Getting a good look at Mount St. Helens is sometimes difficult, even under the best of conditions. Getting a good look into the crater on the north side of the mountain is even more difficult. And lately, the crater is where all the action is, as the current dome-building eruption adds new lava daily.
To see into the crater, the first thing you need is reasonably clear weather. In the Pacific Northwest, blue skies and sunshine are much more common in the summer than during the winter, when gray skies and rain prevail. Even during the summer, however, you need to go to one of the viewpoints close to the mountain near the end of either state Route 504 east of Castle Rock, or Forest Road 99 south of Randle, to get a good look inside the crater.
During the winter, when the roads to these close-in viewpoints are closed by snow, a view from the north into the crater is even more difficult to find. One often-overlooked location is easy to get to even during winter, and gives you a direct view at the dome inside the crater. This is the Hopkins Hill viewpoint near Morton.
There are any number of other places where you can see the west flanks of the mountain from highways and roads around the county, weather permitting. These include Interstate-5 south of Chehalis and U.S. Highway 12 east of I-5 toward Mossyrock. Also, the mountain can be viewed from this angle along any number of county roads through the agricultural lands near Toledo and Winlock.
From the Hopkins Hill viewpoint you are looking nearly due south, directly into the crater at the dome from a distance of about 25 miles. This is quite a distance, but with clear weather and a decent pair of binoculars you will get a good view of the crater and dome. When we visited the viewpoint last weekend, we were able to clearly see the dome and we watched and photographed a pretty decent steam emission with a column rising above the peak.
To get there, take U.S. Highway 12 east from I-5 for about 27 miles to milepost 94. Turn left on the Short Road and go about 1.3 miles to the viewpoint at the end of the county road. The Short Road is about four miles west of Morton on Highway 12, if you are coming from that direction. There are signs along Highway 12 indicating where to turn. This county road is two lanes and paved to the viewpoint and there is ample room to park and turn around with any trailer or motor home.
Peterman Ridge, to the south, partially obscures the view of one side of Mount St. Helens from the viewpoint. To get a better view, continue past the viewpoint on the logging road for another 1.6 miles, assuming there is no or very little snow. This road is narrow, rough and steep in places so only high-clearance vehicles with good, off-road tires are recommended, but four-wheel drive is not needed. Stay to the right at the two junctions you pass. After about 1.6 miles you will come to a locked gate in a fresh clearcut. Mount St. Helens is visible to the right. Parking near the gate and walking out into the clearcut for a few yards gives you the best views.
We haven't tried it yet, but it would interesting to find out if you can see the new, hot lava glowing red at night in the dome from this viewpoint. On a cold, crystal-clear, moonless night such as we get at times during the winter, it might be possible to see this phenomenon with a good pair of binoculars.
