Forum Index > Pacific NW History > Old Reiter Campground by May Creek
 Reply to topic
Previous :: Next Topic
Author Message
bgnelson
Member
Member


Joined: 05 Jul 2017
Posts: 12 | TRs | Pics
Location: Gold Bar
bgnelson
Member
PostTue Jun 23, 2020 12:03 am 
Does anyone remember or know anything about the old campground at Reiter by May Creek outside of Gold Bar? I know the general area of the campground, but it'd be awesome to get more info. Anyone have an old map that shows it? Pics from camping there? How many camp sites it had? Restrooms or other amenities?

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Randito
Snarky Member



Joined: 27 Jul 2008
Posts: 9495 | TRs | Pics
Location: Bellevue at the moment.
Randito
Snarky Member
PostTue Jun 23, 2020 8:31 am 
IDK -- but there is a large membership private campground located in that general area now. https://gbntone.org/

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
bgnelson
Member
Member


Joined: 05 Jul 2017
Posts: 12 | TRs | Pics
Location: Gold Bar
bgnelson
Member
PostTue Jun 23, 2020 6:04 pm 
I looked for old maps showing the May Creek campground. It's on 2 maps in the 1978 edition of Footsore 2 on pages 185 and 190. I haven't found other maps showing the location. A map of the layout would be amazing, but doesn't seem likely. Maybe I'll start looking for books on camping from the same period. In general, I know the area very well. I live in Gold Bar. I've explored all over, run, hiked and wandered 1000s of miles around Reiter, Wallace Falls and the surrounding area. I've also wandered through where the old campground was. DNR manages the land now. I know a lot of the DNR folks who work in the area, and all the State Park staff. But so far, all I've heard from people I've talked to was that there was a campground, and a friend's dad used to work there. Unfortunately, his dad passed years ago, and my friend doesn't know much about the campground.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Zloi
Member
Member


Joined: 30 Sep 2009
Posts: 129 | TRs | Pics
Location: Burien, haven for the helpless & homeless
Zloi
Member
PostSat May 06, 2023 5:24 pm 
I just hiked the new Sky Vista trail from 429th St TR and stayed on the old road beyond a clear cut to its end at May Creek. It looks like there used to be a bridge over the creek there (ie. that may be the spot on the USGS map that says 'footbridge'). I don't have that old Footsore II book but happened to see one in a thrift store today. As you say, it mentions a May Creek Campground and shows it on the book map for the Lake Isabel hike. (Apparently, btw, there was also a different trail back then to Lake Isabel which passed the Copperbell Mine.) The book mentions motorcyclists (dirt bikers, I assume) using those now overgrown roads on the W. side of May Creek that I was on to get nearly all the way to the lake. From the Footsore book map the campground appears to have been about where there is now a big clearcut on the E. side of May Creek. From the W. side of the creek it was hard to imagine a campground could have been near the creek (see pic below of probable bridge site from logging rd end)
I am surprised with the number of 'old-timers' on this site that no one has responded to your inquiry about the campground. You could drive the roads then that you have to walk today from a parking area on Reiter Rd.

mosey
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Bramble_Scramble
Member
Member


Joined: 28 Dec 2012
Posts: 312 | TRs | Pics
Bramble_Scramble
Member
PostSat May 06, 2023 9:35 pm 
I tried following the footsore directions the first time we went to Isabel and stayed on the roads on the west side of the creek. For some reason he doesn't mention that you have to cross the creek again higher up. We ended up bushwhacking the west side until we turned around. Turns out it's way easier to take the trail off the road to Copperbell and stay on the east side of the creek. But anyway back to the topic. Footsore says "Pass the sideroad right to Copperbell Mine and in 1 mile from the gravel pit, 3 miles from the highway, come to a large, undeveloped campground at May Creek. Park here, elevation 475 feet." Sounds to me like that's the area to look around at? I think that's around where we found a way across May Creek in that area on that first trip. I'm not sure since it was 13 or 14 years ago and we weren't looking for a campground.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Zloi
Member
Member


Joined: 30 Sep 2009
Posts: 129 | TRs | Pics
Location: Burien, haven for the helpless & homeless
Zloi
Member
PostSat May 06, 2023 9:57 pm 
The missing bridge crossing was at almost 1200'. Interesting, he calls the campground 'undeveloped,' which I guess means a free-to-use open area. At 475' it was probably somewhere on the big flat area which on the map looks like it has been turned into a wooded private development. No wonder nobody seems to know about it; it sounds pretty forgetable. I guess it's a good thing the old logging roads have been gated and aren't accessible to public vehicles.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Schroder
Member
Member


Joined: 26 Oct 2007
Posts: 6696 | TRs | Pics
Location: on the beach
Schroder
Member
PostSun May 07, 2023 10:07 am 
I just noticed this thread. The Footsore book drawing is not very accurate but what is referred to as May Creek Campground was just a flat area in the woods just north of the powerlines on the road that went to the top of Wallace Falls (drivable by vehicle in the early 70's). By the mid 80's the road was so rutted from motorcycles that we couldn't get up it in a Dodge Powerwagon.

Bramble_Scramble
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
brokein2
Member
Member


Joined: 12 Mar 2014
Posts: 4 | TRs | Pics
brokein2
Member
PostFri Dec 01, 2023 8:18 am 
The bridge was indeed in that area and was built and "maintained" by various user groups until the Reiter Pit area was closed to cross country motorized use. After crossing May creek you could continue on up to the mine also but getting to Lake Isabel still required a hike from an upper parking area. The "camp ground" was already closed when I used to frequent the area back in the 2000-2010 era.

Sculpin
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
   All times are GMT - 8 Hours
 Reply to topic
Forum Index > Pacific NW History > Old Reiter Campground by May Creek
  Happy Birthday speyguy, Bandanabraids!
Jump to:   
Search this topic:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum