Ariel is an unincorporated community in Cowlitz County, Washington, in the Cascade foothills of the state's southwest. The community lies about 11 miles northeast of Woodland along Washington State Route 503, on the north side of the Lewis River and along the northwest bank of Lake Merwin. It sits within a landscape of dense forest, reservoirs, and rolling foothills, just south of the Mount St. Helens country. The community is a gateway to the recreation lands of the southern Cascades. Lake Merwin and Yale Lake, both impoundments of the North Fork Lewis River, offer boating, fishing, and camping, while the Gifford Pinchot National Forest provides hiking and access to the slopes of Mount St. Helens. The Merwin Dam and the reservoirs it created reshaped this part of the river valley in the early 20th century, a history that still frames the community's geography. Ariel is known for several distinctive institutions. The Lelooska Museum preserves and interprets the living cultures of Native peoples of North America, and the nearby Cedar Creek Grist Mill is a working historic landmark. Each year since 2011, the community has hosted D. B. Cooper Days at the Ariel Store and Tavern, a festival celebrating the unsolved 1971 skyjacking that became part of Pacific Northwest folklore. Students attend the Woodland School District, a K–12 system of about 2,200 students based in nearby Woodland. The community's location along the North Fork Lewis River places it within easy reach of both the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area and the deep forest and mountain country of the Cascades, giving residents a blend of rural seclusion and regional access. Ariel's combination of forested setting, river and lake recreation, and quirky local culture makes it a distinctive corner of Cowlitz County, popular with those seeking a foothill lifestyle in southwest Washington.