TOUTLE — Time is running out for a visit to Mount St. Helens this year, with the upper portion of state Highway 504 set to close on Dec. 1.
The highway, known as Spirit Lake Memorial Highway, will be closed at milepost 45 near Coldwater Lake. The closure allows crews to do maintenance work on and along the roadway.
The closure includes the portion of road that leads to the Johnston Ridge Observatory, which also closes for the winter.
The lower portion of the highway up to Coldwater Lake will remain open as weather conditions allow. The Washington State Department of Transportation will reopen the full stretch of state Highway 504 in the spring once it has been determined that the threat of significant snowfall has passed.