Ape Cave

Top choice in Washington Cascades


Ape Cave is a 2-mile-long lava tube formed 2000 years ago by a lava flow that followed a deep watercourse. It's the longest lava tube in the western hemisphere. Hikers can walk and scramble on either the 0.8-mile Lower Ape Cave Trail or the 1.5-mile Upper Ape Cave Trail, which requires some navigating over rock piles and through narrower passages. A Northwest Forest Pass ($30/5 per year/day) is required to park at the trailhead.

The trail eventually exits at the upper entrance. You can bring your own light source or rent lanterns for $5 at Apes' Headquarters, located at the entrance to the caves. In summer, rangers lead free explorations of the trails several times a day.

Another interesting side trail is the 0.6-mile, wheelchair-accessible Trail of Two Forests, on a boardwalk across a 1900-year-old lava flow that once buried an ancient forest.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Washington Cascades attractions

1. Windy Ridge Viewpoint

10.35 MILES

Windy Ridge Viewpoint is a highlight of the remote eastside entrance to Mt St Helens. Here visitors get a palpable, if eerie, sense of the destruction…

2. Johnston Ridge Observatory

11.46 MILES

Situated at the end of Hwy 504 and looking directly into the mouth of the Mt St Helens crater, the observatory has exhibits that depict the geologic…

3. Coldwater Lake

13.24 MILES

Coldwater Lake, 43 miles east of Castle Rock, was created in 1980 when water backed up behind a dam caused by debris left behind by the Mt St Helens…

4. Mt St Helens Forest Learning Center

16.35 MILES

Situated at Mile 33 on Hwy 504, the learning center is basically a showcase for the lumber industry (it was built by timber company Weyerhaeuser), though…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "usa/washington/mt-st-helens/attractions/ape-cave/a/poi-sig/1355105/1317992",
      "destination": "Washington-Cascades",
      "continent": "North-America",
      "country": "USA",
      "region": "Washington-Cascades",
      "position": "superzone"
    }