The St. Helens Northern Passage

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Kelso, WA, US

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Unpaved

Picking up where the Goonies left off

376 km

6 031 m

Kelso to Portland via the north gravel side of Saint Helens and the paved length of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

Tire: 40c+
Days: 3 - 4

~40 miles of gravel

Envoyer vers l'appareil Export avancée Afficher l'itinéraire standard (avec feuille de route)

Détails de l'itinéraire

Kelso to Portland @slice[via the north gravel side of Saint Helens](d,120186.76,175075.43) and the paved length of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

# Highlights
* @photo[Johnston Observatory](946456)
* @photo[The Green River](946498)
* @photo[The Gifford Pinchot National Forest](946538)
* @photo[Emus](946403)
* Many places for primitive camping

# Requirements
* 40c+ for gravel segments
* Water filter
* Self-sufficient backcountry skills

[Amtrak Cascades](http://www.amtrak.com/cascades-train) runs multiple trains north to Seattle from Portland everyday. For about $13 and an hour on the train you can skip some of the boring commute north and start your ride from the Kelso station. There are bike racks on the train so you don't need to box anything. Easy.

The road is fairly standard for a while but things open up once you pass Toutle, Washington. The traffic thins, the air freshens and you're in the mountains. The climb up towards Saint Helens is more or less epic. From Patty's Place where you might just choke down an Elk Burger on the way, it's about 18 miles up. Once you summit at Elk Rock Viewpoint, coasting down to Coldwater Lake never felt so good. If you have the time I recommend the @photo[additional climb](947032) up to Johnston Observatory to really view into the @photo[blast zone of Saint Helens](946449). It's another world.

Our trip involved a stay over at @photo[Coldwater Lake](946432) to assist the USFS and Growlers Gulch crew with some trail maintainence around the lake trail. Normally there is no camping within the Helens Monument, but for the work party we camped out near the lake and watched a pig being cooked in a box. There are @photo[no fires allowed](946428) either (eh hm) - but apparently a boxed charcoal pig is fine. After the work party our ride began in earnest and we headed out into the gravel unknown aiming for Riffle Lake.

These roads are all on logging land and though @photo[open to non-motorized traffic](946521), still may contain active logging areas. Be careful and get off the road if you hear a truck coming. This trip report is as of 2015 - it's impossible to say that the route as I have mapped it will still be acceptable in future years. It could be better - or worse.

In our case, we had 40 miles of @photo[pristine gravel roads](946511) all to ourselves. By pristine I mean no people, no cars, just crunchy rocks. The initial drop to Green River is a bit rough, but it was smooth after that.

Highlights included swimming in the green river with some friends who joined for the first leg then flying down a buttery dirt descent to Riffle lake. It wasn't long after that that we arrived at the Iron Creek Campground where we cooked up some ramen, jumped in the river and fell asleep.

The next day we started climbing first thing in the morning. It's about a 14 mile climb to Elk Pass on @photo[NF25](946543). Lovely road, little to no traffic and shaded pavement. After descending down the other side we again jumped in a river or 2 then stopped at the @poi[Eagle Cliff Store](1223784). We had a good chat with one of the owners, ate some microwave burritos with some amount of regret, then started up Old man pass. This was followed by the sweeping descent on Wind River highway and the gradual drop to @photo[Cascade Locks](946569) where @poi[Thunder Island Brewery](1223790) was waiting for us.

The pristine Gifford didn't disappoint yet again.

# Important Reminders

@slice[The gated section between Spirit Lake Highway and NF25](d,120128.37,173859.89) is extremely remote with no access for motorized vehicles. Given that, don't make any mistakes in here. The only way out is probably via helicopter and there is no phone service whatsoever.

I'm not making any specific recommendations on where to camp as there are so many options.

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The St. Helens Northern Passage

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