The last day of a 2-week trip to OR/WA coast & nat'l parks, we will be leaving Rainier (Ashford, WA) and driving back to the Portland airport for our flight home the next day. We plan to spend the day driving through Mt. St. Helen's NM. We have two route options: 1) west to I-5 and then 504 to Johnston Ridge or 2) to Randle, then down FR 25 to 99, then back out to 25 and around the south side of the monument on 503. Since the day in question is July 30, I assume FR 25 will be open.

It looks like the east route would be somewhat shorter but not a lot. Either way will involve backtracking, either on 99 or 504. Obviously this will be more of a "drive by" than a visit, no time for anything other than a few brief walks, no matter which way we do it. I lean toward the 25/99/503 route since it's somewhat off the beaten track, but since we have never been there, I don't know if missing Johnston Ridge Observatory and the monument VCs is something we'd end up sorry about. Not sure how scenic FR 25 is (no little scenic route dots on my AAA map) nor how long it would take to drive 99 in and out (plus numerous stops). And I'm not finding a lot of information on doing it that way, only info about 504.

Does anyone who has spent some time at Mt. St. Helen's and driven 99, 503 and 504 have any comments/suggestions?

We have been all around the mountain, and for first time visitors, I absolutely recommend going on the main route and up to Johnston Ridge Observatory. Yes, it is very much worth it!!! There are several visitors centers along that route and from I-5 up to JRO it is about 50 miles. Do not turn around part way!!! Go all the way to JRO, and absolutely see the short film, then you can go to the far end of the parking lot and wander out on a trail for a few minutes since you are limited on time.

I remember the day the mountain blew, and even though it has been many years, we still go back just to see up close how things have changed after the massive devastation. The visitors centers are excellent even for those of us that are very familiar with it all.

I'm not big on Visitor Centers, but Johnson Ridge is probably the best one we've been to- I would say a Do Not Miss.

Because you don't have much time... I too think you should still with the tried and true path.

The Johnson Ridge path is about 52 miles from the Interstate, to and fro, and you can get a grand view from a spot even without paying to go to the visitor's center.

Although, let me say, IF it happens to be "cloudy" as you reach exit #49 off of Interstate 5, then you might not even want to bother trying to see the mountain. The path is full of nature, and not slow by any means, but seeing the mountain is nearly everything...

Since my original post I have done some more reading about the "back way" - went to pages 2 and 3 of Google search for a change - and the views from FR 99 in photos I've found look pretty impressive. I know why we're making this trip in July, a time we usually don't like to travel because of too many other people - photos Spirobulldog posted a couple of years ago with spectacular wildflowers and also only other trip to OR was in May, so we didn't go to Crater Lake because the road was closed.

But don't know yet why everyone recommends the north route, apart from Johnston Ridge Observ. It looks to me like we'd have as much as an hour more for seeing stuff on 25/99 unless viewpoints are a lot farther from the road than on 504 or driving is a lot slower. Also, we might have time to go by Ape Cave (lower tube only) if we don't spend too much time on 99. Photos I have seen on the Internet taken from the north don't appear any more impressive than those from the east.

Hope it won't be cloudy but wouldn't be surprised. Pure fog, fog, fog in Redwood parks last summer, never saw Denali (the mt.) either although we spent 6 days where we might have been able to see it (including visiting friends in Fairbanks, who occasionally see it from there) if the weather had cooperated. If too cloudy to see the volcano, at least Ape Cave would be option.

Johnston Ridge has a lot of great interactive exhibits, but the best part for me was the theater offering a film about the mountain and the eruption...at the end of the film, the music swells, huge curtains open and you are looking directly at the crater. Pretty darn impressive.

... the fact that you have never been there further suggests that the main observatory will be just fine for you.

The awe to the whole experience is getting to the general area of the volcano and seeing, still, 34 years later, all of the trees in the immediate surroundings still, like twigs, each pointing away from the center of the blast.

The observatory itself would surely be the best guide as you try to recreate in your mind's eye the power with which the thing erupted.

The very best Mt. St. Helens story I recall, was, of people driving around in Eastern Washington, in/near darkness (because of the volcanic ash)... and of (just about) everybody experiencing their cars dying, because of the thick, volcanic ash filling their air filters. Even police cars were going dead for that reason. But one ingenious person seemed to have an engine with more stamina/ability than did anybody else in the area... and the police (flagged him down, is probably the most accurate way to put it) to ask him how he managed to keep going.

The secret was his having surrounded his air filter with pantyhose... and so, before long, the various police departments bought up all of the pantyhose in stock in nearby stores... to keep their vehicles operational.

"L'Eggs are here"...

We too were coming from Mr Rainier and chose to come in from the East side. You do get a good view of the mountain from that side--we could even see steam coming out. 25 was slow and curvy and the east rode in (#?) was even curvier. That side of the mountain is the direction the trees all blew down and huge areas of them are still laying in that direction--very neat to see.

I haven't been in on the west side but we enjoyed what we did. Give yourself plenty of time. It is slow going.