Gifford Pinchot National Forest

Named for the first Chief of the United States Forest Service and father of American conservation, Gifford Pinchot National Forest encompasses 1.37 million acres of the southern Washington Cascades, anchored by two iconic volcanoes. The Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, established after the catastrophic 1980 eruption, documents one of the most remarkable ecological recovery stories in scientific history, with life returning to what was once a moonscape of ash and devastation. Mount Adams, at 12,281 feet the second highest peak in Washington, draws mountaineers, backcountry skiers, and hikers to its glaciated slopes and wildflower meadows. The Indian Heaven Wilderness preserves a volcanic plateau dotted with alpine lakes and huckleberry fields that have been harvested by Native peoples for thousands of years and continue to draw berry pickers each August. Underground, the Ape Cave lava tube stretches over 13,000 feet as one of the longest continuously mapped lava tubes in North America, offering a unique spelunking experience. The forest also encompasses the Trapper Creek and Goat Rocks Wilderness areas, old-growth Douglas fir forests, and the Wind River Experimental Forest, one of the oldest continuously operating forest research sites in the Pacific Northwest.