Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

Volunteering

Volunteers Help Protect the Monte Cristo Area

An unstable clay area, known by locals as "the clay slide", about half-mile from the gate at Barlow Pass, slid again over the winter.

The Sauk River ran through the Weden Creek trailhead and around the bridge which can be seen left of center, making the bridge an "island".

Due to severe flood damage to the access to the former Monte Cristo town site and the trails leaving from there, the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest is not seeking additional Volunteer Site Stewards for the 2008 season.

For more information about the Monte Cristo Volunteer Site Steward program or if you would like to be on the list for the 2009 season, contact Matt Riggen at Darrington Ranger District at 360-436-1155 ext 226 or email mriggen@fs.fed.us

Monte Cristo Site Steward Program

The former Monte Cristo town site is a heavily visited recreation area reached by a scenic four mile walk, bike or horse ride from Barlow Pass along a gated road, 19 miles East of the Verlot Public Service Center on the Mountain Loop Highway. In addition to the many visitors that come as far as the town site for the day or camp along the way at one of the camp areas, there are two trails out of the town site leading into the adjacent Henry M. Jackson Wilderness area that attract hikers, backpackers, fishers and climbers to the area.

Unfortunately, the popularity of the area is leading to numerous detrimental impacts including vandalism, theft of historic artifacts, and physical and biological impacts in the surrounding Wilderness.

To begin to address these impacts, the Volunteer Site Steward program was developed in cooperation with the Monte Cristo Preservation Association (MCPA) in 1997. The goal of the program is to involve the community in the understanding, protection and interpretation of the natural and historical resources in the Monte Cristo area. Volunteers will help visitors develop an appreciation of the area through interpretation and education on the way to and in the former town site, on the trails leading into the surrounding Wilderness, and by helping maintain the area.

Though Monte Cristo was a thriving mining town, with a population of approximately 1,000 inhabitants during the 1890’s, there are no remaining intact structures from the town. The only structures are a number of cabins built for recreation use in the 1950’s and now owned by the Forest Service and a number of private residences. Much of the land in the immediate area is privately owned.

The key qualification for Volunteer Site Stewards is that they be people oriented since their primary responsibility is to share information with visitors in the town site/cabin area, along the four mile road walk in, or along the trails. Stewards use one of the Forest Service cabins during day long or multiple day trips. Stewards also assist in maintaining the cabins, camp areas, toilets, information boards, registration boxes and trails.

US Forest Service - Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
Last Modified: Friday, 25 July 2008 at 18:36:02 EDT