[1] It is located on Jackson Highway, between the Port of Chehalis and Washington State Route 508 (SR 508).

One theory is based on old-growth timber that grew in the area, while a second option posits that the moniker was taken after John T. Forrest, an early school teacher in the community.

[1][4][a] Due to the town's location on Highway 99, Forest was described as a crossroads community where it was often used as a rest stop and a communal gathering spot for nearby residents.

During the Great Depression, the Forest Manor Retirement Home was built, remaining as a poorhouse.

[2] Forest was a location for a permanent Boy Scout campground with a log cabin; construction began in 1920.

The construction cut off traffic flow through the town as the highway was partially closed for a year.

The area is referred to as a crossroads community due its central proximity at a crossing of the Jackson Highway (previously part of U.S. Route 99) and an arterial that leads to Alpha and SR 508.

Forest is situated between Chehalis to the north, and the communities of Klaus and Mary's Corner to the south.

At the intersection of North Fork Road and Jackson Highway is the Trodahl store, an historic building first constructed in the 1880s and used as a stage stop and inn.

[2][9] East of Forest on Centralia-Alpha Road near the North Fork Newuakum River is the Thousand Trails campground.

[26] After the loss of the West Side School in Chehalis during the 1949 Olympia earthquake, students traveled to Forest for their education.

[31][32] Forest maintains a separate voting precinct from neighboring Chehalis and is recognized as being majority Republican and conservative.