Mount St. Helen's Castle Rock/Toutie, Washington 7/12 - 7/15 2024 Travel Tour

                                                   From: casarollnotes.blogspot.com                                                                   Tim and Linda Bunyan

Mount St Helens, National Volcanic Monument

Our RV campsite is in Cowlitz County established in 1982 by President Ronald Reagan following the 1980 eruption.  Harry Gardner County Park RV sites.

 It is managed by the U.S. Forest Service and is part of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

The explosion destroyed and covered a 7 mile radius to:

Evidence of the volcano's destruction 

RECOVERY

The 110,000 acre National Volcanic Monument is set aside for research, recreation, and education.

It's just so amazing to see such a large expanse of undeveloped areas.  The huge valleys and large hills and mountains feel overwhelming in a way, but create this sense of awe.

Inside the monument, the environment is left to respond naturally to the disturbance.

St Route 504 provides spectacular views of the landscape, blast zone, and Toutie River Valley.

We drove the Windy Ridge for 4 miles of the crater.  

Mount St. Helens Visitor Center at Silver Lake 

exhibits include the culture and history the natural history and geology of the volcano and the eruption, including the recovery of the area's vegetation and animal life.

Johnston Ridge Observatory is located near the site of volcanologist David A. Johnston's camp on the morning of May 18, 1980.  Due to landslides, it is closed

 but we were able to visit the Coldwater Science and Learning Center.,

Each visitor center along the 50-mile park drive operated an educational facility and conference center.  Bear Meadows is an alpine meadow and viewpoint.

Remarkably, gradual recovery of the land is evident as revegetation proceeds and wildlife returns.  Project repairs continue throughout the park.

Weyerhaeuser's commitment to replanting trees in the blast zone is harvested and plans to reharvest and plant again.