Elk Area 5066 Norway Pass
The Mount Margaret backcountry as an elk unit: lakes-basin cirques and Green River headwaters, permit-only and foot-only.
WDFW Region 5 — Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, Mount Margaret backcountry and upper Green River (Lewis/Skamania counties) · Last reviewed 2026-07-17
Area
21
sq mi
Public land
100%
approx.
Elevation
2,500–5,858
feet
Motorized
wilderness
access
Overview
Elk Area 5066 "Norway Pass" is a 21.3-square-mile special-permit elk area covering the heart of the Mount Margaret backcountry in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, spanning Lewis and Skamania counties north of Spirit Lake. Unlike its sister areas on the volcano (Mount Whittier, Pumice Plain, Upper Smith Creek, all in GMU 522), Norway Pass is carved out of GMU 524 (Margaret) — it is the monument's easternmost slice of an otherwise Weyerhaeuser-dominated general-season GMU, and this portion is closed to general-season elk hunting with only permit hunting allowed. WDFW and the U.S. Forest Service built the hunt cooperatively to implement the Mount St. Helens Elk Herd Plan, putting a handful of permit hunters into the glacial-cirque country the 1980 lateral blast flattened: Norway Pass, Mount Margaret, the string of backcountry lakes (Grizzly, Obscurity, Panhandle, Shovel, Snow), and the upper Green River, whose headwaters drain the whole area west off the high divide. Elk reoccupied this blast zone within a few years of the eruption and boomed on the young forage before the herd was deliberately reduced; today it is a genuine backcountry hunt — roadless, very strenuous by WDFW's own warning, with bulls that see almost no pressure and everything packed out on human backs.
Terrain
High glacial-cirque country hammered by the 1980 lateral blast and now four decades into recovery: a crest of peaks — Mount Margaret (5,858 ft), Mount Whittier on the southwest boundary, Minnie Peak on the west — throws off ridges and lake-filled cirques to the north, and the whole mass drains into the Green River, which forms the unit's lower northern edge. Expect silver-snag hillsides, brushy avalanche basins around the lakes, ash gullies, and long climbs; Norway Pass itself (4,508 ft) is the historic gateway over the divide from the Spirit Lake side. It hunts as glassing country up high and grinding brush country in the basins and the river headwaters.
Cover: Blast-zone regeneration at scale: huckleberry, willow, vine maple, and mountain-ash shrubfields with beargrass and lupine on open slopes; standing silver snags and jackstrawed logs from the blast; young noble fir and mountain hemlock thickening in the basins; alder and brushy young conifer down along the Green River headwaters. The lakes-basin shrubfields and river-bottom regen are the forage base that holds elk.
Landmarks: Norway Pass and the Boundary Trail #1 (south boundary) · Mount Margaret (highest point, on the crest) · Grizzly, Obscurity, Panhandle, Shovel, and Snow lakes (backcountry lakes basin) · Green River headwaters (northern boundary, flowing west) · Minnie Peak (west boundary) · Whittier Ridge Trail #214 and Lakes Trail #211 (southwest/west boundaries) · Forest Road 26 and the Norway Pass Trailhead (east edge) · Ryan Lake area at the FR 26/Green River corner
Access
All federal monument land inside the boundary, and effectively all of it is trail-and-boot access: no motorized use, no wheeled devices (carts or bikes), and no domestic animals in the monument — no horses, mules, llamas, goats, or dogs. Kills come out by non-motorized, non-hoofstock means, with up to three helpers allowed (everyone in hunter orange). The main door is the Norway Pass Trailhead on Forest Road 26, a mile north of the FR 99/26 junction near Meta Lake (Northwest Forest Pass required; seasonal, typically open midsummer into November), reached from Randle via FR 25 and FR 99 — in 2026 the Huffaker Bridge closure on FR 25 reroutes the southern approach, with a posted detour via FR 23–28–76. FR 26 also continues north past the trailhead to the Green River/Ryan Lake corner of the unit before its winter gate near Ryan Lake, giving a second, lower entry toward the river headwaters; the road is rough, slumped, and potholed. The far west side can be reached on the Lakes Trail #211 from Coldwater Lake, but it is a very long approach and SR 504 remains closed at mileposts 45.2–51 from the 2023 South Coldwater slide (rebuild targeted around fall 2026). Camping inside the backcountry is restricted to eight designated campsites — Mount Margaret Backcountry permit required in advance through recreation.gov, small group limits, no campfires.
