Independence Pass Loop

Independence Pass climbs from Forest Road 99 onto the ridge that forms the northeast lip of the Mt. St. Helens blast zone. The trail tops out around forty-seven hundred feet at the pass itself, with the volcano hard to the southwest and Spirit Lake spread directly below. From there the route was designed to connect with the Boundary Trail and loop back along the ridge — a six-and-a-half-mile circuit that traverses some of the most consequential geology in the Cascades.

The country here is what the eruption left behind in 1980. The original forest is gone; recovery has produced silver fir saplings, fireweed, beargrass, and lupine on the slopes that stabilized first, while exposed pumice and stripped trees still mark the path of the lateral blast. Wildlife — elk, hawks, occasional black bear — has returned in force.

The loop is currently broken. Significant washouts past the first mile and a half prevent connection with the Boundary Trail, so most parties hike out and back to viewpoints near the pass and turn around. Dogs are not permitted anywhere within Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.