Ah-Di-Na

Ah-Di-Na -"Place where the water runs fast and shallow".

I have wanted to visit this place for years but have never taken the time. I wish I had visited sooner. I love exploring historical places. It's unusual for me to take off at the drop of a hat, on a Sunday no less, to do an overnighter by myself. Why not? I'm my own boss right? Have been for three years but just seem to have figured it out!

This campground is actually pretty neat. It's not one of those that you pull your big travel trailer into. In fact, the road going in starts like a nicely graded road and then turns into the rockiest road I have been on in a while. It took a while to get there but once I did it did not disappoint. There were only three of the sixteen campsites filled. What was really nice about this place is that it had flush toilets and piped water! Roughing it without really roughing it. This campground sits right along the McCloud River. I would have loved to visit the river, however, Fish and Game were conducting some kind of fish testing and had the trails were blocked off. As much as I would have loved to photograph the water there was so much historical things to explore and photograph. There is actually an historical trail that leads you to all the points of interest.

Before you even get to the road for the campground you drive past the gorgeous McCloud Reservoir. I have only seen water this color one other time. That was at Crater Lake in Oregon. Photos do not do it justice. In person it is amazing!

The campground has a lot of trees so shade isn't an issue. I chose spot 13. I wanted seclusion and there was nobody else down at that end of the campground. Plus it was close to the river. You know, the one I couldn't go to. Each camping spot has a fire pit and picnic table.

Now for the history! The site was originally inhabited by the Wintu tribe. The land transferred to William Fitzhugh in 1919 and then to William Randolph Hurst in 1930. Hearst adorned Ah Di Na with lavish furnishings, marble bathtubs, a telephone system, tongue and groove walnut flooring, an electrical generating system and a sprinkler system. He used the resort as housing for his many guests who came to visit him at Wyntoon, his estate 10 miles upstream. When Hearst died in 1951, Ah Di Na became seldom used. It didn't take long for vandalism to begin. In 1958, the Hearst family ordered the caretaker to burn all the buildings in an attempt to stop the vandalism. Very little remains.

The Ladies Cabin

The Ladies Cabin is where female guests stayed when they came to visit Ah-Di-Na. This is one of the only buildings that is left besides the cellar.

Black and white of the interior of The Ladies Cabin

The Old Cellar

Any materials not available in the valley were brought in by horse or mule. Most items could be loaded on pack saddles but heavy items, like marble bathtubs, had to be brought in by "lizards". The lizard was a travois like skid made of oak poles and pulled by pack stock. The cement used in much of the construction throughout Ah-Di-Na, but in particular, the pools and this cellar was brought in on one of these devices.

Black and White of one of the rooms in the cellar

One of the pools at the lodge

All that remains of Fitzhugh's lodge.

All in all, very cool place to visit! If there is one downfall it would be the bugs! Not mosquitos but gnats. No rhyme or reason to their swarming! I noticed that they left me alone around 7 at night and reappeared around 7 the next morning. Weirdos. I would definitely go back and explore the area more. Maybe even get those river photos that I wanted to get!