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USGS/Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, Washington

Mount St. Helens and Vicinity
Points of Interest

Short Road Viewpoint

Image, telephoto view of Mount St. Helens

Telephoto view of the north side of Mount St. Helens as seen from Short Road Viewpoint
USGS Photo by Lyn Topinka, April 1982



Driving Directions
  • From Interstate 5 -- take Exit 68 (Highway 12 - Mossyrock - Morton Exit)
  • Travel east on Highway 12, approximately 27 miles. (Morton is another 3 miles.)
  • Turn north (left) on Short Road. Park where appropriate. On a clear day, Mount St. Helens crater and dome are visible.


Short Road Viewpoint

Short Road Viewpoint

If the weather is good, this viewpoint affords a distant view of the Mount St. Helens crater, neighboring mountains, and the glacially carved valley of the Cowlitz River. Bellicum Peak, the sharp mountain to the northwest as you climb Short Road, was not covered by glaciers during the Pleistocene Epoch. Imagine this lonely peak sticking up in the middle of a broad sheet of glacial ice during the extensive Hayden Creek glaciation.

Excerpt from: Pringle, 1993, Roadside Geology of Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument and Vicinity: Washington Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geology and Earth Resources Information Circular 88



Other Nearby Points of Interest

Map, Mount St. Helens Points of Interest - Interactive Imagemap, click to enlarge Mount St. Helens
Points of Interest -
Interactive Imagemap

Click button for Cowlitz River Cowlitz River (west)
Click button for Woods Creek Woods Creek Information Station (east)


Other Menus of Interest


Useful Links

Click button to link to the USFS National Monument Website Link to: USFS Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument

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URL for CVO HomePage is: <http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/home.html>
URL for this page is: <http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/NatMonument/PointsInterest/short_road.html>
If you have questions or comments please contact: <GS-CVO-WEB@usgs.gov>
03/27/07, Lyn Topinka