Managers: U.S. Forest Service — Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument (Gifford Pinchot NF)
Access points: Norway Pass Trailhead on FR 26 (Boundary Trail #1 over Norway Pass into the lakes basin) · FR 26 north to the Ryan Lake/Green River corner (lower entry to the headwaters; seasonal gate) · FR 99 from FR 25 out of Randle (to the FR 26 junction near Meta Lake) · Lakes Trail #211 from Coldwater Lake on SR 504 (long west-side approach; check SR 504 closure status)
Species notes
Roosevelt Elk
common qualityThe Mount St. Helens herd reoccupied this blast zone within a few years of the 1980 eruption and boomed on early-seral forage before WDFW deliberately reduced it under the Mount St. Helens Elk Herd Plan; the spring 2024 survey indexed about 1,250 adult females, up slightly from the ~1,000 counted in 2017–2022 but still below objective and well below mid-2000s highs. Cascade elk here are a genetic mix of native Roosevelt and introduced Rocky Mountain elk managed as westside elk; with no general-season elk hunting inside the area, bulls reach older age classes, but hoof disease (TAHD) is common in District 10 and elk densities are honest backcountry densities, not feedlot numbers.
- →Climb early and glass the cirque basins — from the Boundary Trail crest near Norway Pass and Mount Margaret you can read the shrubfields around Grizzly, Obscurity, and Panhandle lakes at first light before choosing a stalk.
- →Hunt the shrubfield-to-conifer edges: elk feed in the huckleberry and willow of the avalanche basins and bed in the thickening noble fir and snag jackstraw on shaded aspects.
- →September bugles carry for miles across open blast terrain — locate from the divide in the evening, then come in from above the next morning; thermals in these cirques are textbook.
- →As October storms arrive, shift downhill toward the Green River headwaters — elk pull off the high basins with the first snows, and the lower river-bottom regen near the FR 26 corner is the late-window play.
- →Plan the pack-out before the shot: a bull in the lakes basin is a bone-out and multiple loaded trips over Norway Pass — commit your three helpers in advance and stage camp at a designated site inside the backcountry.
Mountain Goat
common trophyMountain goats recolonized the Mount St. Helens high country in the early 2000s and now number several hundred across the monument; this is the core of WDFW's Mount Margaret Backcountry goat permit hunt area (5-6), one of the state's standout goat areas. It is a separate once-in-a-lifetime permit — an elk permit does not include goats — but elk hunters glassing the crest will see white dots on the cliffs.
- →Glass the cliffy headwalls under Mount Margaret and along the Whittier Ridge crest at midday when goats loaf on ledges.
- →If you draw the goat permit, base at a reserved backcountry camp — day-tripping the crest from Norway Pass Trailhead burns your legal light on the approach.
- →Treat every stalk as technical terrain; the blast-loosened rock on these ridges is rotten and the exposure is real.
Pro tips
- →Reserve a designated backcountry campsite on recreation.gov as soon as your permit letter arrives — eight camps serve the entire backcountry, hikers compete for them into fall, and hunting from Bear Camp or the lakes-basin camps beats commuting over Norway Pass every morning.
- →Scout on a late-summer overnight: from the Boundary Trail between Norway Pass and Mount Margaret you can inventory most of the basins in the unit, and the elk you find in September will not be far away when the hunt opens.
- →Know your boundary trails cold — the south and west lines are the Boundary, Whittier Ridge, and Lakes trails, and an elk that slips across the divide toward Spirit Lake is in a different elk area (5065) you cannot hunt.
- →Use the two-door strategy: hunt the high lakes basin from Norway Pass Trailhead early in the season, then swing to the FR 26 Green River corner and hunt the headwaters low when storms push elk down.
- →Verify FR 25/FR 99/FR 26 status with the Cowlitz Valley Ranger District the week before you go — the 2026 Huffaker Bridge detour, washouts, and early snow have all rerouted access in recent years.
- →Read your permit letter carefully: WDFW and the Forest Service attach specific conditions (orange for all weapon types, helper limits, designated-site camping, removal methods) to these monument hunts.
