Getting There: Volcano Tours and South Carolina Gardens

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Photo courtesy of Ashford Air Service
Take a close look at Mount Rainier on volcano tours from the air in the Northwest.

This month’s affordable travel ideas take us to opposite corners of the U.S.

Pacific Northwest Volcano Tours

Since Mount St. Helens’ series of eruptions began in 1980, there’s been a growing interest in all of the Pacific Northwest’s volcanoes. One of the easiest ways to see these impressive giants is from the air.

Tim Surface of the Ashford Air Service flew timber owners, government officials, geologists, and other scientists on more than 190 trips to Mount St. Helens in 1981 alone. He’s now organized a new series of low-level tourist flights that will allow visitors to take photos of the snow-carpeted crater of Mount Rainier from an altitude of 1,000 feet above the peak; view the rapidly growing, grayish-brown lava dome of Mount St. Helens from a vantage point just a few hundred feet away; or fly past the giant, steel-blue glaciers and roaring steam vents of Mount Baker.

Tim’s 1 1/2-hour tour of Mount St. Helens (for a group of four people) is priced at only $90 … a 2 1/2-hour tour of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and Mount St. Helens runs $185 … a 3 1/4-hour trip that includes all that and Mount Hood is $250 … and a 5-hour flight, encompassing all the previously mentioned volcanoes and Mount Baker runs $350.

  • Published on Mar 1, 1983
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