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See also: 3a.
Johnston Ridge; 3b. Seeing 7
Wonders; 3d. SR504; 3e. Hikes; 1a.
Packet Introduction
Development of the Volcano As a Showplace. The 1980 eruption offered Americans an ideal
opportunity to learn about volcanoes.
MSH was easily accessible yet not too close to major populations. It was big but not too big. Science saw it as a volcano research
lab. Educators saw it as a hands-on
volcano experience. Environmentalists
were interested in recovery. The timber
industry wanted the public to see the commercial side of forests impacted by
catastrophe. Together Americans could
develop an unequaled volcano complex for the whole world to visit.
The planning led to a
110,000-acre national volcanic monument, five visitor centers and a world-class
mountain highway to access it all. The
first visitor center opened just six years after the eruption. Naturally it was named “Mount St. Helens
Visitor Center” but now that name causes confusion because there are more. Located just five miles east of Interstate 5
it covered all aspects of volcanoes, the eruption and recovery. Thirteen years after the eruption, the
highway was completed to Coldwater Ridge where the second Forest Service
visitor center opened (MP 43). It emphasizes
recovery in the blast zone. In 1995 the
Weyerhaeuser Forest Learning Center (MP 33.5) which depicts the timber
industry’s struggle with the eruption opened.
The following year Cowlitz County Hoffstadt Bluffs visitor center opened
at mile post 27. Here at the beginning
of the Blast Zone was a place to dine while gazing up the debris-clogged,
erosion-scarred Upper Toutle Valley. In
1997 the final 10 miles of highway opened along with the visitor center at the
end of the road, Johnston Ridge Observatory.
The $165 million highway and $35 million worth of visitor centers have
paid off. Each year more visitors come
from around the world--over 3.25 million in 1998.
The west side volcano
attractions are listed in order of appearance from I-5 to correlate with the
self-guided tour sheet (3d), not importance.
Some are functional, others educational, still others recreational, and
one addresses very important commercial concerns--eating and gifts. The Johnston Ridge Observatory has been
covered in a separate sheet since it is not only the most dramatic and
elaborate of the five but also offers the finest view. While the Johnston Ridge and Silver Lake
Forest Service visitor centers are seasonal, Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center is
open year around (snow permitting) except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New
Years. The restaurant is open year
around but not all days or hours off-season.
Weyerhaeuser is closed during the winter (details follow). All five centers have a variety of outside
walks/sights. Four have helpful staffed
information desks and a wide selection in their bookstores. The three Forest Service centers provide
scheduled interpretative talks all day long.
These uniformed speakers may be volunteers, staff or summer interns and
are all enthusiastic and interesting.
But if you ask them about creation or wonder about those long ages of
geology, they will say, “You can learn about that at a little place just west
of Toutle. It is called creation center
or something... On the south side of
the highway.” Yes, they actually direct
people our way! A fee is required for
admittance to Forest Service attractions (see 1A).
MP 5 Mount St.
Helens Visitor Center (also called Silver Lake Visitor
Center). Open daily 9-5 May-September.
(360)274-2131. Gives an overall
orientation to MSH. Displays show the
geological history of the area, area Indian lore of the mountain, the world’s
volcanoes (lighted map), MSH’s eruptive history, and all about the 1980 events. One can walk down into a model of a
volcano. The story of the eruption can
be told in many fascinating, informative ways.
Each visitor center except Hoffstadt Bluffs relates the drama in its own
unique video/visual program. The
award-winning film here is 22 minutes long.
The 16,000 square foot building, Cowlitz County’s largest museum, cost
$5.2 million. It combines forest, lake
and mountain in a striking setting on the shores of Silver Lake. Display boards on an interpretative trail
inform on waterfowl, wildlife and native vegetation. Looking across the lake on good days one can see MSH 31 miles
away. The building’s 32-foot cathedral
ceiling is surrounded by 150-foot Douglas firs. The emphasis on evolution is heaviest in this building and
diminishes with each newer visitor center.
MP 21 Sediment
Retention Structure (SRS).
This is a dam on the Toutle River designed not to hold back water but to
trap water-born sediment. It is 184’
high and 1800 feet long, the largest earthen dam in North America. It was built at a cost of $66 million and
completed in 1989. It slows down the
water so sediment sinks to the bottom.
Why was it necessary? Before the
eruption the amount of sediment transported downstream annually would cover a
football field to a height of 325 feet.
The average annual sediment going down stream in the five years after
the eruption would cover the same football field to a height of 360 miles.
