The Green River is the largest tributary of the

North Fork Toutle River The North Fork Toutle River is a tributary of the Toutle River in southwestern Washington in the United States. The river has its headwaters near Spirit Lake, on the north side of Mount St. Helens, and flows to the Toutle River, about upstream ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. Situated near

Mount St. Helens Mount St. Helens (known as Lawetlat'la to the indigenous Cowlitz people, and Loowit or Louwala-Clough to the Klickitat) is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United St ...

in the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

in the southern part of the state, it flows generally west through

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument is a U.S. National Monument that includes the area around Mount St. Helens in Washington. It was established on August 27, 1982, by U.S. President Ronald Reagan, following the 1980 eruption. The 110,00 ...

and industrial timberlands for . The river drains more than in parts of three Washington counties: Skamania,

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

, and

Cowlitz Cowlitz may refer to: People * Cowlitz people, an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest ** Cowlitz language, member of the Tsamosan branch of the Coast Salish family of Salishan languages * Cowlitz Indian Tribe, a federally recognized tribe of ...

. As with most other parts of the

Toutle River The Toutle River is a tributary of the Cowlitz River in the U.S. state of Washington. It rises in two forks merging near Toutle below Mount St. Helens and joins the Cowlitz near Castle Rock, upstream of the larger river's confluence with the Co ...

and

Cowlitz River The Cowlitz River is a river in the state of Washington in the United States, a tributary of the Columbia River. Its tributaries drain a large region including the slopes of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and Mount St. Helens. The Cowlitz has a ...

systems, the upper part of the Green River was heavily affected by the

1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens On March 27, 1980, a series of volcanic explosions and pyroclastic flows began at Mount St. Helens in Skamania County, Washington, United States. A series of phreatic blasts occurred from the summit and escalated until a major explosive eru ...

Course

It rises from snowmelt on the opposite side of a ridge from Spirit Lake, in the

Gifford Pinchot National Forest Gifford Pinchot National Forest is a National Forest located in southern Washington, managed by the United States Forest Service. With an area of 1.32 million acres (5300 km2), it extends 116 km along the western slopes of Cascade Ran ...

in Skamania County. The river initially flows north, but turns northwest after the confluence with Grizzly Creek. Turning west, it crosses into Lewis County, then back south into Skamania, and almost immediately afterwards flows into Cowlitz County. Shultz Creek enters from the left then Devils Creek from the right. The river empties into the North Fork Toutle River near the unincorporated community of Toutle.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Washington (state) Rivers of Lewis County, Washington Rivers of Skamania County, Washington Rivers of Cowlitz County, Washington Gifford Pinchot National Forest