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South Coldwater Trail

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If you only have time to do one of the trails framing Coldwater Lake, make it the South Coldwater Trail. The Lakes Trail on the north shore is a beautiful hike, but this hike is just the complete package. You've got the human history in the shape of volcano-mangled machinery. You have wildlife, in the form of frequently present elk (and small critters are always underfoot if the big wapiti are being bashful). You've got the volcanic landscape, and of course, you have a respectable elevation gain to get your blood flowing, letting you know you are hiking in the Cascades, after all.

The trail leaves the trailhead with a brief downhill swing then rockets upward, climbing the long, tapered nose of the Coldwater Ridge. The trail builders made a half-hearted attempt to add a few switchbacks, but mostly the trail just swings to and fro, climbing steadily but not too steeply all the while. As you ascend, you'll be amazed at the different things going on in the recovery. Grasses, wildflowers, and bushes are well entrenched now, and with that greenery in place, the elk have thundered back into the region. They seem to love this ridge, too, so keep your voices low, and you might enjoy some four-legged companionship on the route. If not, don't worry; you won't be bored.

At about 3 miles out from the trailhead, you'll come across a rustic hulk of metal. This is an old steel-tracked logging tractor that got caught in the eruption-it was actually thrown to this location from somewhere farther up toward the main body of Mount St. Helens.

Climbing past the tractor, you'll swing around to the south, climbing up to a broad saddle on the flank of Coldwater Mountain. This is our destination. Coldwater Saddle sits at the 5-mile mark, the perfect place to enjoy the views, and then turn around for the walk home.
Driving Directions:

From Castle Rock, drive about 43 miles east on Highway 504 to the Coldwater Visitor Center and continue 2.2 miles south toward Johnston Ridge. At the bottom of the hill, continue past the Coldwater Lake boat launch area for another mile to find the South Coldwater trailhead parking area on the left.

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Note: the description and driving directions for this Mountaineers Books entry are copyrighted and can't be changed.

Recent Trip Reports

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There are 21 trip reports for this hike. See all trip reports for this hike.
South Coldwater Trail — Aug 20, 2011 — Flicker
Day hike
Features: Wildflowers blooming | Ripe berries
Issues: Overgrown | No water source
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We hadn't been to MSH for a couple of years, so we went to check out the progress. Started hiking ar...
We hadn't been to MSH for a couple of years, so we went to check out the progress. Started hiking around 10 AM and quickly realized that this would be the hottest hike of the season. The trail is in good shape, if rather brushy. The first bit was through a cool birch grove that then thinned out due to a caterpillar infestation. The rest of the hike was in the on the bare, blasted ridge with great views of the lake and MSH above Johnson Ridge. Wildflowers were abundant as were wild strawberries. The scent of strawberries could be caught occasionally as we walked through a patch. Turned around at the junction to the trail coming up from the lake, as our map indicated that the decent was steeper on the lake trail. When we returned to the trailhead the temperature was 90 and were glad we had carried lots of water.
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South Coldwater Trail — Jul 30, 2011 — Darren
Day hike
Features: Wildflowers blooming
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We did a great one way hike with car shuttle -- started at the South Coldwater trail head and ended ...
We did a great one way hike with car shuttle -- started at the South Coldwater trail head and ended at the Johnston Visitor Center (trails 230A, 230 and 1). We hiked up Coldwater peak, the highlight of the day. Great views and lots of wildflowers. There are a few small patches of snow here and there around the peak area, but easy to navigate through/around.

Stats:
13.3 miles total distance
4280 feet total elevation gain

Panorama from Coldwater peak:
http://photosynth.net/view.[…]38686&p=0:0&t=False

Full set of pictures:
https://picasaweb.google.com/dargilco/ColdwaterPeak
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Coldwater Ridge, Coldwater Lake, South Coldwater Trail — Jul 24, 2011 — Weluv2hike.
Day hike
Features: Wildflowers blooming
Issues: Blowdowns | Overgrown
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Went on the S coldwater ridge trail, to juct with the lake trail, dropped down from the ridge and co...
Went on the S coldwater ridge trail, to juct with the lake trail, dropped down from the ridge and cont on the lake trail to boat launch. Had to hike the road 1 mile back to th. Rt 11 miles loop. Wildflowers everywhere, great views a wonderful hike. A little brushy and a few down trees when on lake trail dropping from the ridge. There were alot of cars at the s coldwater th. We didnt pass anyone on trail until about 3 miles from boat launch and passed mabey 4 groups, it was nice having the trail mostly to ourself.
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South Coldwater Trail — Jul 23, 2011 — Dalton
Day hike
Features: Wildflowers blooming
Issues: Snow on trail | No water source
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The trail was in great shape. Well maintained.This trail is very dry so take along plenty of water. ...
The trail was in great shape. Well maintained.This trail is very dry so take along plenty of water. I never encountered any other hikers along the way,although there were a couple of cars at the trail head. The weather was beautiful as I made my way towards St Helens Lk. My goal was to climb to the top of Coldwater Peak, which I did reach. The views were awesome! Could see Mt.Adams,Rainer,Hood,the Goat Rocks and of course St. Helens looming huge in front of me.There were just a few bugs to speak of,not bad at all.I also saw upwards of 100 elk,25+ of them were bulls. Overall,this is a great day hike. Nice to see the Mt. St. Helens area recuperating an growing back to beautiful conditions. Take the hike on a beautiful sunny day as yesterday and you won't be disappointed.
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Coldwater Lake, South Coldwater Trail, Lakes Trail — Jul 10, 2011 — Riri
Day hike
Features: Wildflowers blooming
Issues: Mudholes | Water on trail
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A beautiful sunny day so I introduced my Wyoming friend Smiley to Mt. St. Helen's and one of the few...
A beautiful sunny day so I introduced my Wyoming friend Smiley to Mt. St. Helen's and one of the few trails open so far this season. See my prior trip report from July 2009 for the specifics of this hike. As before, we started at the Coldwater Lake boat ramp and walked a mile on asphalt down highway 504 to the South Coldwater Trail head. The only current conditions I'll add to my previous report are:

-no bugs
-no people (we only passed half a dozen people and they were all within 3 miles of the Lakes Trail head)
-the trail is entirely snow-free and very dry and dusty on the South Coldwater side
-no water on the South Coldwater Trail, but plenty of flowing creeks and rivulets on the Lake Trail, along with some mud
-the route is marked the entire way, including a new sign showing the intersection of the various routes
-no machete needed, as the path is not yet overgrown
-lots of lupine, paintbrush, penstemons, and daisies blooming
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Looking out across the volcanic landscape from the South Coldwater trail -.jpg
Looking out across the volcanic landscape from the South Coldwater on a wintry day. Photo: Hikingqueen
Location
South Coldwater Trail (#230A)
South Cascades -- Mt. St. Helens
USFS Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
Statistics
Roundtrip 10.0 miles
Elevation Gain 2100 ft
Highest Point 4600 ft
Features
Lakes
Mountain views
Wildlife
Ridges/passes
User info
Dogs not allowed
Northwest Forest Pass required
Guidebooks & Maps
South Cascades
Green Trails No. 332 Spirit Lake

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Note: the description and driving directions for this Mountaineers Books entry are copyrighted and can't be changed.

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46.2915 -122.267116667
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