• Bryce Canyon National Park Improvements - Bryce Canyon UT
    Bryce Canyon was originally designated as a national monument by President Warren G. Harding in 1923 and became a national park through an act of Congress in 1928. The park covers 35,835 acres in south-central Utah. The New Deal greatly improved Bryce Canyon National Park.  Along with the National Park Service, the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided special funds, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked continuously in the park, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was also active. The National Park Service recognizes the CCC's contribution on its website for Bryce Canyon NP, but not that of the PWA or WPA:  “During the 1930s...
  • Cape Sebastian State Scenic Corridor (Cape Sebastian State Park) - Gold Beach OR
    Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees began development of the 537-acre Cape Sebastian State Park as early as October 1934. The promontory, covered by spruce forest, offers striking views of the Pacific below. CCC workers developed the roads and trails necessary for the public's access to those views. Parking areas, defined by low rock walls, in the northern and southern parts of the park complete access to the cape's perspective. As summarized by Portland's newspaper, the Oregonian, in 1940: "A lofty promontory, which juts out into the Pacific Ocean; one of the most striking coastal features along the Coast Highway. Good roads here, trails...
  • Cascade River Overlook - Lutsen MN
    In 1934 the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) implemented a camp at the Spruce Creek State Park for drought relief by Robert E. Fechner (p.4, The Minneapolis Star), who was selected by President Roosevelt to direct the CCC (Roosevelts tree army). The Spruce Creek Camp established its camp ground at the Cascade River on the North shore. From there they started to build the Cascade River Overlook, which is the largest structure built by the Spruce Creek CCC camp. The CCC camp worked on the overlook for one year between 1934-1935, The Cascade River Overlook is Minnesota’s first example of a...
  • Castle Crags State Park Development - Castella CA
    From 1933 to 1937, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers developed Castle Crags State Park for public use.  CCC enrollees from a camp at Castella built "the park’s roads, trails, infrastructure and buildings in the 'park rustic' style of native wood and stone." (State Parks brochure).  Evidently, some of the CCC workers at Castle Crags were African American (see photo below). The state purchased the land in 1933 from a bankrupt private resort with a mineral springs, "Castle Rock Spring", which had fallen into disrepair.  The CCC workers built a trail down to the river, a new suspension bridge to replace an old, unsafe bridge for...
  • Colliding Rivers Overlook - Glide OR
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the Colliding Rivers Overlook (or Viewpoint), where the North Umpqua and Little Rivers come together. The work as presumably done in 1938, the same year the CCC constructed the Glide Ranger Station just across the road (now the Information Center for the Colliding Rivers Viewpoint). The overlook consists of a small parking area and terraces on two levels for viewing the rivers, with both a ramp and stairway between levels. There is a path to a secondary overlook that is today blocked by trees, and there is a restroom (comfort station) that appears to be...
  • Fort Mountain State Park - Chatsworth GA
    Fort Mountain State Park in northern Georgia was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the 1930s. Part of the Cohutta Mountain Range, the park gained its name for a stone structure located along a mountaintop in the area.   The park officially opened in 1936. The CCC built the park’s infrastructure and constructed many of its facilities such as the lake and recreational buildings. CCC work crews also did forestry work and made hiking trails. “One of the most notable contributions by the CCC,” according to Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites, “is the large stone fire tower that stands...
  • Guernsey State Park Development - Guernsey WY
    Guernsey State Park is built around the Guernsey Dam and Reservoir, constructed in the 1920s as a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation project along the North Platte River in  southeastern Wyoming. In the 1930s, the Bureau worked with the National Park Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to develop the area around the reservoir as a recreational park. The land is owned by the Bureau and managed by the state of Wyoming. The CCC developed the park's recreational facilities from 1934 to 1937, working out of two camps: Camp BR-9, on a bluff north of Guernsey Dam, and Camp BR-10, about a...
  • Half Dome Climbing Cables Replacement - Yosemite National Park CA
    The Half Dome cables, originally installed in 1920 by the Sierra Club, were replaced and strengthened by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees in 1934. These cables allow thousands of people each year to hike to the top of this famous peak. The Half Dome trails runs from the valley floor to the top of Half Dome, over 8 miles (via the Mist Trail) with a 4,800-foot elevation gain.  The final 400 feet are so steep that   two steel cables, bolted to the rocks, are needed for handholds. Every Spring the cables are brought out from winter storage and  raised onto...
  • Hermit Road and Overlooks - Grand Canyon Village AZ
    The federal Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) built the Hermit Road in Grand Canyon Village in 1934-35.  The National Park Service (NPS) website says this: "Hermit Road and most of its associated overlooks and parking areas are historic, designed and constructed in 1934-1935 by the Bureau of Public Roads and the National Park Service." Hermit Road and its overlooks have some of the best views of the Grand Canyon on the south rim.  It is commonly thought that the overlooks and wall were the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), but it was the BPR and NPS. The road was modernized...
