Silver Lake, sometimes Silverlake, is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Cowlitz County, Washington, in the southwestern portion of the state. Silver Lake is located east of Castle Rock along

Washington State Route 504 State Route 504 (SR 504, designated as the Spirit Lake Memorial Highway) is a state highway in southwestern Washington state in the United States. It travels along the North Fork Toutle River to the Mount St. Helens area, serving as the m ...

, which is also known as the Spirit Lake Memorial Highway. The area considered Silverlake is about east of Interstate 5 (I-5) and is approximately from

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, to the south and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

about to the north. The closest cities to the subject property are Castle Rock, six miles (10 km) to the west, and Toutle, four miles (6 km) east. The Silver Lake community takes its name from the

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

of the same name, which it lies on the northwest shore of. The Silver Lake community is part of the Toutle Lake School District, a

K-12 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993, well known worldwide mainly for its heavyweight division fights and Grand Prix tournaments. In January 2012, K-1 Global Holdings Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong, acquired ...

school district of about 600 students. Silver Lake is about west of

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 ...

and near the

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 ...

, which lies at the end of the Spirit Lake Memorial Highway. The

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 ...

on May 18, 1980 was the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States. The WDFW has planted grass carp in this lake. The grass carp have lived far longer than expected, and have destroyed much of the beneficial native vegetation. It is now legal to fish for or retain grass carp. Silverlake also describes the associated

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

. It is home to a

nature trail An educational trail (or sometimes educational path), nature trail or nature walk is a specially developed hiking trail or footpath that runs through the countryside, along which there are marked stations or stops next to points of natural, techno ...

, and the visitor center for the

Geography

Silver Lake is located at .

Economy

Employment in the area is primarily centered on the cities of Longview, Kelso, and Castle Rock, which are all situated along the Interstate-5 freeway. The regional economy rests mainly on timber and tourism, but the latter has taken precedence since the decline of the timber industry. Local economic growth has remained stable due to the plethora of outdoor activities take place in the scenic Silverlake area, including camping, hunting, and fishing. Additionally, the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

is approximately 90 minutes west and skiing and other wilderness activities are all within an hour away.

Transport

Silverlake is served by one major road,

Spirit Lake Memorial Highway Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids ...

, which joins I-5 in Castle Rock to the west and runs east to the US Forest Services’ Mount Saint Helens Observatory at Johnston Ridge. This highway is a two-directional arterial heading west and east with both residential and commercial development areas running alongside it. Major shopping, dining and commercial properties are located up and down the I-5 corridor.

Services

Silverlake is not an incorporated town, but relies primarily on Castle Rock and the town of Toutle for schools and services. Cowlitz County provides most services including police, fire, ambulance, water, sewer, and garbage. Gas service is provided by

Cascade Natural Gas MDU Resources Group, Inc. is a U.S.-based corporation supplying products and services to regulated energy delivery and utilities related construction materials and services businesses. It is headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota, and operates i ...

while CenturyLink and Frontier Communications provide telephone service. The area is composed of a mixture of uses that range from single-family and multi-family residential, commercial, retail, and agricultural uses. Traffic volume along Silver Lake remains consistent with approximately 1,000 cars passing it per day.

Lake

The lake itself is in size and camping is available at

Seaquest State Park Seaquest State Park is a public recreation area located on the western flank of Silver Lake in Cowlitz County, Washington. The state park is home to the Mount St. Helens Visitor Center, which offers displays on the Mount St. Helens Mount ...

, which occupies along of the lakeshore. Camping, fishing, and boating also available at Silverlake Resort, Silver Cove RV Resort, Streeters Resort, and Mt. St. Helens RV Resort.

External links

Toutle Lake School District website

References

{{Authority control Unincorporated communities in Cowlitz County, Washington Unincorporated communities in Washington (state) Landforms of Cowlitz County, Washington Wetlands of Washington (state) Marshes of the United States Protected areas of Cowlitz County, Washington