Watch out for
- !Non-motorized, non-hoofstock meat removal only — no game carts, no bikes, no stock, no dogs. An elk down at Obscurity or Panhandle Lake is a multi-day, multi-trip extraction over the divide.
- !Washouts have repeatedly damaged the Boundary Trail between Norway Pass and Bear Pass and closed the Independence Pass Trail #227; check current trail conditions with the monument before building a route around them.
- !FR 26 is battered pavement with slumps and large potholes, gated seasonally near Ryan Lake; the 2026 Huffaker Bridge closure on FR 25 adds a posted detour to reach FR 99 from the south.
- !SR 504 remains closed at mileposts 45.2–51 (2023 South Coldwater slide; rebuild targeted around fall 2026), making the west-side Lakes Trail approach longer and less reliable than maps suggest.
- !Camping is legal only at the eight designated backcountry campsites with an advance recreation.gov permit, and campfires are banned — a casual spike camp can cost you a citation.
- !Exposed crest, rotten blast-zone rock, ash gullies deeper than they look, and zero cell coverage — this country punishes casual navigation, especially in October fog and wind.
- !Elk numbers are below historic highs and limping (hoof-diseased) elk occur in this herd; treat the permit as a quality wilderness experience with real odds, not a sure thing.
Logistics
Randle on US 12 is the base — last fuel and groceries before the long run up FR 25 and FR 99 to the FR 26 junction (plan well over an hour from pavement on broken, potholed roads unsuitable for trailers). Packwood and Morton add motels. The Norway Pass Trailhead has a vault toilet, picnic tables, and a hand-pump for water when running; a Northwest Forest Pass or day-use fee applies. Backcountry camping is only at the eight designated Mount Margaret Backcountry sites, reserved in advance on recreation.gov (four-person limit at most camps, eight at Ridge Camp, no campfires); car-based camps go on general Gifford Pinchot NF ground along the FR 25/99/26 corridor, such as Iron Creek Campground near Randle when road work allows. There is no cell service in the blast zone — leave an itinerary.
Nearest towns: Randle, Packwood, Morton
Seasons & regulations
This page carries no season dates or regulations. Get current rules from the official Washington sources:
Research sources: WDFW — Special elk permit hunts around Mount St. Helens (Norway Pass area, restrictions, helpers, camping, strenuous roadless character) · WAC 220-415-040 — Elk area descriptions (Elk Area 5066 Norway Pass legal boundary: Trails 211/230/214/1, Minnie Peak, Green River, Rd 26; GMU 524; Lewis and Skamania counties) · WDFW 2025 District 10 Hunting Prospects (GMU 524 Margaret land summary; Elk Area 5066 closed to general-season elk hunting; MSH herd surveys ~1,250 adult females 2024; herd plan; TAHD) · Gifford Pinchot NF — Norway Pass Trailhead (FR 26 access, NW Forest Pass, Mount Margaret Backcountry permit, eight designated campsites, group limits) · Gifford Pinchot NF — Forest Road 26 (road condition, seasonal gate near Ryan Lake) · WSDOT — SR 504 South Coldwater Slide / Spirit Lake Outlet Bridge project (MP 45.2–51 closure, rebuild through fall 2026) · WDFW — Mountain goat permit hunt areas (Mount Margaret Backcountry hunt area 5-6) · Mount St. Helens Institute — Mountain goats thriving in the National Volcanic Monument (recolonization since early 2000s, population counts)
FAQ
- How big is Elk Area 5066 in Washington?
- Elk Area 5066 (Norway Pass) covers about 21 square miles, ranging from roughly 2,500 to 5,858 feet in elevation. Area is computed from the unit boundary polygon.
- How much public land is in Elk Area 5066?
- Approximately 100% of the unit is public land. Primary managers: U.S. Forest Service — Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument (Gifford Pinchot NF). Always verify ownership boundaries on the ground.
- What species does the catalog list for Elk Area 5066?
- Roosevelt Elk, Mountain Goat. For seasons, tags, and regulations, use the official Washington agency resources linked on this page — this page carries no regulatory information.
Put Elk Area 5066 on your map.
Boundary lines, public/private ownership, topo, and offline maps for this unit — in Baseline Maps, free for 14 days.