(The current volume of sediment in the river is much less than a
football field one mile high.) The SRS
road goes one mile to a parking lot and gift shop with excellent display room
and video. A 300’ trail leads to an
overview which looks slightly up at the dam’s face so what is happening on the
upstream side cannot be seen. A
three-eighths mile path takes you to the top of the dam where you can see an
incredible amount of sediment already captured. In fact, the Corps of Engineers may have to raise the height of
the dam at some future time. Only the
north wall of the spillway can be seen from SR 504. It is located about a mile after the turnoff on the south side of
the highway.
MP 27 Hoffstadt
Bluffs (a restaurant and gift shop). Open 9-9 during summer; shorter hours at
other times. (360)274-7750. No admission charge. Owned by Cowlitz County. Built at a cost of $3.2 million and dedicated
in 1996. First-class, full-service
restaurant and most complete MSH gift shop. The next closest to the mountain
full-service restaurants are the 19 mile house and Toutle Diner at mile post
10. Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center has
a fast foods restaurant. The Hoffstadt wooden cathedral structure is located on
a bluff overlooking the Toutle Valley, the dining room provides a breath-taking
view through its high windows which face up valley with the mountain in the
distance. On the second floor is a cathedral-ceilinged
banquet room for groups. This visitor
center has a very informative scale model of the volcano area with careful
topographical contours. In the lobby
are large pictures of the volcano story and a extensive rack of newspaper
stories from the time of the eruption.
(If you read everything, allow two hours for this rack alone.) Nearby is a helicopter port which provides
flights over the volcano. See
3g-Sources for web site.
MP 33.5 Weyerhaeuser
Forest Learning Center.
Open dates vary: generally open daily 10-6 from May something to October
something. Closed during winter. (360)414-3439. No admission fee. After
Johnston Ridge this is my favorite place, maybe because how mankind fulfills
God’s command to “subdue the earth and have dominion over it” fascinates
me. Opened in 1995 this center focuses
on the timber industry, the impact of the eruption on it and how it is
restoring the destroyed commercial forests.
A re-creation of the dimly-lit forest floor surrounds you in the
lobby--trees, ferns, salal, animals.
Even a mechanical woodpecker in a tree does his hammering every so
often. Next is the darkened eruption
theater with a short eruption video.
Then a room shows the effects of the blast--the path of the blast sound
(it was heard selectively for up to 600 miles away due to the physics of sound
waves), the area damaged and extent of damage in various areas--and salvage
operations. Next comes the replanting
effort, then a large model of a forest and a helicopter cockpit to sit in while
a video takes you over the forest. Then
the products of the forest and the recycling of those products. A comfortable viewing room shows a video
about forest animals and a gift shop conclude the features inside this $4.5
million, 10,000 square foot building.
But the spectacular setting and view outside is still to be stated. Perched 1300 feet above the Toutle Valley
floor, the center commands a sweeping view up the valley with the mountain in
the distance. A half-mile trail
descends 250’ down the slope providing more views of the landscape. Also playground & five picnic tables.
MP 43 Coldwater
Ridge Visitor Center.
Open 10-6 April to September; 10-5 at other times, weather permitting
(360)274-2131. Emphasizes the
destruction of life and biological recovery in the blast zone. Largest (28,000 square feet) and most
expensive ($11.5 million) visitor center, it has its place among them. With its green roof and extensive glass it
stands out like a story-book castle on the barren ridge top. At an elevation of 3200 feet it doesn’t have
the broad view of Johnston Ridge (4250) or Elk Rock viewpoint (3750). Further, portions of MSH are hidden by high
ridges to the SE and the angle prevents seeing into the crater. But it looks 500 feet down on beautiful,
serene Coldwater Lake, its delta and it is surrounded by the devastation of the
eruption. Also, it has a large
cafeteria area, the only food beyond Hoffstadt Bluffs. However, the educational value of the
display area is the primary mission of this center. The displays are interesting, understandable, and some are
interactive. If one will spend 90
minutes reading the displays, taking some notes and later thinking through those
notes, he will have a basic understanding of how life starts over after a catastrophe. “Discover the fascinating ways that plants
and animals have re-colonized the blast zone... Enjoy panoramic views of the
volcano, newly formed lakes, and the debris-filled Toutle River Valley. Learn the stories of the many ways life
emerged from the ash...” -VR. The 1/4th
mile Winds of Change Interpretive Walk explains the havoc of the stone wind
blast that slammed into Coldwater Ridge and those gentle winds of time, plants
and animals that have aided recovery.
MP
45 Coldwater Lake Recreation Area.
This incredibly beautiful five mile long lake framed by canyon walls up to 2000
feet high was formed by the eruption.
The 1/4th mile Birth of a Lake Interpretive Trail explains how the
debris avalanche dammed the creek so it became a 766 acre lake up to a half
mile wide and how the Corps of Engineers stabilized the dam to prevent a
downstream disaster. Lloyd Anderson
6/12/00
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