Gifford Pinchot National Forest

Pine Creek Information Center Opens

For more information, please contact Roger Peterson at 360-891-5007

Pine Creek Information Center Opens

Monument Manager Tom Mulder cuts the ribbon to the newly opened Pine Creek Information Center located south of the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument on Forest Road 90 east of Cougar, Washington.

On Saturday, May 25, 2009 employees of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument gathered with partners from across southwest Washington to re-dedicate the Pine Creek Information/Work Center. The center had closed at the end of 2007 due to diminished funding. Members of the surrounding communities saw the importance of having this facility open for travelers to the Forest and the Volcanic Monument. Volunteers spent many hours this spring, installing new windows, repairing fences, installing signs, power washing, picking up trash, landscaping, and organizing work space.

Volunteers and staff will be providing information to visitors on a daily basis through Labor Day. The facility will also be open on the weekends through the end of October.

A bookstore managed by Discover Your Northwest is open and selling Interagency and Northwest Forest passes along with trail guides and maps.

The opening of Pine Creek re-establishes a point for visitors to Southwest Washington where they can obtain information about the Forest, Monument and neighboring communities. Through cooperation with our partners from Skamania County and North Country EMS the Pine Creek center will also provide Forest visitors with a point of contact for emergency services.

The information/work center further strengthens partnerships between the Forest and the local communities.

Partners involved include:
Mount St. Helens Institute
Skamania County
Skamania County Chamber of Commerce
Skamania County Sheriff's Office
Skamania County Fire District 6
Discover Your Northwest
Cougar Area Trail Seekers
North Country EMS
and the Swift Communities Action Team