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Distance:
1.0 Mile / 1.6 km
Type:
Out-and-Back
Difficulty:
Easy
Time to Hike:
~30 minutes
Features:
Surface Type:
Paved
Park:
Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
Town:
Toutle, Washington
Directions:
46.276693, -122.216535
Added:
November 24, 2017
Updated:
January 23, 2020

The Boundary Trail to the Mount St Helens Lookout is a short 1 mile hike that starts and ends at the Johnston Ridge Observatory. The trail is mostly uphill on the way to the main observation point, but it's paved and accessible. You can hike as far or as short as you want since Mt St Helens is within plain view from the beginning of the trail.

From the observation points along this trail you can see for miles around where the mountain spewed its ash and covered most of the vegetation. Hiking within the blast zone requires a permit since the vegetation is slowly growing back and the park system does not want to disturb the land too much. The volcano is still technically active as well, so this may be another reason why they keep hikers and backpackers to a minimum on the trails within the blast zone.

If you plan to visit Mount St Helens, this is definitely the trail to stop by; however, the drive in takes a while. You'll be driving on WA-504 one-way for a while into the wilderness before you reach the Johnston Ridge Observatory, but it's well worth a trip.

Note: This road is seasonal and is likely closed in the winter, late Fall, and early Spring.

Explore 8 trails near Toutle, WA
  1. Parking

    46.276693, -122.216535
  2. Main Trailhead

    46.275307, -122.21674
Explore other trail routes for this hike, added by the MyHikes Community via Trip Reports.
No community routes found. To add your own route as a Community Route for this Trail guide, please leave a Trip Report with a GPX file on this Trail.

Seasons

Spring, Summer, Fall
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127 '

Total Change
181 '

Ascent
120 '

Descent

Photo Albums

1 Trip Report

No Star-Ratings
Write-up by:
Admin user profile picture
1.0 mile / 1.6 km
Trail added
November 24, 2017
Hiked on
August 20, 2014
Updated on
January 23, 2020

Weather Forecast

In Toutle, WA

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Dave Miller
MyHikes Founder & Admin