Cougar is an unincorporated community and former town in Cowlitz County, Washington. Cougar is located around northeast of Woodland along Washington State Route 503 and situated along the northwest bank of Yale Lake, a reservoir on the Lewis River. The population was 122 at the 1990 Census, when it was still incorporated as a town, but disincorporated before the 2000 Census. The Cougar community is part of the Woodland School District, a K-12 school district of about 2,200 students. Cougar is the nearest community to Mount St. Helens, which lies 13 miles (20.9215 km) to its northeast. The eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980 was the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States.