The Columbian from Vancouver, Washington • 116

MOUNT ST. HELENS: RECREATION THE COLUMBIAN, SUNDAY, MAY 15, 2005 35 Along Highway 504 There's plenty to see and do on the main road to Mount St. Helens By ERIK ROBINSON a single fee of $6. Columbian staff writer ount St. Helens is a Sediment Retention cal most cultural of touchstone the and people histori- for of splayed the Structure: out pre-1980 You against can see the mountaintop much back who lived in Southwest Wash- of an earthen ington 25 years ago.

berm. The dam, finished by For the thousands of resi- the Army Corps of Engineers dents who have moved here in 1987, is supposed to corral since then as well as old- much of the sediment sloughtimers who have yet to experi- ing down the North Fork of ence the landscape refash- the Toutle River, preventing it ioned by the 1980 eruption from raising the riverbed in a variety of volcano-related downstream communities natural and man-made fea- and thereby increasing the tures are available within a risk of flooding. two-hour drive of Vancouver on state Highway 504, the a Eco Park Resort: This 90- Spirit Lake Memorial High- acre private lodge offers the way. closest overnight accommodations to Mount St. Helens, Cinedome: Filmmaker with cabins, yurts, recreationGeorge Casey documented al vehicle sites and tent sites the 1980 eruption and built a 17 miles from the mountain.

JANET L. Columbian theater in Castle Rock in 1993 to help visitors experience Cowlitz County's Hoffstadt The Loowit Viewpoint near the Johnston Ridge Observatory puts visitors within snapshot the eruption in all its seat- Bluff Visitor Center: The center distance of Mount St. Helens. shaking glory. Admission is includes a cafeteria, gift shop $6 for adults, $5 for children and memorial marker dedi- highway destroyed in the available for fishing at nearby observatory, which opened in and seniors.

cated in 2000 to the 57 people 1980 eruption. It also Coldwater Lake. 1997, focuses on geology. who died at the mountain. marks the western edge of Make sure to take in the 16- Mount St.

Helens Visitor Admission is free. the blast zone. Johnston Ridge Observatory: minute movie, "Message from Center at Silver Lake: Located This Forest Service center the Mountain," which culmifive miles east of the Inter- Weyerhaeuser's Forest Coldwater Ridge Visitor offers the closest view of the nates with the curtains drawstate 5 interchange at Castle Learning Center: A few miles Center: Opened by the volcano's gaping crater from ing away to reveal the stark Rock, this is the first visitor farther along the highway, Forest Service in 1993, just five miles away, 52 road real-life image of America's center erected after the 1980 this facility explores the this center 43 miles east of miles from Interstate 5. The most notorious active volcano. eruption.

The center includes recovery and renewal of the Interstate 5 focuses on the news accounts, displays and landscape from the perspec- gradual return of plants artifacts of the 1980 erup- tive of the largest private and animals to a landscape walk tions, mission along around is $3, with Silver and a scenic Lake. children Ad- Admission landowner is in the free. area. May nearly Hummocks 18, 1980. scrubbed trail The bare loop, 2.3-mile on on The Core of Discovery younger than 16 are admitted Hoffstadt Bridge: At 370 the highway just beyond Riverboat Cruises in the Heart GIFT free.

Those who want to visit feet high, the bridge span- the visitor center, offers of the Columbia River Gorge certificates the Silver Lake center, as well ning Hoffstadt Creek is one first-hand views into the available as U.S. Forest Service visitor of the most remarkable engi- devastation and renewal centers at Coldwater Ridge neering achievements in since 1980. Picnic facilities and Johnston Ridge, can pay reconstructing the 52-mile and a boat ramp are 11 4 LEWIS CO. COLUMBINE River COWLITZ CO. SKAMANIA CO.

5 504 Sediment Hoffstadt Bluff Visitor Center Mount St. Retention Hoffstadt Bridge Coldwater Helens Visitor. Structure North Center Coldwater Sightseeing Center Toutle Eco Park Lake Silver Resort. Fork Brunch Dinner Lake Forest Learning River Cinedome Castle Rock South Fork Center Johnston Ridge Specialty Cruises Toutle Observatory Highlights along state River 504 St. Mount Helens STERNWHEELER 05150552492831 Highway 5 miles COLUMBIA GORGE 800-643-1354 The Columbian 1-84, Exit Cascade Locks, OR www.sternwheeler.com.