  • Land's End Observatory - Grand Mesa CO
    In the 1936-37, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) build the stone observatory (later visitor's center) at Land's End on the western tip of Grand Mesa. It was built in the Rustic Style popular in the early 20th century, of heavy basalt stone from the mesa and rough timbers. Grand Mesa is the largest flat-topped mountain in the world, around 500 square miles in area and 10,500 high.  It is entirely within the Grand Mesa National Forest. The observatory was shuttered when we visited, but not permanently closed, we hope.
  • Moran State Park: General Development - Olga WA
    Moran State Park was created in 1921 when Robert Moran, shipbuilder and former mayor of Seattle, donated more than 2,700-acres to the state for a park. Like many state parks at the time, it was not well developed for public recreation until the coming of the New Deal. Most of the trails, roads, bridges, and buildings in the park were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the 1930s. The CCC typically used native materials on site to construct the many stone and wooden shelters and buildings. The Moran State Park website offers a few more details on its History page: "In...
  • Moran State Park: Observation Tower - Olga WA
    Moran State Park was created in 1921 when Robert Moran, shipbuilder and former mayor of Seattle, donated more than 2,700-acres to the state for a park. Like many state parks at the time, it was not well developed for public recreation until the coming of the New Deal. Most of the trails, roads, bridges, and buildings in the park were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the 1930s. The CCC typically used native materials on site to construct the many stone and wooden shelters and buildings. The most notable of the CCC's structures is the stone observation tower at the...
  • Natural Bridge Overlook - Union Creek OR
    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.   There are almost one hundred buildings and other facilities in the Union Creek Historic District, almost all of which conform to the Forest Service plans of the 1920s and 30s.  Roughly a third were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from 1933 to 1942, working out of the Upper...
  • Oswald West State Park (Short Sands Beach State Park) - Manzanita OR
    Oswald West State Park, known for its quiet, secluded beach and its picturesque trail system, was established in the early days of the Depression. At that time, it was known as Short Sands Beach State Park. A Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp was located within the park from 1939 through 1941. During those years, the CCC enrollees worked primarily on developing the park's trail system. The CCC Camp improved the park property as work on the Neah-kah-nie section of the Coast Highway (Highway 101) underwent construction. Before the nine-mile section of road between Cannon Beach and Manzanita opened, access to Short...
  • Roads and Trails - Petrified Forest National Park AZ
    A major upgrade of facilities at the Petrified Forest National Monument (now National Park) was undertaken by the New Deal in the 1930s.  The work was carried out from 1933 to 1940 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), under the direction of the National Park Service (NPS).  Some, if not all, was paid for by a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA). Among other works, the CCC enrollees improved and paved the parks' dirt roads, including the main Petrified Forest Road and the Blue Mesa Scenic Road, adding bridges over the washes.  The also built the park's trail system, including...
  • Sea Lion Point Rock Wall - Florence OR
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of the Sea Lion Point Rock Wall near Florence, Oregon. According to the Oregon Department of Transportation, "his section of rock wall (.36 miles) extends around Sea Lion Point, providing a pull-out for viewing, to the north entrance of the Sea Lion Caves parking lot. The wall is a low, solid structure and believed to have been built under the federal Public Works Administration Program during the early 1930s." Video along full length of rock wall along coast highway at Sea Lion Point 
  • South Mountain Park: Picnic Ramadas - Phoenix AZ
    South Mountain Park in Phoenix AZ was developed for public recreation by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from 1933 to 1940. Among the works of the CCC were two ramadas, which are large, elaborate picnic areas, with stunning views north over the city of Phoenix. The ramadas consist of polished concrete picnic tables protected from the desert sun by wooden roofs raised on stone or concrete pillars, with large central spaces surrounded by stone walls.  The big ramada is very extensive and reached by stone steps.  Low stone walls line the approach road to the ramadas and the complex includes a path...
  • Sue-Meg State Park: Trails and Viewpoints - Trinidad CA
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) did major work developing the former Patrick's Point (now Sue-Meg) State Park, which had just been purchase by the new State Parks Commission in 1929. The work was carried out between 1933 and 1937 by the men of Company 1903 at Camp Prairie Creek. Joseph Engbeck (2002) reports that the CCC enrollees carried out a number of basic improvements to the park, such as a new entry road, a campground and day-use picnic area, and a protective firebreak around the perimeter of the park  (Engbeck, p. 24). Evidently, the CCC crews did more than that, as rangers at the...
  • Tucson Mountain Park: Gates Pass Road & Overlook - Tucson AZ
    Tucson Mountain Park, created in 1929, was opened to general recreation use in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), working with the Pima County parks agency.  The northern half of the original park was added to the Saguaro National Monument in 1961, which became a national park in 1994, and this portion of the park was renamed Saguaro National Park – Tucson Mountain District (TMD). (See also Saguaro NP (TMD) project pages) The CCC 'boys' set up Camp Pima, SP6A, in December 1933 at the northwest corner of what was is now Saguaro NP.  Working from there, they carried out extensive...
  • Union Creek Historic District - Union Creek OR
    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...