Last updated: October 3, 2023
Place
Sunset Park Trail Shelter
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Location:
Sunset Park along the Wonderland Trail
Season: Summer
The Sunset Park Trail Shelter is located on the west side of the park along the Wonderland Trail at Golden Lakes.
Prior to 1920, there were very few shelters for backcountry hikers and park rangers. Superintendent Toll (1919-20) stressed the need for a string of trail shelters to be placed ten to fifteen miles apart on the popular Wonderland Trail. Toll's system evolved into the construction of both patrol cabins and trail shelters under Superintendent O. A. Tomlinson's administration (1923-41).
By 1924, there were seven known trail shelters in the park. One was located at Golden Lakes in Sunset Park (Thompson 1981). This pre-1924 shelter must have been demolished, however, the Superintendent's monthly report of October 1931 stated that a trail shelter had been constructed at Sunset Park the previous month.