Winds of Change

This paved, accessible loop trail starts outside the Science and Learning Center at Coldwater, a hands-on education center located seven miles from the crater of Mount St. Helens and operated by the Mount St. Helens Institute. As you exit the Science and Learning Center, take the sidewalk to the left along the entrance drive to find the signed trail.

Get a close up look at new life returning after the disturbance of a volcanic eruption. Interpretive signs along the way describe the volcanic forces that impacted this landscape during the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, and how plants and animals are coming back.

The trail also offers excellent photo opportunities: at the outside of the loop, view Mount St. Helens at the head of the Toutle River valley; on the return leg of the loop, overlook Coldwater Lake with steep-sided Minnie Peak at the head of the lake. Look for recovering vegetation and colorful wildflowers, and listen for birds that have returned to nest and raise their young here. In the fall, you might also hear bugling elk echoing off the surrounding ridges.

Several benches invite hikers to pause and soak in their surroundings. One bench is dedicated to writer Christine Colasurdo (1961-2021), author of Return to Spirit Lake. The plaque contains lines from her poem, “Cascade Manifesto” — “We have the mountains to know where we are. We have the mountains to know where we’ve been and where we’re going.”