Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, Washington Aug 27, 2022

We"re standing on the Boundary Trail at Johnston Ridge in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. This view of the volcano shows how the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, ripped apart the once-conical summit, forever changing the Washington landscape. Forty years ago today, 110,000 acres within Gifford Pinchot National Forest were set aside to memorialize the deadliest and most destructive volcanic eruption in the United States.

© Don Geyer/Alamy

palette

Today in History

Aug 27, 2018Tennis in the park
Aug 27, 2019Remembering Krakatoa
Aug 27, 2020Rocks on the move
Aug 27, 2021Yabba-Dabba-Doo!
Aug 27, 2023Jeju Island, South Korea
Aug 27, 2024Young black caiman, Tambopata National Reserve, Peru
Aug 27, 2025World Lake Day in the Faroe Islands

More Desktop Wallpapers:

May 4, 2021Happy Star Wars Day!
Apr 11, 2020Think deep thoughts
Jan 17, 2021On the Route of the Waterfalls
Jun 24, 2019A summertime light show
Nov 10, 2022Badlands National Park turns 44
Jun 6, 2018Feature Attraction: 85 years at the drive-in
Jul 22, 2020Wildebeest on the move
Oct 9, 2021Birds of a feather
Jul 27, 2025Barracudas at Shark Reef, Ras Mohammed National Park, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
Dec 17, 2023Bohemian waxwings in Canada
Jan 19, 2024Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia
Jan 18, 2025Dunes at White Sands National Park, New Mexico
Apr 26, 2023Great horned owl fledglings
Aug 4, 2025Great gray owls in their nest, Finland
Mar 23, 2018Happy World Meteorological Day
Oct 20, 2021Feeling lazy? Today s your day.
Oct 15, 2021Autumn in the Prosecco Hills
Sep 3, 2020Tall, taller, tallest
Apr 27, 2018National Park Week: Yosemite National Park, California
Jul 23, 2019A state-of-the-art lookout on the Rock of Gibraltar
Mar 28, 2019Let us introduce you…
Oct 7, 2022Berlin Festival of Lights
Jul 10, 2020Italy s submerged village
Jan 8, 2026Starling murmuration over the ruins of Brightons West Pier, England
Dec 31, 2024New Years Eve in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Nov 26, 2019Staring down winter
May 17, 2021Happy Syttende Mai!
Jul 15, 2019Marine Day in Japan
Jul 16, 2020Summertime in Alaska
Jun 5, 2021Bird s-eye view on World Environment Day