With an area of 1.32 million acres (5,300 km2), it extends 116 km (72 mi) along the western slopes of Cascade Range from Mount Rainier National Park to the Columbia River.

The forest's highest point is at 12,276 ft (3,742 m) at the top of Mount Adams, the second-tallest volcano in the state after Rainier.

Often found abbreviated GPNF on maps and in texts, it includes the 110,000-acre (450 km2) Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, established by Congress in 1982.

The Yakama tribe signed a treaty agreement that stipulated their moving to a reservation while maintaining off-reservation resource rights; however, the original treaty was then broken in 1916 when the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that Yakamas hunting off the reservation had to subscribe to state fish and game laws.

His widow, fellow conservationist Cornelia Bryce Pinchot, was one of the speakers who addressed the audience assembled that day.

[6] The Pacific Northwest brings abundant rainfall to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, feeding an extensive network of rivers.

The Gifford Pinchot National Forest recommends four rivers to be added to the Wild and Scenic System.

Washington towns near entrances of the forest include Cougar, Randle, Packwood, Trout Lake, and Carson.

In response, firefighters with the Mount St. Helen’s Forest District deployed protective wrappings to preserve several historic buildings that were more than 100 years old.