Hiking Guide
WTA's hiking guide is the most comprehensive database of hikes in Washington, and comprises content written by local hiking experts and user submitted information. All data is vetted by WTA staff. This resource is made possible by the donations of WTA members.
We respectfully acknowledge the lands we are visiting are the homelands of Indigenous tribes of the Pacific Northwest, some of whom have reserved rights on these lands. Tribes continue to rely on and share in the management of these lands today. Please tread gently and treat these places with respect.
Results List
66 HikesSouth Cascades > Mount St. Helens
4.5 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 860 feet
Highest Point: 4,500 feet
Rating:
Witness the destructive force and the restorative power of nature on this hike in the blast zone of Mount St. Helens’ 1980 eruption. The rocky ash and treeless areas are testaments to the devastation caused by the explosion, while wildflowers and shrubs signal the return of vegetation to the denuded landscape.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
8.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 2,000 feet
Highest Point: 4,850 feet
Rating:
FR 99 is closed beyond Wakepish Sno-Park for the winter season.
Climb to really excellent views of Rainier, Adams and Mount St. Helens via an exposed ridgeline before traversing east through hillside wildflowers, and ending at junction with the Loowit Trail in the center of the Plains of Abraham.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
10.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 4,500 feet
Highest Point: 8,365 feet
Rating:
Permits are required to summit Mount St. Helens. Find details about acquiring them in the hike description
Mount St. Helens is a peak that should be on every life list. And because it is an active volcano, it is best not to put it off for too long. Climbing to the crater rim is an opportunity to see not only amazing views in every direction, but to see geology raw, unformed and in its making.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
3.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 100 feet
Highest Point: 4,390 feet
Rating:
A forest walk and a wetlands walk-two trails for the price of one! This wide, paved trail loops through meadows and shoreline.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
5.2 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 640 feet
Highest Point: 4,000 feet
Rating:
Hike to a lovely, glittering, quiet little lake that at Mount St. Helens that few visit. You’ll have to work for it, of course. But it’s a neat little treat to share with friends, or head to it solo for some solitude.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
2.6 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 40 feet
Highest Point: 4,500 feet
Rating:
A connector trail in the Mount St. Helens area linking Independence Pass with the Boundary Trail. Views from here include Spirit Lake and the north side of the volcano.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
11.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 3,200 feet
Highest Point: 4,600 feet
Rating:
Hike along a lush green valley wall above Goat Creek in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. Because this part of the monument is so infrequently visited, it's possible you won't see another soul on the trail, meaning you'll get to have the incredible Cathedral Falls all to yourself.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
8.6 miles, one-way
Gain: 2,900 feet
Highest Point: 4,000 feet
Rating:
The trail is closed until further notice due to wildfire activity.
This long, meandering trail in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument makes for a lovely out-and-back, or as part of a big loop hike.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
10.0 miles of trails
Gain: 1,000 feet
Rating:
Visit three looping routes on Mount St. Helens near the Marble Mountain Sno-Park. From here you'll enjoy quiet forest and views of Mount St. Helens, as well as a variety of difficulties of hike, from a casual stroll to a more sweat-inducing climb. It's hikers choice!
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
7.0 miles, one-way
Rating:
The Kalama Ski Trail is a ski route near Mount St. Helens that connects the Cougar Sno-Park with the Kalama Horse Camp. Visitors should expect to share the area with snowmobilers on weekends, though it is often very quiet on weekdays.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
9.2 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 1,200 feet
Highest Point: 4,575 feet
Rating:
FR 99 is closed beyond Wakepish Sno-Park for the winter season.
Hike to a glacier-fed waterfall pouring out of the heart of a volcano. It doesn’t get much more dramatic than that.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
32.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 6,000 feet
Highest Point: 4,800 feet
Rating:
Ready for a stunning long hike through the otherwordly landscape of Mount St. Helens? The Loowit Trail reveals the volcano and the blast zone in all its raw glory.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
1.0 miles, one-way
Gain: 200 feet
Highest Point: 4,300 feet
Rating:
FR 99 is closed beyond Wakepish Sno-Park for the winter season.
