Mount St. Helens All-Inclusive Nature Tour

Travel to Mount Saint Helens and environs, from Portland, on this ALL-INCLUSIVE tour with a guide who will discuss the geology, ecology, climate, history, and legends of the area, as well as the history of US public lands. Your guide will lead you on hikes near waterfalls, through lava tubes, and within oldgrowth forests.
You will see some of the most unique geological features in North America, including North America's longest continuous lava tube and a lava tree mold forest. Weather permitting, you will be driven to the closest viewpoint into the crater of the volcano, where you will be provided a picnic lunch, overlooking Spirit Lake. No matter how hot the weather, you'll enjoy natural air conditioning as you hike by dramatic waterfalls and through primeval forest. You'll have the option of a dinner/beer stop (own expense) on the way back to Portland. *THIS IS A 12-HOUR TOUR*

What's included:

• If weather does not allow mountain visibility, a modified itinerary will take you to bonus stops.
• Hotel pickup/drop-off in Portland area
• Headlamps
• PA system to hear guide while driving
• Professional naturalist guide

Not included:

• Hotel pickup/drop-off in Seattle area

What to expect:

Duration: between 11 hours and 12 hours

Mount St. Helens

, , 98616, Washington

Travel to Mt. St. Helens and environs with a naturalist guide who will discuss the geology, ecology, climate, history, and legends of the area, as well as the history of US public lands. Your guide will lead you on hikes near waterfalls, through lava tubes, and within oldgrowth forests. Stops both inside and outside of Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.

7 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Ape Cave Lava Tubes

highway 503 past Cougar, Longview, 98616, Washington

Traverse North America's longest continuous lava tube! No matter how hot it is outside, the temperature in the cave is a constant 42F (5.5C), so bring layers. Also, be sure to bring shoes that are suitable for scrambling, and wipe those shoes before entering the bats' home so that they don't get white-nose syndrome!

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Trail of Two Forests Trail

42218 NE Yale Bridge Rd, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, Amboy, 98601-4601, Washington

A lava mold forest. Walk through a wonderland of wells and tunnels, that's hard to pull kids away from.

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

WIndy Ridge Viewpoint

Forest Service Rd. 99, Amboy, Washington

Weather permitting, we'll take you to the closest viewpoint with a view into the crater that is accessible by vehicle. There you'll have a picnic lunch, and have the opportunity to burn off your lunch by ascending the 357 stairs to a 365-degree view overlooking Spirit Lake, with the mountain looming. If conditions are clear enough, you'll see four stratovolcanoes: St. Helens, Rainier, Adams, and Hood.

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Johnston Ridge Observatory

21500 Spirit Lake Highway, , Toutle, 98649, Washington

The place where Dave Johnston got on the radio and yelled "Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!", the fateful morning of May 18, 1980.

Pass by without stopping

Mount St. Helens Visitor Center

3029 Spirit Lake Hwy, Castle Rock, 98611, Washington

The visitor center with the most detailed history and geology of Mt. St. Helens.

Pass by without stopping

Lava Canyon

South Cascades, Stevenson, Washington

A fairytale landscape of sapphire waterfalls and blue-grey andesite that were scoured and smoothed by the 1980 lahar resulting from the rapid melting of the Shoestring Glacier by pyroclastic flows.

Pass by without stopping

Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center

Hwy. 504, milepost 43, , Amboy, Washington

The visitor center that provides a special retro experience, with a movie about Mt. St. Helens circa 1985, and a 1990s-era Disneyland Haunted Mansion-style park ranger statue, who will give you a lecture.

Pass by without stopping