Campgrounds and Cabins Sites

During the summer of 1935, the Oregonian newspaper announced that among Oregon's 67 Civilian Conservation Camps that summer one would be located at Shelton State Park in Wheeler County. The 200 member work crew made improvements in the state park along with other tasks associated with CCC workers, such as reforestation work and fire fighting, and road construction. Shelton Wayside Park is the park's current name. It is located approximately ten miles southeast of Fossil on Highway 19.

One of the first CCC camps in the park, (Camp N.P.-2), was established at Big Meadows. Some of the CCC camp structures remain. The CCC also created many of the structures that make up today's Big Meadows Campground. CCC works remaining include water fountains, comfort stations, picnic grounds, roads, cabins, a maintenance office, a gas/oil building, a stable/storage structure and more.

"Located south along the drive from Big Meadows, Lewis Mountain Development Area sits on a plateau approximately 3,400 feet above sea level east of Lewis Mountain and consists of a picnic grounds, lodge and eight cabins (having 15 overnight units), and a campground, 30 sites for tents or trailers, a picnic area, a camp store, and two comfort stations... Lewis Mountain’s facilities were built to accommodate African American visitors during the period of racial segregation that marked Depression-era Virginia. The developed area opened in the summer of 1939 but closed in 1942 for the duration of WWII. Desegregated after the war,...

The early development of Silver Falls State Park can be credited to several of the New Deal programs. A significant portion of the land for the park was purchased by the federal Resettlement Administration (RA) c. 1935, and developed for recreational use through the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) between 1935 and 1942. During that period, a distinction was made between Silver Falls Park, which was accessible to the public, and the area designated as the Silver Creek Recreation Development Area (RDA), which was a special federal program designed to allow urban youth...

"In 1936, through a federally financed work program, the National Park Service bought portions of the land surrounding Singletary Lake for a recreational demonstration project. One of two projects in North Carolina, the federal government purchased the land at an average cost of $4.51 per acre. The land was managed by the Resettlement Administration until 1939, and during this period resettlement workers and local residents constructed Singletary Recreation Center, which included an office, maintenance building and recreation facilities. In addition, using local talents and materials, an infirmary building, ten cabins, a dining and recreation hall, and a workshop—a fully operational group...

This campground offers a variety of opportunities for campers including fishing, hiking, mountain biking, canoeing, boating, and bird watching. Sites sit well above the river. The historic log pavilion was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933 and is available for rent.

The CCC laborers completed three overnight cabins in 1938. Two of the three cabins remain today. A photograph of cabin 2 was in the 1938 National Park Service Publication, Park and Recreation Structures. The style of the overnight cabins is classified as Parks Rustic.

Between 1936 and 1943, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook construction and landscaping projects in St. Croix State Park.   St. Croix State Park was developed through a National Parks Service program, the Recreational Demonstration Area (RDA), which aimed to convert land that could not be used for agriculture or industry into recreational space. Typically, RDAs were “located within fifty miles of a major metropolitan area and was meant to allow underprivileged children to enjoy the outdoors.” To this end, workers constructed camp units (cabins and latrines) for groups of children and for families. “CCC enrollees, along...

Humboldt Redwoods State Park was established in 1921 with purchases of some of the last remaining Old Growth stands of Coast Redwoods by the Save the Redwoods League. It has since been expanded several times and now includes over 51,000 acres, of which 17,000 are old growth redwood stands.   California did not establish a state parks system until 1928, and little improvement work had been done at Humboldt Redwoods before the New Deal.  When the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) arrived at Dyerville camp in 1933, the young men got to work right away developing the state park.  CCC company 1607 built...

One of the several areas of Groton State Forest developed by the CCC was Stillwater State Park: "This Park was originally a picnic area with stone fireplaces. In 1938, four campsites, a central bathroom, a picnic shelter with fireplaces on both ends, and a small caretaker’s house were built. All facilities are still in use."

