Indian Heaven Wilderness
| Indian Heaven Wilderness | |
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Lemei Rock, highest peak in Indian Heaven Wilderness
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| Location | Skamania County, Washington, USA |
| Coordinates | 46°00′34″N 121°46′56″W / 46.00944°N 121.78222°WCoordinates: 46°00′34″N 121°46′56″W / 46.00944°N 121.78222°W |
| Area | 20,782 acres (8,410 ha) |
| Established | 1984 |
| Governing body | United States Forest Service |
| Indian Heaven Wilderness | |
Indian Heaven Wilderness is a protected area located inside the Gifford Pinchot National Forest of southwestern Washington state. The wilderness consists of 20,782 acres (8,410 ha) of broad, forested plateau, with meadows straddling numerous volcanic peaks and at least 150 small lakes, ponds, and marshes. The wilderness also contains the Indian Heaven volcanic field. Originally known to the Indians as "Sahalee Tyee," the area has been and remains culturally important to Native Americans. During the past 9,000 years, the Yakima, Klickitat, Cascades, Wasco, Wishram, and Umatilla tribes gathered in this area for berry picking, fishing, and hunting.
Lava once flowed from the numerous volcanic cones that rise above the plateau, consisting mainly of overlapping shield volcanoes, spatter cones, and cinder cones, which averages 4,500 feet (1,400 m) in elevation. The wilderness' highest point is Lemei Rock (5,927 ft), whose crater now contains Lake Wapiki. Other prominent volcanic peaks include Bird Mountain, Sawtooth Mountain, Gifford Peak, East Crater, and Red Mountain. Big Lava Bed is the result of the most recent volcanic activity about 8,200 years ago.
Lemei Rock is one of the many shield volcanoes topped by cinder cones and spatter cones that make up the Indian Heaven volcanic field. About 60 eruptive centers lie on the 19-mile (30 km) long, N10°E-trending, Indian Heaven fissure zone. The 230 square miles (600 km2) field has a volume of about 20 cubic miles (100 km3) and forms the western part of a 770-square-mile (2,000 km2) Quaternary basalt field in the southern Washington Cascades, including the King Mountain fissure zone along which Mount Adams was built.
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