There is a sign off to the side of the road. “WARNING” it says in bold letters. “Steep, narrow, dirt road.” “Not maintained for passenger vehicles.” It’s at this moment that you have to consider a couple of things. The first being, “what the heck is a passenger vehicle and am I driving one?” The second being, “is it worth it?” I’ve found that to the former, I have no idea. But to the latter, absolutely.
A couple of months ago I was going through some old files that the University of Idaho put together about the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in Idaho. There is something romantic about working in a beautiful, unknown place for the summer, especially in the ‘30s. And the U of I did a great job making it more idyllic. As a brief summary, the CCC was created by FDR pretty much instantly after he was sworn into office. It was used as a way to combat the devastating effects of the Great Depression on Americans. The basic concept was getting young men into the workforce by way of conservation with the Forest Service and National Parks Service. It was huge in Idaho, there isn’t a place that you can go that they haven’t touched.
“Jackhammer Crew on Trail Creek” University of Idaho Library Digital Collections, Educational Use Permitted
The remnants of their time are everywhere, but they are especially visible in the Stanley Basin by way of buildings and roads. Once you see them, you can’t unsee all that they did. From about 1933 to 1941/42 they roamed the area, leaving their footprints in the dry dirt and changing human impact.
Back to a couple of months ago. I was perusing some of the documents that were saved on the CCC in Idaho, and I found an Annual created by the Ketchum CCC camp in 1940. It was pretty much a yearbook of the boys’ time in the area. The Annual was dedicated to the work that they had done on Trail Creek Road.
“View From Trail Creek Road 2024” Photo Credit, SIHA Staff 2024
Trail Creek Road is a mountain pass road that starts in Ketchum and comes out pretty close to Mackay, closer still to Mt. Borah. It’s steep and honestly scary. A one lane road with a rock wall on one side and a drop off on the other. Continued rockslides and washouts leave it frequently impassable. And hard winters leave it closed. But with its sharp edges comes a story buried deep.
The drive up Trail Creek is one of those experiences that is hard to forget. At first you will think that you are in the wrong place. A paved highway that runs by a valley. And then, as if the road decided to be something different, you’re on a one lane gravel road climbing up the side of a mountain.
There is a feeling that happens as you look out across the canyon, of knowing how this road started. There is this sense that if you turn your head quickly enough, you’ll see them, the boys, blasting out the trail for this steep road.
The views during the climb are amazing, and a road like this serves as far more than just its history. But that being said, it is also the sum of its past.
I kept thinking as I was driving up the road that I would see a sign, something that would talk about all of the boys who had worked on the road. But the further I got, the more the hope for that drained. It was as if they hadn’t built it at all.
One of the first things that I did when I got back into service was look for other “Trail Creek Roads” in the area. Perhaps, I thought, I got it wrong. Maybe it was a different road altogether. But the result of my research was simple, everyone else forgot.
I keep coming back to the Annual. There is something about the humanness of it all that I can’t get out of my head. The signed pages in the back, the pictures. So many things about history feel unreal, but their smiling faces and working hands add life to it all.
That Annual was created after the CCC finished Trail Creek, it was projected to take them five years to finish, over the course of two years, it took them a combined time of nine months to complete. It was an incredible feat that took extensive amounts of manpower. And so, the Annual was dedicated to that. One of the very first pages says it all..
D E D I C A T I O N
We, the Enrollees of Company 2527 CCC, wish to dedicate this, our first annual, to the Trail Creek Road, believing that our completed project will stand the test of use and time, and become a living symbol through which we express gratitude and thanks to our ancestors for this heritage.
There is something tragic about this story. A heartache that occurs when you read the sprawling signatures in the back of the book, urging everyone to “Remember Trail Creek.” It’s understanding that once again we didn’t listen to history. But it’s also silencing people. There is merit to listening to those of the past, and not forgetting the work that they put into making this area as special as it is. The SNRA would be different without the CCC boys in its history. And your scenic drive to Mackay would be far longer.
Morgan McCully is a 2024 Historic Specialist working at the Stanley Museum. They were born and raised in Northern Idaho, and in their free time they love reading and enjoying the world around them.