According to the West Virginia Department of Commerce: “Completed and opened in 1937, Stuart Recreation Area is one of four developed recreation areas built by the CCC. Known locally as “Stuart Park,” it became the centerpiece of a large recreation complex built with CCC labor that also included Bickle Knob. Designed by MNF recreation planner H.T. Stoddard, Stuart’s landscaping plan called for large open grassy fields, winding wooded trails, campgrounds, picnic areas, rustic picnic shelters with the central swimming area found along the banks of Shaver’s Fork. Today, the open fields and the historic CCC-built administrative building along with two CCC-built...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) did major work developing the former Patrick's Point (now Sue-Meg) State Park, which had just been purchased by the new State Parks Commission in 1929. The CCC work was carried out between 1933 and 1937 by the men of Company 1903 at Camp Prairie Creek. Engbeck reports that the CCC enrollees tore out an old road and reconfigured the entry road in a more naturalized fashion; constructed a campground and day-use picnic area, with combination restrooms, washrooms and laundry rooms; rehabilitated a staff residence; and cleared a protective firebreak around the perimeter of the park  (Engbeck, p. 24). The CCC...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) undertook forest conservation work in Superior National Forest under the supervision of the U.S. Forest Service.

Workers from the Camp Sisters Civilian Conservation Corps (Company #1454) provided the necessary labor for improvement to US Forest Service land on the south shore of Suttle Lake over a number of years (approx.. 1935-1937). The CCC workers constructed campgrounds, trails, picnic spots, and outdoor fireplaces.  In 1936, the CCC members built the Suttle Lake-Camp Sherman road. On the south shore of Suttle Lake, a natural lake located within the Deschutes National Forest on the east side of the Cascades, are three large campgrounds and two day-use areas.

"The CCC crews cut trails, built shelters on Bald Rock and down on the shore across from the old Sagamore site. Eventually, that would become the entrance to the new Camden Hills State Park. At Camp Tanglewood they constructed cabins, a dining hall, staff quarters, sewer and water systems and an infirmary using locally-purchased materials. After it was completed the Bangor YWCA contracted to use the new facility for a summer camp. Once the park, including Camp Tanglewood, was finished it was turned over to the state of Maine to administer as a state park."

In 1938, the Bullitt Park municipal park was founded along with the building of a log cabin by the National Youth Administration (NYA). The building was a collaboration of the Richmond District Girl Scouts and the NYA boys, and was used for the training of NYA girls. The Girl Scout cost was $1000 and was raised by donations. The building cost was $3800. Many locally and nationally known citizens were contributors to the cabin, including VA governor, Lynwood Holton's mother, A.L. Holton, and grandmother of Mrs.Tim Kaine; author, John Fox, Jr.; Congressman C. Bascom Slemp; and outdoor drama "Trail of the...

The Thayer Lake East Shelter Cabin is a historic cabin in the Admiralty Island National Monument. It is one of the several cabins the Civilian Conservation Corps built in the Tongass National Forest for public recreation during the 1930s, and is part of the Admiralty Island Canoe Route. As reported on a registration form of the National Register of Historic Places, the cabin was in ruins as of 1995. The site continues to be a stop for canoers. “The Thayer Lake East Shelter Cabin site is the ruin of a three-sided shelter. It was not built in the post-and-beam style typical of the other...

The Thayer Lake North Shelter Cabin is a historic cabin at the north end of Thayer Lake, in the Admiralty Island National Monument. It is one of the several cabins the Civilian Conservation Corps built in the Tongass National Forest for public recreation during the 1930s, and is part of the Admiralty Island Canoe Route. A registration form of the National Register of Historic Places reports on the condition of the cabin as of 1995: “The Thayer Lake North Shelter Cabin is a three-sided Adirondack style shelter cabin that was part of the Admiralty Island Canoe Route, a Civilian Conservation Corps project in...

The Thayer Lake South Shelter Cabin is a historic cabin at the south end of Thayer Lake, in the Admiralty Island National Monument. It is one of the several cabins the Civilian Conservation Corps built in the Tongass National Forest for public recreation during the 1930s, and is part of the Admiralty Island Canoe Route. A registration form of the National Register of Historic Places reports on the condition of the cabin as of 1995: “The Thayer Lake South Shelter Cabin is a three-sided Adirondack style recreation shelter. The cabin has a peeled log superstructure and shake walls and roof. The building's present appearance matches...

