Mt. St. Helens. is a very well known volcano in the Pacific Northwest and it has erupted about 30 years ago. The volcano ash has covered much of the great Northwest. In order to preserve its unique volcanic landscape, number of hikers allowed to hike to Mt. St. Helens summit has been limited each year; however, you can still go to Johnston Ridge Observatory and have a great view at Mt. St. Helens and hike the trails there.
To get to Mt. St. Helens Johnston Ridge from Portland, you need to take I5 North and then go onto highway 504. Once you are on highway 504, you will get to Mt. St. Helens visitor center at Spirit Lake first. At the visitor center, you can read about the history about Mt. St. Helens and understand its eruption history. It would also be wise to grab a map from the visitor center. There is also a short 1 mile hiking trail around Spirit Lake. It is a very easy hike. When we drove to Mt. St. Helens, a deer actually ran across the road right in front of our car! We almost hit the deer! So make sure you pay extra attention when you drive on highway 504 since there is a lot of wild life in the area.
From Mt. St. Helends visitor center, Johnston Ridge Observatory is another 45 minutes away. On the way to Johnston Ridge, there is a lot of look out points and museums such as Forest Learning Center and Science Learning Center. If you have a binocular, make sure you bring it with you! You might be able to spot elks resting in the region. There is also a helicopter tour ride that you can take, but personally I don't think it is worth the time and money. I think it is much better to use the time to hike around the region and enjoy the nature.
Coldwater Lake is also a popular location for people to spend their afternoon. You can bring your canoe or kayak to the lake and enjoy peddling your kayak. There are also hiking trails around the region for people to hike around. The scene is just amazing! Like I mentioned before, you will be able to spot elks if you are lucky!
Once you get to Johnston Ridge Observatory, you need to purchase permit if you want to hike the trail on the ridge. If you have Northwest Forest Pass, that counts toward a free permit for a person. You can either pay cash or pay with credit card for the permit. It is just that the credit card processes very slowly due to slow internet connection. There is also amphitheater at Johnston Ridge Observatory. It usually has shows every hour and you can choose to watch it.
The hiking trail on the ridge is about 2.5 miles long. There is a lot of wild flowers along the trail. There isn't much elevation on this trail so it is quite easy to walk. You will find a lot of good spot on the trail to take amazing photo of Mt. St. Helens. The end of the trail is a look out point long the cliff side. Before you get to the look out point, you have to walk long the cliff for about 300ft. This section of the trail is very windy and the trail path is very narrow. So please be more cautious when you are walking on this trail to avoid falling down the cliff. Once you get to the look out point, you can enjoy the beautiful view of Mt. St. Helens.
Lastly, make sure you put on sun screen since there isn't any tree around!
Note: dogs are not allowed on the ridge trails unfortunately.
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