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Goat Creek

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Featured In: Day Hiking: South Cascades, by Dan A. Nelson and Alan L. Bauer.
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The northernmost section of the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument sees far fewer visitors than any other part of the monument, or so it seems to us. There's no real reason for this, as far as I know, other than it's a bit more remote. But it's certainly no less scenic. The Green River-Vanson Peak section of the monument offers some great hiking scenery to explore, and the Goat Creek Trail provides a great introduction to the region.

The trail leaves the end of the road and starts a long traverse along the valley wall above Goat Creek. This slope is home to a stunning stand of ancient timber, protected from the 1980 eruption by the very hill on which the trees stand-living on the leeward side of things can be a very good thing!

For most of the way in, you climb across the hillside forest as the creek in the valley bottom slowly comes up toward you. At 2 miles the trail brings you along-side the creek at a junction. Go straight ahead here, and you'll find a creek crossing in another 0.5 mile. Stop here to dip your feet in the cool water and to enjoy the wonderful woodland experience before heading for home.

Driving Directions:

From Randle, drive west on U.S. Highway 12 for just over 11 miles, and turn left (south) onto Kosmos Road. Take a left at the T intersection at the bottom of the hill, and follow this road past Riffe Lake toward Taidnapam Park and Camp-ground. Go past the campground, over the bridge, and then right onto Forest Road 2600. After about 0.75 mile, turn left onto
FR 2750. Follow this to the road's end and trailhead.

Recent Trip Reports

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Goat Creek — Aug 21, 2011 — jean

Day hike

Features: Wildflowers blooming

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Good road conditions up to Goat Creek trailhead from Taidnapam Park. Went up in our minivan. Hiked to...

Good road conditions up to Goat Creek trailhead from Taidnapam Park. Went up in our minivan. Hiked to Cathedral Falls (about 1 mile in) with small children. Kept hold of kids hands at times with pretty steep drop-offs along the trail. A small clearing had nice wildflowers blooming. No bugs. Very little water over the falls, but cool to walk behind the falls. A fun trail.

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Goat Creek — Jul 18, 2011 — J.M. Zobu

Overnight

Features: Wildflowers blooming

Issues: Blowdowns

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Departed Goat Creek TH 7/18. Reached Dot Lake(T.11N./R.5E./SEC.35) @ 6:00pm. The falls were in full glory. The creek at Tumwater...

Departed Goat Creek TH 7/18. Reached Dot Lake(T.11N./R.5E./SEC.35) @ 6:00pm. The falls were in full glory. The creek at Tumwater junction(#218) is more than just a rockhopper. One 4ft diameter conifer in trail after junction, otherwise a few telephone poles here and there as it might be. Snow patches at Dot Lake and hearsay on the trail that the 4-way junction(#205/#217) below Vanson Peak has snow over trail. May the force be with you.

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Goat Creek — May 22, 2011 — bdweasel

Day hike

Issues: Water on trail

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This was my first hike of the season. We were the first to arrive at the trailhead at 9:30. The...

This was my first hike of the season. We were the first to arrive at the trailhead at 9:30. The road to the trailhead is in good condition. There were a few rough spots, but I made it through easily in my Chevy Lumina so no real concerns for those of you with vehicles better suited for the terrain.

We did not see anyone else on the trail, coming or going. We did pass three other cars on our way out.

The trail was in good shape all the way. We had to cross four or five streams along the way. Crossing was not difficult, but we did get our feet a little wet. The final stream we encountered was a little too swift to keep going so we turned back a short jaunt from our goal.

The highlight of this trail was the waterfall about halfway up. You get excellent views of the fall, both coming and going, and the trail runs behind the falls. You get to see it from all angles.

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Goat Creek — Jun 05, 2010 — Luvhikin

Day hike

Features: Wildflowers blooming

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FR 2750 is in very good condition and could be driven by any vehicle. There is a small land slide...

FR 2750 is in very good condition and could be driven by any vehicle. There is a small land slide about 1/4 mile from the parking area at the end of this road. You will want to stop short of the slide about another 1/4 mile where the road has a nice wide place to park.

If you like water falls, this is an excellent choice, at least right now with all the rain. There is one un-named water fall that cascades over a giant rock outcrop that is well over 100 feet tall. Spectacular! And you actually walk behind the falls on this well maintained trail.

At 2 miles, there is a fork in the trail where you meet up with Tumwater Pk. trail. We took the right trail here and saw a grove of old growth cedar and fir, some of which were 8 feet in diameter.

I would consider this a great novice choice if your thinking about starting hiking. Though there is some up and down, it is not what I would call hard.

It is well worth it, especially the waterfalls.

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Goat Creek #205,Goat Mountain #217 — Aug 17, 2008 — Rockranger

Day hike

Issues: Bugs

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With temperatures near 90 degrees, hiking 17 miles in the Cascade foothills might seem like a less than reflective choice,...

With temperatures near 90 degrees, hiking 17 miles in the Cascade foothills might seem like a less than reflective choice, but when thought through, it was a pretty good idea. It was the other elements that made our hike to Vanson Lake a fairly uncomfortable experience.

Vanson Lake is a small piece of water in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. It is not however, located within the blast zone and three trails converge nearby to make it a central feature in a little known roadless area between the Green River to the south and the Cowlitz to the north.

There are several ways to reach Vanson Lake and the trails that form an area of almost complete serenity just south of Taidnaipam Park on the upper end of Riffe Lake. This is an area where you go for peace and solitude. While there is plenty of scenery, especially in the form of cascading creeks and waterfalls, don’t expect to see alpine scenery with picturesque scenes without significant effort.

Trails were in excellent condition.

That may change if you access the area from the Green River area where the Green River and Goat Mountain Trail junctions with the Goat Creek Trail. The routes out of the Green River Valley are on south facing slopes in the Mt. St. Helens blast zone and would have been a miserable experience on this day. As it was, my 10 year old son and I hiked in the deep, cool, shaded woods alongside creeks that forced us to cross them on occasion; Sometimes in refreshing, bare feet.

For the first 4 miles, the trail follows tributaries of Goat Creek. This late in the summer, water levels are light as creeks tumble over impressive falls. At just under 4,000 feet, we ran into surprisingly large patches of snow, and more impacting, the swarms of bugs that can usually be associated with the woods shortly after snow melt. From some beautiful meadows, we started climbing again to the top of Vanson Ridge where an important junction of trails occurs.

The trip from either location is a long day hike. I would suggest staying at least one night out to make the hike worthwhile.

As for us, the bugs really took away from our experience. Above 3,500 feet, stopping to enjoy scenery, crossing streams or taking a dip into Vanson Lake made for a miserable existence. Of course, that is the nature of dry, hot weather and hiking. While we hoofed what amounted to 17 miles on the hottest day of the year, we barely even noticed the heat in the deeply wooded canyon but we were very careful to drink an incredible amount of water to stay hydrated. A few early season huckleberries, blueberries and salmonberries supplemented what little lunch we ate at the lake.

As a final insult, we hiked to the point of Vanson Peak at about 4,900 feet elevation. From there, views of Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier, Riffe Lake and the northern end of the Mount St. Helens blast zone greeted us. The haze and smoke made the entire region almost unrecognizable.

For more photos, drop by my blog at http://nwrockranger.blogspot.com/

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