Silver Star Mountain

Silver Star Mountain in southwestern Washington is an unusually open, ridge-like peak in the western Cascades, rising just over 4,360 feet within Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Rather than an extinct volcano, it is a recently uplifted ridge of much older volcanic material, including a large granodiorite intrusion that also created small mineral deposits. Erosion by the Washougal and East Fork Lewis rivers, along with repeated fires such as the 1902 Yacolt Burn and later fires through 1929, stripped soils and forests and helped create its broad meadows and unusually low-elevation wildflowers. The mountain also preserves uncertain archaeological features, a brief mining history, and later use as a hiking destination.

Fern Prairie, Washington · United States