North Cascades

RECREATION AND TOURISM IN THE MOUNTAINS

ACTIVITY AND RECREATION

Overview

The lack of roads and easy access into the North Cascadian wilderness restricted the numbers of tourists for many years. Those who visited early on came to a place barely on the map, but a place continually lauded and promoted by local residents who wished to encourage tourism, particularly in Chelan County. With effusive language, the region was heralded as a wilderness, a vast land of glaciers, jagged peaks, deep forested valleys, and abundant fish and game. Impressive scenery coupled with the land's inaccessible mystique was a panacea for outdoor lovers:

Beautiful Lake Chelan! It probably has no equal for beauty and wonderful scenery anywhere on the habitable globe. Those who come to Chelan are charmed with its situation . . . But grand as it all is, they can form no conception whatever of the stupendous panarama [sic] nature has spread out for the delactation [sic] of the tourist only a few miles further on. [5]

The federal government also made some effort to encourage recreation in the North Cascades. As early as 1916 the Washington National Forest pursued a detailed reconnaissance for the purposes of obtaining knowledge regarding the recreational resources of the forest. [6] Public campgrounds provided by the USFS became more common, particularly along Lake Chelan where the camper ". . . had his choice of any of a hundred . . . places and may pitch his tent along the shore of the lake or among the mountain meadows wherever his fancy may lead him." [7] In the later 1910s USFS Ranger Tommy Thompson reported parties of campers and tourists at Bacon Creek and Gorge Creek. [8] Simple lean-tos were built for the comfort of these travelers by USFS rangers. Most of the structures were replaced in the 1930s with substantial 3-sided log shelters.

The care of backcountry visitors became increasingly important to the USFS as greater numbers entered the area. In 1929 the. Stehekin District Ranger reported approximately 200 summer campers at Bridge Creek alone; the same year the Skagit District Ranger reported 400 campers, 200 picnickers, 150 hikers, and 75 motorists for the entire district. In comparison, the Glacier Ranger District, encompassing the Mt. Baker area, reported 4924 campers, 22,800 picnickers, 250 hikers, and 5000 motorists.[9] To prepare for the anticipated increase in visitors, the USFS developed more detailed plans for recreational use of the forests between the years 1923 and 1933. [10]