Spirit Lake Memorial Highway
Spirit Lake Memorial Highway is a State Scenic Byway in Washington. Within Washington it covers roughly 50 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Spirit Lake Memorial Highway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
State Route 504 climbs toward Mount St. Helens, ending at the Johnston Ridge Observatory looking straight into the crater left by the volcano's catastrophic 1980 eruption. Along the way, interpretive stops trace the blast zone — flattened forests, the mudflow-scoured Toutle River valley, and the slow return of life to the landscape. It is the most dramatic record of recent volcanic destruction accessible by car in the lower 48.
- Mount St. Helens crater
- Johnston Ridge Observatory
- 1980 eruption blast zone
- Toutle River valley
- SR-504
Plan a drive on Spirit Lake Memorial Highway →
What is a State Scenic Byway?
State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.