The visitor center is closed.
The Science and Learning Center at Coldwater sits at milepost 43 of SR 504, about 3,100 ft (945 m) up, and is the last viewpoint on the west side. Exhibits on the 1980 lateral blast, the short “Winds of Change” trail, Coldwater Lake. The gate stands at milepost 45.2.
The closest view into the crater: about 3 miles (5 km) away, with Spirit Lake below. Access from Randle on Forest Roads 25 and 99, typically snow-free from late June to November. In 2026 trails in the FR 99 area are closed on weekdays and the restrooms are closed for rebuilding.
Any climb to the crater rim needs a climbing permit from Recreation.gov, year-round. During the quota season from April 1 to October 31 it costs $20 per person per day, plus a $6 booking fee. Descending into the crater is prohibited.
Photo: Dirtsc · CC BY-SA 4.0
The mountain has three sides, and they are not connected by any short road. Switching from west to east costs several hours. So you decide beforehand – and plan one day per side.
West side, from Castle Rock. An hour off I-5, about 43 miles (70 km) of highway up the valley of the Toutle River that the 1980 mudflow scoured out. At milepost 43 comes Coldwater with its exhibits, a short trail and a view over Coldwater Lake. Two miles further the gate stands. If you still want to reach Loowit Viewpoint and Johnston Ridge, the Forest Service says you can walk in from the Hummocks Trail over the Boundary Trail – a long day on foot with no services.
East side, from Randle. 19 miles on FR 25, then 16 miles on FR 99: a long, winding mountain road to Windy Ridge. From there you stand about 3 miles (5 km) from the crater, with Spirit Lake and its raft of 1980 logs below you. A stairway of 368 steps leads to the upper viewpoint.
South side, from Cougar. The side that is drivable year-round. Here you find Ape Cave – at roughly 2.5 miles (4 km) the third-longest lava tube in North America, a constant 42 °F (5.6 °C) – and Lava Canyon, a gorge the 1980 mudflow stripped bare. The summit route over Monitor Ridge also starts here.
Clear views are not a given in Washington. Before you drive, check the forecast and the Cascades Volcano Observatory webcams.
Affiliate links to GetYourGuide: if you book, we earn a commission and the price stays the same. Prices and ratings as of 21 September 2026. The choice is small: GetYourGuide lists four tours for Mount St. Helens, with twelve reviews between them. Two are new enough to have none at all. What is included is listed in each description.
Mount St. Helens is not a national park. It is a National Volcanic Monument run by the US Forest Service, and that changes the whole pricing: there is no park entrance fee, only a day fee per vehicle at certain sites – and the $100 surcharge for visitors without US residency, in force since January 1, 2026, does not apply here. It covers eleven national parks only.
| Day fee per vehicle at Windy Ridge, Coldwater, Ape Cave and other sites | $5 |
| Northwest Forest Pass, one year · covers the day fee across the Northwest | $30 |
| Climbing permit for the summit, per person per day (quota season April 1 to October 31) | $20 |
| Recreation.gov booking fee per transaction, non-refundable | $6 |
| Climbing permit outside the quota season (November 1 to March 31), self-issued at the trailhead | free |
| Ape Cave timed-entry reservation per vehicle, plus the day fee | $2 |
| America the Beautiful annual pass, US residents · counts as the day fee | $80 |
| America the Beautiful annual pass, non-US residents | $250 |
The summit route over Monitor Ridge is not technical climbing, but it is a long, shadeless slog over boulder fields and deep ash – about 10 miles (16 km) round trip, roughly 4,500 ft (1,370 m) of gain, seven to twelve hours. There is no water on the way. The hard part is still the computer at home: quotas are released month by month, and summer weekends often vanish within minutes.
Permits are sold only through Recreation.gov, never on site. Set up the account and payment details in advance.
Quotas are released month by month: on the first of the preceding month at 7:00 am PT, strictly first come, first served, with no lottery. Log in early and have your date and party size ready.
During the quota season from April 1 to October 31 the permit costs $20 per person per day, plus a non-refundable $6 booking fee per transaction. Maximum twelve people per group, one permit per person per day.
Cancellations reappear constantly. Changes to the party are possible up to seven days before the date; after that the record is fixed. Weather is not a ground for a refund.
Outside the quota season there are no quotas: the permit is free and self-issued at the trailhead. The route then starts at Marble Mountain Sno-Park. Winter gear and avalanche knowledge are required.
