Lahar Viewpoint

A short walk to the east brings you to a small hill and the viewpoint. This area was swept by a lahar within 15 minutes after the onset of the May 18, 1980, eruption. At this point, the speed of the lahar was estimated at about 44 miles per hour. Conspicuous notch in the east rim of Mount St. Helens is a truncated valley cut by the Shoestring Glacier.

-- Excerpt from: Doukas, 1990, Road Guide to Volcanic Deposits of Mount St. Helens and Vicinity, Washington: USGS Bulletin 1859, 53p.

Lahar Viewpoint Cornucopia

Lahar Viewpoint, Stratigraphy Viewpoint, and Lava Canyon Trail are clustered. This area is an interpretive cornucopia. Many geologic features are within walking distance of the parking areas. Fragmental material and lava flows from older eruptions of Mount St. Helens and dramatic effects (deposits, scarred and killed trees, mudlines, and stream channel adjustments) of the 1980 eruption are visible here. Take the short (several hundred yards) trail over bouldery terrain to the east toward a small hill. Near here the lahar split, one branch flowing down Pine Creek and the other down the Muddy River gorge. A large, lone tree south of the road is scarred on its upstream side, showing the maximum height of the lahar in this location.

-- 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