When Mt. St. Helens’ summit slid into Spirit Lake in 1980 it launched a gigantic wave that sloshed 800 feet up the lake’s far shore, obliterating three youth camps and denuding the slopes. Today wildflowers and small trees have returned to this landscape, but hikers can still see the pale high-water mark left by the wave and the vast jumble of driftwood it washed into the lake.

Today the only access to Spirit Lake’s shore is on the popular 1.2-mile Harmony Falls Trail.  For a better view of the lake, you can hike the Boundary Trail 2.2 miles up to Norway Pass—or you can continue to the top of Mt. Margaret for the best view of all. Pets are not allowed on these trails.

Drive Interstate . . .

This chapter taken from the book 100 Hikes: Northwest Oregon