One Day Wilderness: St. Helens Lake overlook

The Boundary Trail is a 56 mile trail from the Mt. St. Helens area to Council Lake near Mt. Adams, it follows the border of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. I have hiked a bunch of sections of the Boundary, but I feel that certain stretches are simply more scenic than others. Drive Hwy. 5 to exit 49 and make a right onto WA-504 which takes you to the Observatory. After enjoying the Observatory, jump on Boundary Trail 1 as it follows the ridge with amazing views of the Blast Zone and inside the crater of the Mountain. The trail drops a bit to an intersection with Harry’s Ridge (also a good one, named for Harry Truman who owned a resort on Spirit Lake and died in the 1980’s eruption). After going through a cool rock arch, the trail climbs through a spectacular display of fall color as the peaks of the Mount Margaret Backcountry come into view and deep blue St. Helens Lake opens up below you. Cross country travel is prohibited here so don’t drop down to the lake, if you want a better view, take the ridge a 1.2 mile more to 5727 ft. Coldwater Peak for views of Mt. Adams and Rainier. It is 9.8 miles round trip to the overlook from the Observatory.

St. Helens and Spirit Lake from the Boundary Trail

Inside the Crater from the Boundary Trail

Snags and stumps above Spirit lake further along the Boundary