By:
Submission
During the Great Depression the Civilian Conservation Corps built a camp here for the crews building the Greyback Road. Later it became a fire guard station and camp for fire crews and finally a public campground. The 10 family campsites are scattered along the West Branch of Indian Creek. There is lots of shade and camping guidebooks refer to it as quiet, secluded and tranquil.
In Happy Camp, CA, at the intersection of State Rt. 96 and Davis Rd., take Davis Rd. north 11.8 miles to campground sign. Turn right at sign onto a single-lane dirt and gravel road and go 0.4 miles to campground.
Not bad. Fare amount of Logging truck jake brake noise. No facilities
When I lived in Happy Camp this was my favorite campground nearby. It is about ten miles north of Happy Camp. I used to drive out there to park and write in my journal. It was very peaceful, and usually empty. There are some forest service buildings there and once I noticed what looked like a caretaker in that area though the rest of the campground was deserted.
Once I was writing in my journal about how I hoped I'd see some animals there - and then looked up and my car was surrounded by a family of deer with one only about three feet from me. (I was writing from the comfort of the front seat of my car.) It surprised me how silently they'd walked up to me, to check out the car, I guess.
Another time, I was driving home from Oregon late at night, after midnight. As I came down the mountain, near West Branch Campground, there was a little fire on the side of the road with flames three or four feet high. The car ahead of me must have tossed out a cigarette, or maybe they set the fire intentionally - I don't know. I stopped my car and grabbed the bottled water I'd just bought when shopping in Oregon, and put about two gallons on the fire to extinguish it. I'm so glad I was able to save that beautiful area of the forest. Good thing I like bottled water!
This campground is often very empty. It was originally a Civilian Conservation Corps camp during the "Great Depression" of the 1930's. There's a path downhill to a branch of Indian Creek. I went down there once, exploring. It was a rough path!
