We are planning to spend one night (June 1) in Castle Rock, between visiting the west and east sides of Mt. St. Helens. The Timberland Inn and Suites and Mt. St. Helens Motel are both quite reasonably priced. The Silver Lake Motel and Lakeside Resort costs a bit more, but looks quite nice. Has anyone stayed at any of these places or have a recommendation. And does anyone know if the Cinedome Theater, in Castle Rock, is still operating?

The only movie houses in the area are Regal Cinemas in Kelso and Longview--about eleven miles south of Castle Rock.

Longview, a town of about 35,000, has much more to offer in motels and restaurants than does Castle Rock.

Or you could drive a bit further north and have a hotel with your movie at McMenamin's Olympic Club Hotel in Centralia. http://mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=...ion%20Homepage

I've decided to stay at the Silver Lake Waterfront Motel at Silver Lake Resort, on Spirit Lake Road.

I was interested in seeing the film about the eruption of Mt. St. Helens at the Cinedome Theater. Is that still operating?

Does anyone know if Routes 25 and 99 to Spirit Lake and Windy Ridge are likely to be open 3 weeks from now? After seeing the west side of Mt. St. Helens, we'd like to go north to 12 and then east to 25, and south to 99 and Spirit Lake and Windy Ridge.

How did you find Silver Lake Resort? I couldn't find anything about it on TripAdvisor or even the Silver Lake, Washington, web site. I finally located the place using a Yellow Pages search.

Please give us a report on this hard-to-find place which is hard to evaluate from the murky photos on the web site.

See http://www.silverlake-resort.com/

I'm pretty sure the Cinedome is still open, at least it was last summer.

As of today, Rte 25 is closed south of the junction w/ Rte 99. Rte 99 is closed too. As I noted on another thread, we have commonly taken this route on Memorial Day Weekend, and these roads have been open. We got a pile of late season snow, which is lasting longer than usual, but I would still bet on these roads being open.

Here is a link to road conditions:
http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/recreation...ns/roads.shtml

Just for fun, here's some photos I took of St. Helens during a photo reconnaissance 2 summers ago:
http://homepage.mac.com/alfriedman/PhotoAlbum52.html

Thanks! If all of the roads are open, is there any reason to do a particular side on Friday and the other on Saturday? E.g., might there be some guided walks on one side but not the other on the weekend but not on Friday. Or might it be much more crowded on the weekend on one side than the other?

I'd suggest the west side first for a couple for a couple of reasons. The reason I suggest this is that the three national park visitors centers on the west side provide the best introduction to the mountain. The lowest, upon entering the park, gives a good overview of volcanoes in general and the events leading up to the eruption. Also, the slide shows/films in that center are quite good -bone chilling accounts of survivors. The second visitor's center focuses on the reforestation of the area - plants and animals returning. The top one, at Johnstone Ridge is on the geology of an eruption and this particular one. There is a great movie at this observatory, as well - not to be missed. It gives you goose bumps. (I have never been to the private theater you are referring to, but have seen it in Castle Rock. I'd guess the NPS movies are as good, and they are included in the price of your visit.)

I believe there is only one major visitors center on the east side, at Windy Ridge. I don't think the educational aspect is as complete on that side.

Another reason to start on the west side - I believe the west side is more visited, so it would be better to hit it on Friday when it is less crowded, and save the other side to Saturday.

Thanks very much, Orcas. I'd been leaning toward doing to west side first, and you have given me a number of good reasons for that. I really appreciate your (and everyone else's) advice.

Judilie

I'd appreciate recommendations of restaurants for dinner, in or near Castle Rock. We're adventurous eaters who like tasty food. Atmosphere is not very important if the good is good.

Tasty brings Mexican to mind, but I doubt there is a good Mexican restaurant in Castle Rock. Check out B & B Cafe at 322 Wilcox Street--it's popular at least.

Maybe the folks at your interesting motel will have some suggestions. Why not write them an e-mail query?

We ended up staying at the Silver Lake Motel and Lakeside Resort, and it was very nice. The room had nice kitchen facilities, and we had a deck that overhung the lake. (We aren't fisherpeople, but some people were fishing right off of their decks.) In the morning we rented a boat and went around the lake.

Thanks for the update. On a recent trip to Mt. Rainier and Mt. Saint Helens, we stayed at Seasons Motel in Morton, WA. It was a satisfactory place, but we had a very inferior meal at the nearby Mexican restaurant.

judilee, where did you eat during your stay? Did anything particularly impress you?

We had dinner at what was recommended to us as the best restaurant in town, but I don't remember the name. It was OK.