Trail Improvement and Restoration - Yosemite National Park CA

City:: Yosemite National Park, CA
Site Type:: Paths and Trails, Parks and Recreation
New Deal Agencies:: Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Conservation and Public Lands, Work Relief Programs, National Park Service (NPS)
Started:: 1933
Completed:: 1942
Quality of Information:: Moderate
Marked:: No
Site Survival:: Extant

Description

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made many improvements around Yosemite National Park during its time there, 1933-42. Enrollees worked out of two major hub camps and a dozen or so seasonal and ‘spike’ (temporary) camps.

One of the typical activities of the CCC in national and state parks was building and upgrading trails. Because Yosemite is the second oldest national park, the trail system was already well developed before the CCC arrived. Nevertheless, CCC teams did extensive maintenance and improvement work on the far-flung trail system of the park.

In particular, after the damage done by the floods of winter 1937, the CCC was called upon to repair and restore trails (and bridges) washed out and undercut by the high waters of the Merced River and creeks around the park.

Similarly, after the dam was raised at Hetch Hetchy, the beginning of the north side trail would certainly have needed to be rebuilt.