Discover History

Established as an administrative site for Forest Service use in 1906, the historic landscape covers 65 acres and contains representative structures from three distinct Forest Service administrative units. The earliest of these was the Hemlock Ranger Station, established along the southern bank of Trout Creek in 1906. This was followed in 1909 by the Wind River Nursery, and in 1913 by the Wind River Experiment Station.

For over 6,000 years, people have played a part in the ecology of what is now the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

Early days of the forest. The origins of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest are firmly rooted in the national conservation movement that swept this country at the beginning of the 20th century.

Between 1933 and 1942, in the midst of the Great Depression, more than three million young men throughout the United States enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

During World War II, women were recruited to serve as fire lookouts throughout the west, and several women from Trout Lake and White Salmon served as lookouts during the war years.

Lands administered by the Gifford Pinchot National Forest have been home to indigenous people since time immemorial.