Miles: .3 mile loop
Elevation Gain/Highest: minimal/1900ft
Map: Green Trails Mt. St. Helens 332s and Mount St. Helens 364, NatGeo Mt. St. Helens/Mount Adams
Favorite Eats After Hike: Fargher Lakehouse, or just Pack A Cooler. You can learn more about these places in my Must Hike Must Eat Eating Out Guide.
Find out current conditions and as always, practice Leave No Trace. Pretty please.
Hike details:
The Trail of Two Forests sits next door to the popular Ape Caves and offers a short taste of the volcanic history found at the base of Mount St. Helens. Entirely on raised boardwalk, you can walk through a thin forest of fir and cedar rising from the lava flow that encased an older stand of trees known as the Lava Cast Forest, and left multiple holes and tunnels as the enveloped pines decomposed over time.
There are information kiosks along the way to learn more about the phenomenon and a short tunnel created by two linking trees that you can crawl through if brave enough!
My trip report:
6/29/2020
We tacked on one more hike this day after walking the Pine Creek Trail and it turned out to be such a treat. We weren’t so sure when we pulled up to the trailhead as the parking lot was full of construction machinery and fencing but we were able to park long the road outside the lot where the road is currently closed for the Ape Caves (but still hung our passes).
The beginning of the trail resembles the trail to the upper Ape Cave, moss carpeted over upturned layers of lava. But soon, there were multiple holes on the landscape where trees once stood, now immortalized in lava and lined with moss and other vegetation. There were even a few newer trees growing up through the impressions!
When we got to where the ladder goes down into the ground, I almost wish I had thought to bring my pack and headlamp. The hole was only about 4 feet deep but angular so I imagine you have to get down on all fours or your belly to go further. Maybe next time when I am prepared and we are not in the middle of a pandemic.
Finishing the short loop, there were more holes and the exit for the tunnel which is definitely claustrophobic. But, could be fun in different circumstances!
Directions: Take exit 21 at Woodland off I-5 and turn east on SR 503 towards Cougar. Continue through as the road becomes FR 90, past the Swift Reservoir, turning left on FR 83 signed for Ape Canyon. In less than 2 miles, turn left again on 8303. The trailhead is on the left before the winter gate for Ape Canyon (check current conditions to know if road is closed). Northwest Forest Pass needed except for winter when a WA Sno-Park pass is required. ADA accessible, privy available.
Click here for the other hikes we did and more in the area.
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