It’s time for the annual National Parks Club! Find out information about participating shops and more here.
Where is it located?
Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument is a U.S. National Monument that includes the area around Mount St. Helens in Cowlitz and Skamania Counties, Washington.
Whose land does it reside upon?
The volcano lawilátɬa is listed (as Lawetlat’la) on the National Register of Historic Places and acknowledged as a Traditional Cultural Property of significance to the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation.
When was it established?
August 26, 1982
About this park:
At 8:32 Sunday morning, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted, shaken by an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, the north face of this tall symmetrical mountain collapsed in a massive rock debris avalanche. In a few moments this slab of rock and ice slammed into Spirit Lake, crossed a ridge 1,300 feet high, and roared 14 miles down the Toutle River.
The avalanche rapidly released pressurized gases within the volcano. A tremendous lateral explosion ripped through the avalanche and developed into a turbulent, stone-filled wind that swept over ridges and toppled trees. Nearly 150 square miles of forest was blown over or left dead and standing.
At the same time a mushroom-shaped column of ash rose thousands of feet skyward and drifted downwind, turning day into night as dark, gray ash fell over eastern Washington and beyond. Wet, cement-like slurries of rock and mud scoured all sides of the volcano. Searing flows of pumice poured from the crater. The eruption lasted 9 hours, but Mount St. Helens and the surrounding landscape were dramatically changed within moments.
A vast, gray landscape lay where once the forested slopes of Mount St. Helens grew. In 1982 the President and Congress created the 110,000-acre National Volcanic Monument for research, recreation, and education. Inside the Monument, the environment is left to respond naturally to the disturbance.
Why did we choose these colors?
We used as inspiration many images of bright green lichen at Mt. St. Helens, including photos on this page: https://nwnature.net/lichens/index.htm
For more information:
NFS website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/visit/national-monuments/mount-st-helens