A large group of children sit outside a building and listen while a park ranger speaks.

Mount St. Helens Visitor Center temporary closure

Project summary

The Mount St. Helens Visitor Center, a gateway for exploring the Mount St. Helens area and learning about the volcano will close from Sept. 30, 2024 to mid-May 2025 for a complete update of its exhibits. The center is expected to open in time for the 45th anniversary of Mount St. Helens’ 1980 eruption on  May 18, 2025.

The Visitor Center parking lot, plaza, bathrooms and the Wetland Haven Trail will remain open during the closure.

  • Estimated start date: Sept. 30, 2024
  • Estimated end date: May 15, 2025
  • Budget: $1.19 Million

Most of the current exhibits at the Mount St. Helens Visitor Center are nearly 40 years old, having been created in 1986. Since then, the mountain and the area affected by the 1980 eruption have changed dramatically. Several of the new exhibits will document the area’s recovery and the mountain’s process of rebuilding itself.

As part of this renovation, Parks is engaged in Tribal outreach and conversations.

Other nearby closures

Seaquest State Park will also temporarily close from Sept. 15 to Oct. 18, 2024 to put final touches roads on last spring’s major construction, including road grading and smoothing. After this work is complete, the park reopen for camping and day-use.

The Spirit Lake Highway is still closed due to a landslide in 2023 that cut off access to several U.S. Forest Service interpretive and viewing centers and hiking trails farther up the mountain, including the popular Johnston Ridge Observatory. The road will remain open to milepost 45 year-round, with road and visitor center access anticipated to be back in 2027. This work is not managed by State Parks. Please visit WSDOT for more information about the roadway.