Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument — Attraction in Kelso

Mount St. Helens is a place everyone should see at least once in their lifetime. The mountain took my breath away when it first came into view. During our drive to the Johnson Ridge observatory the mountain view was spectacular. A few peices of advice if you are going; plan for at least two days to really enjoy the trails and various visitors centers. We stayed at the Red Lion in Elso. Some of the roads may be closed in spring so be sure to find out which roads you can take and if the tourist attractions are open before you take that long trip there. Also, check the weather conditions if it's cloudy don't bother going the clouds cover the mt completely. We went the end of May and the day was cool, hardly any clouds, great for pictures. My kids are 6, 7, and 11 all got in free to the attractions adults have to pay but we had a national and state park pass so we didnt have to wait in the very long line which was awesome. Wear comfy hiking shoes and take it all in. Mother nature is a force of destruction and beauty all rolled together. My husband was born the day it erupted so my kids thought that was pretty crazy and were spell bound hearing the rangers teach about that day in our history. Enjoy the pictures you'll see why you shouldn't go on a...

What can I say? Nature, she's awe inspiring and completely volatile. During the winter months, it's closed down and you're not able to get the best view of Mount St Helen's (Johnston Ridge Observatory). You'll have to settle for Seaquest visitor center instead. Seaquest is a great starting point and has a nice tail that takes you on a wooden bridge that allows you to walk over the marsh. Seaquest charges a fee to get into the educational area but the bathrooms outside and the trail is free. Johnston Ridge is the final stopping point to view the volcano up close (Its North Face that blew) The fee is $8 to walk the trail with a guided tour by game and fish, view their movie about Mt St Helen's ( that has a very nice little surprise after the film I won't ruin it for you ), gain access to the educational area, and gift shop. Children 0-15 are free. I went on a Saturday and I'm not sure if the guided walk is offered during the week. Johnston Ridge Observatory is open from May- October. After that, only Seaquest is the suitable option as Johnston Ridge is closed due to likely inaccessible roads and harsh...

We went on a guided tour with Living Waters. We hiked to the Rim which my GPS said we hiked just under 10 miles by the time we got back. When we first arrive the fog and mist was cold and blocked all the beautiful views. But by the time we were entering into the avalanche zone, the fog has lifted enough we could see the entire avalanche zone! So amazing awesome! We hiked to the 'Little Grand Canyon' which was deceivingly LARGE, but didn't seem large until some of our crew was able to hike down into the canyon and they became little ants not too far away from us, that's just how deep it is! I was able to get photos of Spirit Lake and on our way back is when I captured photos of the avalanche zone on top of the hill side. Unfortunately, the clouds didn't lift enough to see Mount Saint Helen's herself. So sad, but we all still enjoyed ourselves. Now the learning area was closed I'm sure do to Covid, but I'm not sure about that. It looked like so much fun and they had a large model that I wish I could have seen up close. Gift shop and...