Four approaches, four seasons, four prices. The distances between them are the real planning factor.
| West side: SR 504 to Coldwater | From Castle Rock, I-5 exit 49, about 43 miles (70 km) and one hour to milepost 43. The road is open to milepost 45.2 year-round; the visitor center is seasonal. $5 per vehicle per day or $30 for the year. |
| East side: Windy Ridge via FR 25 and FR 99 | From Randle, 19 miles on FR 25, then 16 miles on FR 99. A long, winding mountain road, typically open from late June to November. 368 steps to the upper viewpoint. $5 per vehicle per day. In 2026: trails in the FR 99 area closed Monday to Friday (May 15 to October 31), restrooms closed for rebuilding. |
| South side: Ape Cave lava tube | From Cougar or Woodland via SR 503 and FR 83. Lower cave 0.75 miles (1.2 km) one way and easy; upper cave 1.5 miles (2.4 km) with climbing sections plus a 1.5-mile surface return, three to four hours in total. 2026 season: May 18 to October 31, timed entry required from 9 am to 5 pm. $2 reservation per vehicle plus the $5 day fee. |
| Summit climb over Monitor Ridge | From Climber's Bivouac on FR 830 on the south side. About 10 miles (16 km) round trip, roughly 4,500 ft (1,370 m) of gain, 7–12 hours over boulder fields and ash. Quota season April 1 to October 31 with a permit at $20 per person per day plus $6; from December to March, the winter route from Marble Mountain Sno-Park with a free self-issued permit. |
The lava tube on the south side is the one sight at Mount St. Helens you have to book in advance – and the one where your gear actually matters.
In 2026 the cave was open from May 18 to October 31. Between 9 am and 5 pm every vehicle needs a $2 timed-entry ticket from Recreation.gov, plus the $5 day fee or a Northwest Forest Pass. One ticket covers one vehicle for one day, with a maximum of six a year, and the window is two hours long. Tickets for 2026 went on sale on April 1 at 7:00 am PT.
Two light sources per person are mandatory – the Forest Service states plainly that phone flashlights are not enough. You can rent lamps at Ape Headquarters, but only during its hours of 9 am to 5 pm. Bring warm clothes as well: the cave stays at about 42 °F (5.6 °C) all year. Do not touch the walls or ceiling, because of the bats and the microorganisms.
The lower cave works well with children. The upper cave, with its eight-foot rock step, does not.
Photo: Donald A. Swanson · Public domain
Before 1980 the symmetry of Mount St. Helens earned it the name “America's Fuji.” On March 20 an earthquake swarm began, steam eruptions soon opened in the summit area, and over several weeks a visible bulge grew on the north flank.
On May 18, 1980 at 8:32 am a magnitude 5.1 earthquake triggered the collapse of the north flank – at roughly 0.6 cubic miles (2.5 km³) the largest landslide ever documented in history. The unloaded volcano exploded sideways. The blast flattened about 230 square miles (600 km²) of forest. The eruption column reached more than 15 miles (24 km) within 15 minutes, and the nine-hour Plinian eruption threw out over 540 million tons of ash, which circled the Earth in 15 days.
Fifty-seven people died, among them USGS geologist David Johnston, who was watching from a ridge 5 miles (8 km) away. Johnston Ridge is named after him – the same ridge you have not been able to drive to since 2023.
The summit lost about 1,300 ft (400 m); instead of a cone, a horseshoe crater open to the north remained. A lidar survey in 2009 measured 8,330 ft (2,539 m). In 1982 Congress designated the area around the volcano a National Volcanic Monument, explicitly so that the recolonization of the devastated ground could be watched undisturbed. From October 2004 to January 2008 a new lava dome grew inside the crater. The mountain has been quiet since, but it is not extinct: the USGS calls it the most active volcano in the Cascade range and the one in the contiguous states most likely to erupt again.
Without a car: There is no scheduled service. Without a car the monument is practically unreachable; commercial day tours run from Portland and Seattle.
By car: West side: I-5 exit 49 at Castle Rock, then SR 504 east to the gate at milepost 45.2. East side: from Randle via SR 131/FR 25 and FR 99 to Windy Ridge. South side: from Woodland (I-5 exit 21) via SR 503 to Cougar and on along FR 83 to Ape Cave and Climber's Bivouac. The three sides are not linked by any short road – switching from west to east costs several hours.
