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Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens Guide Book

by Fred Barstad (Falcon Publishing)
Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens

102pp/maps
ISBN: 1560446978

Mount Saint Helens National Volcanic Monument has some of the finest hiking in the Cascade Mountains. From sweeping mountain views to quiet foothill trails, Mount St. Helens is a hiker’s paradise. The trails described in this guide provide a close-up look at the destruction and remarkable recovery of the land since the 1980 eruption. This guide includes fact-filled, concise descriptions for over two dozen hikes. Whether you have a day to explore or just a couple of hours to stroll, this guide will lead you on short adventures to some of the most stunning views of the volcano.

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Trails from the "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens" Guide Book
Displaying trails 1 to 20 of 25.
... Preview: The Ape Canyon Trail climbs gently as it leaves the trailhead. After a short distance, the path turns right along the bank of the Muddy River Lahar. Four-tenths of a mile from the trailhead the trail ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Cougar, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 9.6 miles
... Preview: The Birth of a Lake Loop is a barrier-free interpretive loop path along the shore of and over Coldwater Lake. As you work your way along the lakeshore for 250 yards you will see several interpretive s ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Toutle, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 0.5 miles
... Preview: Lupine and fireweed grow from the pumice-covered landscape. The path soon descends along the south side of the ridge in full view of Mount St. Helens, the Pumice Desert and the grassy benchlands along ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Toutle, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 4.3 miles
... Preview: Descending a few feet from the east side of the parking area, the Cedar Flats Nature Trail enters old-growth forest. In the spring, when the new leaves are just out on the understory of vine maple, th ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Carson, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 0.9 miles
... Preview: You will wind in and out of a couple of side draws with small seasonal streams as you make your way along the lakeshore. Cottonwoods are beginning to reforest this area; there are some relatively larg ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Toutle, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 7.6 miles
... Preview: The trail climbs gently, making three switchbacks, then winds up to an interpretive sign about stumps. Half-buried logs, penstemon and fireweed line the route. Pearly everlasting flowers crowd this pa ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Toutle, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 0.5 miles
... Preview: The pumice-covered Boundary Trail climbs through small timber intermingled with paintbrush and penstemon. Three hundred yards from the trailhead you will enter old growth forest of fir and hemlock. Mo ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Randle, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 8 miles
... Preview: Much of Goat Marsh Trail is really an abandoned roadbed that is nicely reverting to a trail. The route climbs very gently at first, then levels out. The roadbed soon ends and the poorly marked trail t ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Cougar, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 2.8 miles
... Preview: The Harmony Trail immediately starts to descend from the trailhead. This north-facing slope is covered with low brush and blown-down logs. In a few yards the trail enters the restricted area as it beg ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Randle, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 2.4 miles
... Preview: Along this trail Mount St. Helens and the Pumice Plain come into full view to the south. The Boundary Trail descends gently along the flower-covered ridge for a short distance. Mount Adams and Spirit ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Toutle, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 8.4 miles
... Preview: A couple of hundred yards from the parking area you make a switchback to the left in a grove of thick young alders. Note the damage caused by elk rubbing their antlers against and chewing on the young ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Toutle, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 2.3 miles
... Preview: As it leaves the trailhead the route climbs 30 steps, then makes a couple of switchbacks as it heads west to the ridgeline. Once you reach the ridge, Spirit Lake comes into view. From the ridge you ca ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Randle, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 6.7 miles
... Preview: Originally the first 0.2 mile of this trail was a true sand ladder — a series of wooden rungs held together with cables which allow easier climbing and descending over steep, loose soil. Now 8 rock an ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Randle, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 1.4 miles
... Preview: A few yards from the trailhead you will start to descend the first of 58 wooden steps that take you to a switchback. Hemlock and fir line this path along a moss-covered slope. At the switchback, turn ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Randle, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 0.2 miles
... Preview: As you ascend gently through the second-growth forest of fir and hemlock, glimpses of the smooth south slopes of Mount St. Helens appear ahead. The path winds up through the woods, sometimes close to ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Cougar, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 2.2 miles
... Preview: The Loop is rough and slippery in spots. Below the Loop the trail is very rough, exposed and slippery in spots. The ladders, which must be descended to continue down to the Smith Creek Trail and to Th ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Cougar, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 6 miles
... Preview: This is a very popular cave, so traffic may be heavy. The main hazard in this cave is the darkness. Two good sources of light are recommended for each person entering the cave. Because hiking this sec ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Cougar, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 1.7 miles
... Preview: Take a few minutes to check out the Miners Car Exhibit and imagine what it must have been like to have been here on May 18, 1980 when the volcano blew. The tread winds its way through the small fir tr ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Randle, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 0.6 miles
... Preview: The route travels along the east side of Windy Ridge through the severely blasted forest. Penstemon and paintbrush color the slopes between the alder and huckleberry bushes. Mount Adams is in view to ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Randle, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 8.7 miles
... Preview: The Ptarmigan Trail begins to climb gently to the north as it leaves the parking area. The wide, well-maintained trail heads north through fir forest and huckleberry bushes. Avalanche lilies dot the g ... From the guidebook "Best Easy Day Hikes: Mount St. Helens"
Cougar, WA - Hiking - Trail Length: 4.6 miles

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