The Utah Outdoor Association, working with the local Forest Service office in the Wasatch National Forest, created the Community Camp in 1921.  It was built on the site of a former tree nursery put there c. 1900 to reforest Big Cottonwood Canyon, which had been completely denuded of trees in the 19th century to build early Salt Lake City.  In 1935, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) added many new facilities to the Community Camp, including more campsites, tent platforms, baseball fields, horseshoe pitches and a volleyball court. A ski jump and toboggan slide were added in 1936-37 at the mouth of Day's Fork,...

"Thetford State Park was the result of a CCC project. The 262-acre site was given to the State in 1931 by Dwight Goddard. In 1935 the CCC established a camp there. By 1937, the young workers had build a road to the summit of the hill as well as a log picnic shelter, a toilet building, 14 stone fireplaces and tables in a picnic area.   "The park was opened to the public in 1936. According to a park pamphlet, 'all that is left of these original structures are the remains of some fireplaces which are now hidden in the woods.' Currently,...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) landscaped the picnic grounds below Phoenix Lake Dam and built this picnic shelter, which has recently been restored. Three Bear Hut was in poor condition as of 2016.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the Timber Creek Campground in Rocky Mountain National Park (Brock, p 40).  Timber Creek was the first campground on the west side of the park, in the valley of the upper Colorado River. Brock says the campground was done in 1941, but that doesn't jibe with information on the comfort stations, which were built in 1939, according to the national register; presumably the campground and comfort stations were done at the same time. The three comfort stations, or restrooms, constructed by CCC enrollees were designed in 1935 in classic Rustic Style by National Park Service landscape architect...

Timpanogos Cave was designated a national monument on October 14, 1922 and was initially developed and maintained by the U.S. Forest Service.  The National Park Service took over from the Forest Service in 1933 as part of the Roosevelt Administration's reorganization of national parks and monuments. Timpanogos NM was administered from Zion NP until 1955. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) sent the first New Deal workforce into the monument for the summer of 1933.  The Company 940 established a camp at the site now occupied by the Granite Flat campground. Mostly notably, CCC enrollees built a new trail to provide better access...

The WPA laborers completed two group camps by 1938, known as Camp Tepicon and Camp Pottawattomie. The camps were immediately occupied by Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Today, the surviving group camp is known as Potawatomi. Potawatomi is a functional group camp with 43 buildings. The camp consists of rest rooms, activity cabins, sleeping cabins, a mess hall, a wash house, and more.

The building is a remnant of Camp Tepicon, a group camp constructed by WPA laborers. The dining hall is still in use and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

“By the spring of 1936, the CCC continued where they left off in 1934. Crews built a water system for the Kyle Canyon Campground, the Rainbow Canyon summer-home area, the Kyle Canyon Guard Station, and the Air Force Base Rest Camp. Considerable time was also spent cleaning up collapsed CCC barracks destroyed by devastating storms during the previous winter…Once the camp was operational, the CCC began constructing Deer Creek Road into Lee Canyon and building trails to Little Falls and Mount Baldy.” --The Civilian Conservation Corps in Nevada

According to the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, “The CCC improved the nation’s natural and human resources and also created opportunities for the public to recreate and appreciate a healthy outdoor experience. At Tolland ‘Pinecone Johnnies’ built access roads, bridges, trails, the peninsula campground, beach, picnic area and parking lot. Visit the beach and see the bathhouse they built in 1939.”

The Tollgate Campground lies on Highway 26 in the Mount Hood National Forest, close to the village of Rhododendron OR.  It was built by Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) workers from the Zigzag CCC camp – one of many recreational facilities created by the CCC around Mount Hood during the New Deal, chiefly to serve the Portland area. This relatively small, day-use campground features a classic CCC picnic shelter and unusual stone fireplaces.    

Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the following structures still extant within the park: Scout cabin, grill, creek wall, bandshell, fountain. The fountain and the bandshell have recently been restored and upgraded, and the other WPA structures are in line for similar treatment.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed Vermont's Townshend State Park  during the 1930s. From the Vermont State Parks Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation: “The park was constructed during the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a public works program aimed at putting young men to work… As visitors enter the park property today, they are greeted by lush green lawns leading to the park office, a CCC-built building constructed with stones quarried from the surrounding forest. The park looks basically the same as it did when constructed between 1934-1938. It includes a picnic area, hiking trails and the...

Once the site of CCC Camp Trask, the Trask River County Campground provides day and camping facilities on the northern bank of the Trask River. Tillamook County currently manages this recreational land, located approximately fifteen miles east of the City of Tillamook. The campground was cleared for use as a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp in 1937. CCC enrollees residing at the site also improved the campground by laying out picnic facilities and recreation trails. Additional CCC enrollees' improvements included tree planting, and road and bridge development in the area.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed the Tuolumne Meadows campground in 1933-34, according to a plan laid out by the National Park Service (NPS) and with financing from the Public Works Administration (PWA).  It is the largest campground in Yosemite National Park.  The campground regularized camping at Tuolumne, which had previously been a free-for-all with cars driving across the meadows and people camping wherever they liked. The damage to the meadows had been extensive before the National Park Service brought a halt to the anarchy. First, the NPS restricted camping to designated campgrounds and then implemented a new plan for individual campsites,...

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers completed five identical cabins in 1941. The cabins sit in a semi-circle in a lightly wooded area.

Tyler State Park was developed by CCC Company 2888 from 1935-1941: "Set into the Piney Woods of East Texas, Tyler State Park reflects two major park development efforts. The first, directed by landscape architect Ben K. Chambers, involved extensive forest reclamation and land rehabilitation that included tree planting, development of a road system, and construction of a dam and lake. Architect Joe C. Lair oversaw the other effort, which focused on the development of essential park buildings. Particularly noteworthy, the architect’s designs represent a clear break from the National Park Service rustic style so often used at CCC parks, including many...

Underhill State Park is one of nearly two dozen state parks in Vermont that was developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the Great Depression era. "Between December 1933 and August 1940, the Underhill State Park was the base of operations for Camp-S-60 of the Civilian Conservation Corps, Companies 1291 and 1135. The primary focus of Camp S-60 within the Underhill State Park was the upgrading of existing and additional construction to the Mountain Road on the west side of Mount Mansfield. Other accomplishments included the development of skiing and hiking trails and the establishment of the lower, public camping...

The Union Creek Historic District on the upper Rogue River in Union Creek, Oregon, is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places because it is a fine representative of a type of rustic resort popular in the early 20th century and has been little altered since the 1930s. The United States Forest Service (USFS)  began planning the recreational development of Union Creek in the 1920s, as outdoor recreation by automobile expanded rapidly. Subsequent development of the area followed forest service plans and the USFS has maintained the integrity of the district for the last century. There are almost one hundred...

The Works Progress Administration constructed a university laboratory building in Centennial, Albany County. The camp had been founded near Mullen Creek in 1935 by a CCC camp (possibly F-36). The University of Wyoming later used the facility as a recreation camp. During WWII, the camp was used by the Army and Air Force. The facility has been demolished. The former location of this facility is unknown to the Living New Deal.

The Works Progress Administration built the university Main Hall east wing in Centennial, Albany County. The camp had been founded near Mullen Creek in 1935 by a CCC camp (possibly F-36). The University of Wyoming later used the facility as a recreation camp. During WWII, the camp was used by the Army and Air Force. The facility has been demolished. The former location and condition of this facility is unknown to the Living New Deal.

"The Upper Sandy Guard Station Cabin, built in 1935, is an exceptional expression of a "rugged" Rustic style U.S. Forest Service building constructed by skilled local carpenters and laborers assisted by men employed under one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal work relief programs. Funded by the Emergency Relief Appropriations (ERA) Act of 1935, and cooperating funds from the City of Portland, the cabin was built along the newly constructed Timberline Trail specifically to provide housing for an administrative guard to protect the Bull Run Division watershed, the source of the City of Portland's drinking water supply, from public...