William Parke Sites

During the summer and fall of 1937, Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees from CCC camps Belknap and Cascadia/Marys Creek developed recreational facilities at Clear Lake. Improvements at the time provided opportunities for camping, picnicking and hiking. Today, the site operates as a day use area only with trails and picnic sites available for use. The CCC laid out campsites with attached picnic facilities above the Clear Lake/Belknap Springs road that are still visible but camping is no longer permitted there. Significant CCC constructed structures that do remain in the Day Use Area include the Clear Lake Picnic shelter and Information Booth. Both...

Among the first of their recreation related construction projects, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees from Camp Belknap laid out and built the Horse Creek Campground in 1934. The group campground is located one-and-a-half miles south of McKenzie Bridge on the banks of Horse Creek. The campground can accommodate approximately 100 people and 23 vehicles. An interesting bit of CCC history in the Willamette National Forest (WNF) is associated with Horse Creek Campground. Forest Supervisor Perry Thompson hired landscape architect William Parke as a recreational planner for the WNF, instructing him to prepare site plans for campgrounds, picnic areas and organization camps...

The Oregon Skyline Trail, a portion of today's Pacific Crest Trail, was established in 1920. Its popularity among hikers and climbers grew to such an extent that a 1934 study of trail conditions produced a detailed report. Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees provided much of the labor for the recommended improvements. Improvements included relocation of stream fords due to hazardous or inconvenient conditions, alternative routes over portions of the trail, evaluation of campsites, recommendations for building of shelters, latrines, and garbage pits, and new trail signs and maps. Construction of shelters on the Skyline Trail was one notable priority facilitated by CCC...

Paradise Campground is less than a mile and a half from the McKenzie Ranger Station on the south bank of the McKenzie River. This camping area was laid-out and improved by Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees from CCC Camp Belknap in 1937. When constructed it included both the current Paradise Campground and the adjacent Paradise Day Use Area. At the time, "Paradise Camp" was meant to serve as many as five-hundred campers. Today the Campground's 64 campsites serve visitors to the Willamette National Forest. The campground offers access to the McKenzie River as well.

Paradise Day Use Area is just a mile and a half from the McKenzie Ranger Station on the south bank of the McKenzie River. This picnic area was laid-out and improved by Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees from CCC Camp Belknap in 1937. When constructed it included both the current day use area and the adjacent Paradise Campground. At the time, "Paradise Camp" was meant to serve as many as five-hundred campers. In addition to the picnic areas with stone fireplaces/stoves, an amphitheater is located in the day use area. The log benches with back rests, laid out in two columns of...