Elk Lake Guard Station - Oregon Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Marker Name: ”Elk Lake Guard Station and the Forest Guard”
Marker Text: In the early days of the National Forest System, the forest guards who were sometimes posted at guard stations were the forest rangers’ right-hand men in the field. Guard stations were satellites of ranger stations.
When, in 1920, a wagon road connected Bend and Elk Lake, recreation boomed in the area. National forest campgrounds were built, summer home sites were leased, and Elk Lake Lodge was opened. By 1924 there was an Elk Lake post office. The forest ranger in Bend soon needed a forest guard in the area to serve visitors, maintain facilities, and protect resources.
This forest guard needed a base, and in 1929 the Elk Lake Guard Station log cabin was built. At first, because funds were scarce during the Great Depression, this station was not staffed. From the late 1930’s through the 1990’s, however, forest guards and other Forest Service employees and volunteers served the public from this small station. Their job grew as the population grew, access improved, leisure time increased, and more forest visitors came.
In 1997, the Forest Service decided to retain this old guard station - along the popular Cascade Lakes National Scenic Byway - as a visitor information center and historic site. During the next few years, Forest Service employees and volunteers restored the cabin and rehabilitated its grounds.
Now, as you visit historic Elk Lake Guard Station, you get a feel for how the forest guard lived and worked during the middle decades of the 20th century - in a very different time not too long ago.

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