A short trail accessible from the Windy Ridge area of Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, the Windy Trail makes it possible for hikers to loop up a variety of trails in the blast zone.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
9.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 2,000 feet
Highest Point: 4,850 feet
Rating:
FR 99 is closed beyond Wakepish Sno-Park for the winter season.
Hike a challenging loop outside of the Windy Ridge area of Mount St. Helens, including a route-finding scramble to the pass. For your efforts, you’re rewarded with expansive, ever-changing views of one of the world’s most dynamic landscapes.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
6.2 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 1,570 feet
Highest Point: 2,370 feet
Rating:
Krause Ridge Trail offers a textbook example of a Pacific Northwest forest nearing succession climax. Whether you are a jaded forest trekker or an ecologist, this is a classical forest with big trees towering as a sunshade with a lush understory and an easy day hike.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
1.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 430 feet
Highest Point: 4,131 feet
Rating:
Hike to a small lava dome with an associated summit crater in southern Washington.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
4.8 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 1,000 feet
Highest Point: 3,500 feet
Rating:
This is a winter only trail linking Marble Mountain SnoPark to the Worm Flows winter climbing route.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
9.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 200 feet
Highest Point: 2,700 feet
Rating:
The Lakes Trail offers a nice day hike along a volcano-created lake, or a gateway into the Mount Margaret Backcountry.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
8.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 1,300 feet
Highest Point: 3,500 feet
Rating:
An overlooked trail in a high canopy forest with nice views of the area in Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
2.86 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 445 feet
Highest Point: 3,140 feet
Rating:
This sweet little hike on the south side of Mount St. Helens is a good destination for families seeking a short day hike, but it is also one access point for the round-the-mountain Loowit Trail, and a popular snowshoeing location, so it sees a fair amount of traffic year-round.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
9.5 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 1,800 feet
Highest Point: 4,200 feet
Rating:
Why drive to the top when you can hike? Try this day hike as an introduction to Mount St. Helens for visitors who’ve never been here, or if they haven't been in a long time.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
11.6 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 940 feet
Highest Point: 2,850 feet
Rating:
Walk in the deep shade of towering, ancient Douglas-firs and western redcedars and become humbled in the presence of these survivors of volcanic eruption.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
7.4 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 300 feet
Rating:
Hike an old logging road that is slated to have a full conversion to trail in 2017.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
13.6 miles, one-way
Gain: 1,900 feet
Highest Point: 4,000 feet
Rating:
The trail is closed until further notice due to wildfire activity.
The Toutle Trail transects five ecozones over more than 13 miles, but can be done in three sections.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
2.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 600 feet
Highest Point: 3,100 feet
Rating:
This short trail is located near Coldwater Lake and connects visitors to the Science and Learning Center at Coldwater to the Lakes Trail and the Mount Margaret backcountry.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
14.3 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 3,800 feet
Highest Point: 5,840 feet
Rating:
“Most Difficult”. If you can accept and safely navigate what that means, the Whittier Ridge Trail offers you an airy and ruggedly scenic connection between the Boundary Trail and the Lakes Trail, for an 8.5-mile loop, part of a 14.3-mile “lollipop” day hike.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
12.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 3,068 feet
Highest Point: 5,727 feet
Rating:
Survey Mount St. Helens’ recovering Blast Zone and get 360-degree, four-peak views from this high perch along the Boundary Trail.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
11.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 1,400 feet
Highest Point: 4,200 feet
Rating:
Climb through dense old-growth forest to a barren cinder plateau that bursts with wildflowers and unobstructed views.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
10.7 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 2,280 feet
Highest Point: 5,900 feet
Rating:
Former lookout sites are ideal for views, and Strawberry Mountain is right up there with the best of them. See peaks in two states, the blast zone of an active volcano, and a few sapphire lakes set into the dramatic landscape. That is, of course, if you can bear the drive to get there.
South Cascades > Mount St. Helens
2.8 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 350 feet
Highest Point: 2,450 feet
Rating:
The full experience at Ape Cave includes the easy exploration of a spacious lava tube, followed by more difficult travel through a smaller, longer, and more rugged lava tube to an exit. Then, enjoy an easy return hike winding through shady forest and crusty lava formations.