Nature
Coldwater Peak is a 5,722-foot summit in southwest Washington’s Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, within the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Named for Coldwater Creek and officially recognized in 1983, it overlooks a landscape shaped by both ancient glaciation and volcanism. The mountain long served observation and research purposes, with the Coldwater Lookout standing there from 1935 to 1968 and research instruments using the site today. Its close view of Mount St. Helens ties it directly to the volcano’s recent history, especially the 1980 eruption, whose lateral blast struck toward the peak and stripped vegetation from its slopes, leaving ash common in the area.
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Washington · United States
