Mount St. Helens Visitor Center

Nice start to the drive into Mt. St. Helens. Outside photo opportunity with Mt . St. Helens in far background. I recommend the drive to the Observatory. Takes an hour at least.

This trip to Mt. St. Helens was definitely worth the drive. If you stop at the Hoffstadt Bluffs Visitor Center,15000 Spirit Lake Highway where they offer helicopter tours, you can see something interesting. The car that belonged to
Reporter Dave Crockett that barely escaped the St. Helens blast. The car is at the very rear of their parking lot. Look for Dave Crockett on a video on YouTube, then you will appreciate seeing his battered car.

Great place for hiking. If you not into hiking and just want to se the mountain make sure it is not raining and cloudy. Unfortunately when is visited it was very cloudy and the visibility of S:t Mount Helen vas zero.

The visitors center is indeed closed. But there is still parking available to walk the grounds and small trails and take in Mt. St. Helen from a very far distance.

A gorgeous must see area, and not crowded with tourists (at least not in March/April).

Mt. St. Helens has such an unbelievably cool history, and it's fascinating to see the volcanic crater that caused so much disruption in person. The forest is starting to grow back around the volcano, which is an interesting thing to see in the area in its own right.