July to September. Only then is the east side over FR 25/99 free of snow, Ape Cave in season and the summit route walkable without snowshoes. May and June are attractive for the summit because you can descend on firn – for that you need crampons and an ice axe. In winter the west side is open to milepost 45.2 and largely empty; the Coldwater center is then open on weekends only. A clear view of the crater is not a given in Washington: check the forecast and the CVO webcams before you drive.
Yes. Only the upper section of the west side, with Johnston Ridge Observatory, is closed. Coldwater at milepost 43 in the west, Windy Ridge in the east and the entire south side with Ape Cave and Lava Canyon are open.
For a view into the crater, yes – but from the east. Windy Ridge sits about 3 miles (5 km) from the crater and adds Spirit Lake. The west side is easier to reach and has the exhibits on the lateral blast at Coldwater.
From Portland about an hour to Castle Rock on the west side and roughly an hour and a half to Ape Cave in the south. From Seattle it is about two and a half hours to Castle Rock. Windy Ridge in the east is another one and a half to two hours beyond Randle.
Not realistically. The sides are not directly connected, and going around costs several hours. Better: one day on the west side with Coldwater, one day on the east side with Windy Ridge, or the south side with Ape Cave and Lava Canyon.
July through September. Only then is the east side over FR 25 and 99 free of snow, Ape Cave in season and the summit route walkable without snowshoes. May and June are attractive for the summit because you can descend on firn – but that calls for crampons and an ice axe.
No. Neither the summit climb nor Ape Cave requires one. Guided climbs are offered by the Mount St. Helens Institute among others, but they are voluntary.
No. The Spirit Lake Memorial Highway has been closed between mileposts 45.2 and 51 since the landslide of May 14, 2023, and the observatory is shut and unreachable by car. The road rebuild has been under way since April 27, 2026 and is due to finish in fall 2026; reopening the visitor center is expected in 2027.
From Windy Ridge on the east side: about 3 miles (5 km) from the crater, with a view over Spirit Lake. The drive goes from Randle over Forest Roads 25 and 99 and is free of snow only from about late June to November. On the west side, Coldwater at milepost 43 is the last point with a view.
There is no park entrance fee, only a $5 day fee per vehicle at sites such as Windy Ridge, Coldwater and Ape Cave. A $30 Northwest Forest Pass or an interagency pass covers it. The summit climb costs extra.
No. The $100 surcharge for visitors without US residency, in force since January 1, 2026, applies only at eleven national parks – Mount St. Helens is a National Volcanic Monument of the Forest Service and not among them.
Only through recreation.gov. Quotas are released month by month: on the first of the preceding month at 7:00 am Pacific Time, first come, first served, with no lottery. During the season from April 1 to October 31 the permit costs $20 per person per day plus a $6 booking fee.
Yes. From November 1 to March 31 there are no quotas; the permit is free and self-issued at the trailhead. The route then starts at Marble Mountain Sno-Park, and your car needs a Washington Sno-Park permit. Winter gear and avalanche knowledge are prerequisites.
Technically easy, physically hard: about 10 miles (16 km) round trip, roughly 4,500 ft (1,370 m) of gain over boulder fields and deep ash, seven to twelve hours. There is no water and no shade on the way. No climbing skills are needed.
No, it is prohibited by Forest Service order. Violations can be punished with fines of up to $5,000, up to six months in jail, or both.
Two proper light sources per person – the Forest Service states explicitly that phone flashlights are not enough. Add warm clothing, because the cave stays at about 42 °F (5.6 °C) year-round, and sturdy shoes. Do not touch the walls or ceiling.
No. On September 18, 2026 the Cascades Volcano Observatory again reported NORMAL/GREEN for all Cascade volcanoes. The volcano is nonetheless considered the most active in the Cascades and the one in the contiguous states most likely to erupt again.
From Portland about an hour to Castle Rock on the west side and roughly an hour and a half to Ape Cave in the south. From Seattle it is about two and a half hours to Castle Rock. Windy Ridge on the east side is another one and a half to two hours beyond Randle.
On a leash on designated trails, yes; inside the Coldwater building, no. In parts of the monument, pets other than service animals are prohibited entirely – check the current Forest Service order before you visit.
Sources · accessed on 21 September 2026
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