Historical Map of the North Country of
​Yosemite National Park, 1954

A Friends of Camp Mather member recently acquired a copy of this colorful 1954 “approximately topographical” map of the northern portion of Yosemite National Park. The map depicts major landmarks north of Tioga Road, including mountains, rivers and lakes, roads, and hiking trails—and Camp Mather, in the lower left/southwest corner of the map,

The areas marked “Mather (San Francisco Recreation Camp)” and “Stables” encompass today’s Camp Mather and the backcountry areas around the historic Hog Ranch.

“Mather Station” is the nearby National Park Service gate into Yosemite National Park’s Hetch Hetchy area. The long, snake-like body of water just to the northeast of Mather is the Hetch Hetchy reservoir itself, the primary source of water for San Francisco. The construction of the reservoir’s O’Shaughnessy Dam is why Camp Mather exists today.

Meanwhile, the point marked ​“Evergreen” is Camp Mather’s neighbor, a historic lodge and resort. Evergreen Lodge was built by opportunistic entrepreneurs as a roadhouse bar (and brothel!) serving the dam workers, but today is a wholesome, family-friendly resort.

The map’s reverse describes several hikes in the northern portion of Yosemite National Park and visually depicts the relative length and elevation changes of the routes. (If you’re looking to take an actual hike in the Camp Mather area, check out FoCM’s contemporary map that charts out many more hikes, rated by difficulty.)

The map was created by Lewis W. Clark and published by the Stanford University Press in 1954. It is one of a series of three “pocket guides” and is a companion to the “Pocket Guide to the South Boundary Country” (1955) and the “Pocket Guide to the High Sierra Camp Areas, Yosemite National Park” (1953).

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