[2] Located in Skamania County, it rises to an elevation of 4,131 feet (1,259 m), and forms part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc.

[3] West Crater has erupted at least two large lava flows within the Holocene epoch, about 8,000 years before present, each of which extend about 2 miles (3.2 km) from the volcano.

West Crater can be accessed by traveling north on the Wind River highway and following Forest Service road 54.

[4] In southern Washington state, the Cascade Range, which sits south of the dacitic Garibaldi Volcanic Belt, spans 600 miles (970 km) from British Columbia in Canada to Lassen Peak in northern California in the United States.

[6] In the Wind River area, the Cascades sit atop Cenozoic era lava flows and volcaniclastic deposits, which have a calc-alkaline composition.

Activity picked up during the Quaternary period in Washington, as andesitic stratovolcanoes and small, olivine basalt cinder cones and shield volcanoes erupted.

[9] Rocks in the Wind River area have not been altered significantly by orogenic movement (large structural deformation of the Earth's crust and uppermost mantle due to the interaction between plate tectonics).

[12] West Crater may also be part of this fault, as both it and Trout Creek Hill appear to be aligned with the lower Wind River and St. Martin's Hot Springs.

[13] West Crater forms part of the Quaternary Marble Mountain-Trout Creek Hill volcanic field in southern Washington state, formed by small basaltic and basaltic andesite shield volcanoes and cinder cones.

[3] West Crater has erupted at least two large lava flows since Quaternary time, each of which extend about 2 miles (3.2 km) from the volcano.

Emplaced into canyons on the sides of the crater, the flows have just started to be eroded by local streams.

[19] In addition to the lava flows, hornblende andesite can also be found near West Crater to the northwest of the Trout Creek Hill.

[2] However, the United States Geological Survey lists the threat potential from West Crater as "Low/Very Low".