Mount Adams, Washington
Volcanic Fields - Mount Adams Vicinity

Adams87_mount_adams_from_trout_lake_11-05-87.jpg
Mount Adams, Washington, as seen from Trout Lake, Washington.
USGS Photograph taken on November 5, 1987, by Lyn Topinka.
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Mount Adams Volcano

Mount Adams
-- Geographic Setting, and Geologic and Eruptive History
Mount Adams stands astride the Cascade Crest some 50 kilometers due east of Mount St. Helens. The towering stratovolcano (3,742 Meters - 12,276 Feet) is marked by a dozen glaciers, most of which are fed radially from its summit icecap. In the High Cascades, Mount Adams is second in eruptive volume only to Mount Shasta, and it far surpasses its loftier neighbor Mount Rainier (which is perched on a pedestal of Miocene granodiorite). Adams's main cone exceeds 200 cubic kilometers, and at least half as much more was eroded during late Pleistocene time form earlier high-standing components of the compund edifice: peripheral basalt adds another 70 cubic kilometers or so. -- Excerpt from: Hildreth, 1990

Volcanic Fields - Mount Adams Vicinity

Mount Adams, Indian Heaven, Goat Rocks, and Simcoe Mountains Volcanic Fields
-- Volcanic Fields and Centers near Mount Adams
During the past one million years, numerous volcanic vents were active throughout south-central Washington, from Vancouver to Goldendale. Most were probably active for relatively short times ranging from days to tens of years. Unlike Mount Adams, which has erupted repeatedly for hundreds of thousands of years, these vents typically did not erupt more than once. Rather, each erupting vent built a separate, small volcano, and over time a field of numerous overlapping volcanoes was created. Clusters of these vents define the Mount Adams, Indian Heaven, and Simcoe Mountains volcanic fields. In addition, the Goat Rocks volcanic center lies 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of Mount Adams. The Mount Adams and Indian Heaven fields have been the most active recently; the Simcoe field and the Goat Rocks center have not erupted for hundreds of thousands of years. -- Excerpt from: Scott, et.al., 1995

To Get There

Mount Adams:
Fifty kilometers north (30 miles) of the Columbia River, Mount Adams is reached most rapidly from Trout Lake, Washington, which is two hours drive from Portland, Oregon, by paved road. U. S. Forest Service roads from Trout lake, Glenwood, or Randle, Washington, lead toward the volcano.

Goat Rocks:
The Goat Rocks volcano is in southern Washington, 70 kilometers west of Yakima and 15 kilometers south of White Pass. Access is by foot along the Pacific Crest trail system from White Pass or several feeder trails east and west of the crest.

Indian Heaven:
The center of the field lies approximately 60 kilometers east of Vancouver, Washington, and 35 kilometers north of the Columbia River, in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The field is accessible from the south from Washington Highway 14 at Carson via U. S. Froest Service road 30 and 65; from the west via USFS 30 from the Lewis River; and from the east from Trout lake via USFS 24. A network of logging roads and trails, connecting with the Pacific Crest trail no.2000, provides access to most areas.

Simcoe Mountains:
U. S. Highway 97 passes east of Mount Simcoe and associated ski facilities. Part of the Simcoe Voclanic Field is on the Yakima Indian Reservation.

-- Driving excerpts from: Hildreth, Swanson, Hammond, and Wood, 1990, IN: Wood and Kienle, (eds.), 1990, Volcanoes of North America - United States and Canada: Cambridge University Press

Locations Maps

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Major West Coast Volcanoes - Washington, Oregon, and California

[Map,31K,InlineGIF]
Mount Adams and Vicinity

[Map,20K,InlineGIF]
Mount Adams

Useful Links

Gifford Pinchot National Forest -- U.S. Forest Service websites, scroll to desired Forest
MORE Useful Sites -- CVO Menu, includes Links to Volcano Info, Seismicity, Hydrology, etc.

For More Information

Mount Adams Volcano Menu

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04/15/08, Lyn Topinka

Mount Adams, Washington Volcanic Fields - Mount Adams Vicinity

Mount Adams, Washington
Volcanic Fields - Mount Adams Vicinity