The Lewis River Hydroelectric Projects - PacifiCorp

Cresap Bay Park—Local Welcome Sign
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Cresap Bay Park
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Cresap Bay Park
Welcome to Cresap Bay Park. This facility is owned and operated by the
power company PacifiCorp, which provides public recreation
opportunities along the reservoirs of the Lewis River.
Cresap Bay is a great home base for exploring 14.5-mile Merwin
Reservoir—for a day or a week. Launch your boat for a fishing trip—if
you’re planning to stay overnight, you can berth it at the 23-slip marina.
Cool off with the kids at the swimming beach. Pitch your tent in the
shadow of stately Douglas-firs. Go for a stroll along the shoreline or on
the nearby Roy Wold Trail.
Sidebar:
Before bridges spanned the Lewis—and before the construction of
Merwin Dam flooded this area with lake water—river ferries served as
important transportation links for settlers along the river. Just west of
today’s Cresap Bay campground, local homesteader Tom Cresap
operated such a ferry, hauling passengers, livestock, and freight between
the Vancouver road (today’s route 503) and the west bank of the river,
where another road (roughly corresponding to today’s Lewis River Road)
provided access downriver to Woodland.
Cresap’s ferry, which operated from 1902 until 1920, was a sturdy, flatbottomed
platform that could easily carry a loaded wagon, team, and
passengers. Like most river ferries of that era, it used the river’s own
power (and a dash of human muscle) to shift its loads from bank to bank.
Overhead cables kept the vessel from drifting downstream, while skillful
maneuvering of bow and stern cables set it at the correct angle for the
current to push it across. The ferry operator (usually Cresap himself) used
hand winches to maneuver and land the heavy vessel.
Sidebar
Captions:
Photo of Cresap Ferry
Cresap charged 20-50 cents per crossing, depending on how many
passengers, wagons, or livestock were in the party.
Photo of basket ferry
For those traveling light, there were several “basket ferry” crossings over
the Lewis River. To cross, passengers climbed a wooden tower on the
riverbank and clambered into a small wooden “basket” that hung by
pulleys from a cable, which stretched across the river to another tower.
They then rode the basket on a swooping arc above the water, hauling
themselves up to the other tower by hand when momentum failed.
Park Rules:
Day Use Park Regulations:
Appendix 1: panel profiles Lewis River Draft I&E Plan page 21