The Canyon Creek Shelter, also known as the Sol Duc Falls Shelter, is a rustic trail shelter in Olympic National Park. It is the last remaining trail shelter built in the park by the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

(CCC) from Camp Elwha. The shelter was built in 1939, shortly after Olympic National Park was established from the

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...

-administered Mount Olympus National Monument. Two similar shelters were built at Moose Lake and Hoh Lake, neither of which survive. The one-story log structure is T-shaped, with a projecting front porch crowned by a small cupola. The shelter is open to the front porch. and The shelter was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on July 13, 2007.

Historic Preservation Efforts

The shelter was the focus of historic preservation efforts in 2011, conducted by the University of Oregon's Pacific Northwest Preservation Field School in partnership with the National Park Service. Project work included assessing structural conditions, which guided the use of traditional framing and carpentry techniques to conserve historically significant architectural features. This process including stabilizing or repairing portions of the log sill and frame, in keeping with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, along with further repairs to the roof gables and cedar-shake cladding. These repairs required the use of techniques such as saddle-notch log joinery (replicating the shape orientation, and tool-markings identified in the original CCC-era construction). Owing to its isolated location within the local terrain, carpentry work utilized only traditionally appropriate hand tools, such as framing chisels, slicks, gouges, and drawknives, which were therefore packed in and out on a daily basis. Repair materials included locally sourced Douglas fir logs and western red cedar shakes. Field team members also generated a set of measured architectural drawings, reflecting 2011 conditions, for inclusion in the

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

(HABS), Library of Congress.

References

Park buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Government buildings completed in 1939 Buildings and structures in Clallam County, Washington Log cabins in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Olympic National Park Huts Civilian Conservation Corps in Washington (state) National Register of Historic Places in Clallam County, Washington Log buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) 1939 establishments in Washington (state) National Park Service rustic in Washington (state) {{Washington-NRHP-stub