Camping on the southern side of Mount St. Helens offers an unparalleled experience for nature enthusiasts looking to escape the crowds of other popular mountains in the Cascade Mountain range.
Picking a spot with my cousin and his girlfriend for their first time visiting this section of Mount St. Helens on a sunny, warm Friday evening in July was almost too easy.
When we searched for a camping location on Friday, July 19, the first two we came across were full. But my third ideal spot along the 8100 Road in Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument was the winner. This camping area, not far from the Butte Camp Trailhead, offered an ash-filled parking area with shade and sun leading to the incline to the volcano’s timberline, 2.1 miles away.
Arriving at the camp spot and preparing dinner shortly before 7 p.m. on July 19, I expected more campers to join us in such a large, primitive camping area, but we wound up as the only takers of the prime spot.
One thing to take note of if you plan to visit Mount St. Helens, there’s a lot of biting bugs, between horse flies and mosquitos. I used 98.11% Deet spray and still had a few bug bites. With that said, make sure to never leave your tent unzipped.
After a great dinner, we set off just over half a mile up the 8100 Road to the Butte Camp Trailhead where a short walk provides epic Mount St. Helens views with an old lava flow surrounding the trail. This was a great spot to watch the sunset as well as fly a drone, which is authorized in this portion of the monument and Gifford Pinchot National Forest as long as you comply with the Federal Aviation Administration rules.
If the moon wasn’t nearly full and slowly rising in the southern sky, the starry views would have been fantastic with minimal light pollution.
After a goodnight’s sleep, from our campsite, we took an unmarked trail leading to an even older lava flow that produced an abundance of plant life from beargrass lilies to young Douglas fir. I optioned to venture out around 6 a.m. just after the early sunrise to capture photos of backlit plant life in the morning golden hour. To my surprise, the sound of a pika, a small, mountain-dwelling mammal related to rabbits and hares, made its distinctive call, and I spotted it on a rock 50 feet away. I had to scramble back to the campsite to attach my 100- to 400-millimeter lens in order to snap a photo of the little critter. Luckily, the Pika remained in the same spot for a great photo.
I would recommend this area of Mount St. Helens to wildlife and plant enthusiasts alike. After breakfast, we set out to the Goat Marsh Research Natural Area. The road conditions were rough on the National Forest Service Road 8123 leading to the trailhead, but with some caution, a lower-clearance sedan can do the job.
The Goat Marsh Research Natural Area provides old growth forest scenes along the trail, which leads to a marsh offering reflective views of the volcano. The trail’s distance is 2.4 miles out and back has an elevation gain of 275 feet, according to AllTrails. At the beginning, roughly 0.2 miles in, the trail crosses a creek bed, which is dry in July. After that, a sign directs hikers toward Goat Marsh because the first portion of the trail is paired with the Kalama Ski Trail.
To finish off the southern Mount St. Helens experience, we ventured east along the National Forest Service Road 83, which had some rough conditions but was manageable yet again with a lower-clearance vehicle (at your own risk). Once you complete the drive, exploration is unlimited with views of the lahar on the southeast portion of Mount St. Helens, dried riverbeds and the Ape Canyon and Lava Canyon trails accessible from the end of the road.
After enjoying the views of the southeastern portion of the mountain, we concluded our overnight adventure with a stop at the Cougar Bar and Grill in Cougar for sandwiches. The entire town of Cougar and its close proximity to the three Lewis River lakes: Merwin, Yale and Swift, has much to offer for visitors The trip to the southern portion of the volcanic monument is a little more than an hour from Battle Ground and an hour from Woodland.
For more information on the area, visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/visit/national-monuments/mount-st-helens.
