Washington

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(123,822 posts) Sat May 31, 2025, 08:31 PM Saturday

Mount St. Helens visitor center to reopen this weekend with upgrades

The Mount St. Helens visitor center is reopening its doors with the first major renovations since it opened in 1986.

Starting on May 31, the center will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Prior to the renovation, exhibits remained largely unchanged since they were first installed nearly four decades ago, and only six years after the volcano erupted. The center closed Sept. 30, 2024, and work began on upgrades with funding from the state.

The $1.1 million renovation will be centered around the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and the 1980 eruption and will feature more tactile, sensory, interactive exhibits tailored to kids and families.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/briefs/mount-st-helens-visitor-center-to-reopen-this-weekend-with-upgrades/

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Mount St. Helens visitor center to reopen this weekend with upgrades (Original Post) Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Saturday OP

I was forty miles away at a Boy Scout camp out when it erupted. Aristus Saturday #1

Which Mt. Saint Helens Visitor Center? Thunderbeast Saturday #2

Aristus

(70,062 posts)

1. I was forty miles away at a Boy Scout camp out when it erupted.

Reply to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Sat May 31, 2025, 09:30 PM

Saturday

But the wind was blowing the other way at the time. So the first I knew something was wrong was when all of these helicopters from Fort Lewis sped overhead on the way to the site.

Just then, someone ran in from the adjacent campsite shouting the news.

Thunderbeast

(3,653 posts)

2. Which Mt. Saint Helens Visitor Center?

Reply to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Sat May 31, 2025, 09:37 PM

Saturday

Washington State Parks operates a site near Castle Rock.

The federal Department of Interior normally operates the Johnson Ridge center... the closest facility to the crater. That has been closed since last year due to a landslide, and may not re-open until next summer. The original visitor site opened just a few years after the big eruption, and has operated as an education facility. I spoke with a friend this week who read that the older federal facility was being re-purposed for the general public pending the completion of the road repair.

While the lower facilities offer information about the 1980 events, the Johnson Ridge facility is spectacular! The documentary film ends with curtains opening to show the crater, juxtaposed with film of the mountain pre-eruption.

Johnson Ridge is named for David Johnson, a geologist who lost his life that morning while studying the recent volcanic activity from the "safety" of the ridge six miles from the mountain's summit.

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