Explore Mt. Saint Helens Caves!

The Oregon Grotto, in conjunction with the Cascade Grotto and the Willamette Valley Grotto, is excited to host the 2024 NSS Western Regional from Sept. 19th to 22nd!

The event will take place in the Town of Cougar, WA, only 1 hour from Portland, at the Cougar RV Park and Campground only minutes away from the lava flows on Mt St Helen’s southern slopes.

There are a number of food options in Cougar and additional options are only 30 minutes away in Woodland, WA as well.

While known mostly for the 1980 eruption, Mt Saint Helens is host to a very diverse cave selection. Not only are there amazing lava tubes, but it also holds several of the world's longest erosional caves. On top of that, the area contains hundreds of tree molds and tree mold cave complexes, as well as deep vertical crack caves that require expert rope skills. Be sure to bring your vertical gear if want to access any vertical caves!

The area's lava field is surrounded by a lush, old growth rain forest, and makes accessing the caves even more interesting.

Since the last regional in the area, dozens of new, significant caves have been discovered, and offer even more unique experiences to the already great inventory of caves.

For more information about the Western Regional and the Mt. Saint Helens caves please visit the Oregon Grotto website.