CCC Camp Trask (former) – Tillamook OR

Description

From 1935 through May 1941, the area now occupied by the Trask River County Campground served as the site of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp Trask. The enrollees stationed at the camp worked primarily on truck trail construction and other activities related to “fire hazard reduction” on private forest land.

As described in the Vancouver Barracks report (1937): “Camp Trask is built in a grove of fir and spruce trees on the bank of the river and affords a very attractive site. The buildings are arranged into a square, with parade grounds and flagpole in the center. Electric lights are provided by the company’s own plant and water is piped from a spring situated on the side of a hill back of camp. The Forestry Department occupies nine buildings, including the office, quarters and garage.”

In addition to the construction and maintenance of the Trask River truck trail, CCC workers built look-out towers, strung telephone lines through the forest and cleared additional trails for fire prevention.

A plague, placed by the Tillamook County Historical Society in 1996 at the Trask River County Campground, honors the work relief program and the enrollees who contributed to Tillamook County during the Depression years.