I have hiked to Monte Cristo several times over the past two decades, testing my balance on the log crossing the Sauk River and reveling in the meadow among mountains where gold and silver mining boomed in the 1890s. Several years ago, I met David Cameron and Louise Lindgren, Snohomish County historians who lived in Index, WA. David founded the Monte Cristo Preservation Association after vandalism was found in that historic town. That non-profit group has labored steadfastly ever since to preserve access to and interpret Monte Cristo’s history.
On a mid-September day, the river was so low my hiking friends and I crossed on a few rocks, thumbing our noses (or poles) at the log that has migrated upstream. We walked the next three miles on the shaded old road and rail-line to the meadow. 
Enjoying our peanut butter at a picnic table under a bright blue sky, we were joined by David Hartze, treasurer of the MCPA, who explained that Louise was making a memorial hike to Monte Cristo. David died in February 2025. The MCPA is developing an interpretive center in their honor.
The best ghost town in Washington has much to interpret: mining that provided some riches for the Rockefellers and Colbys, local developers Fred and John Wilmans, and even Frederick Trump; arduous labor by miners and packers; a railroad that carried tons of ore to Everett; a bustling community of 2000 people which became a resort when the panic of 1907 made mining unprofitable, and a legacy of contamination (read Hiking Washington’s History for a full description).
At the new Cameron-Lindgren interpretive center on Dumas Steet, Louise has written the content for a circle of signs at the site of the Monte Cristo Hotel. New information to me was the history of the Bedal family who homesteaded where the Bedal campground is on the Mountain Loop Highway, northeast of Monte Cristo. James Bedal immigrated from Minnesota and married Susan (or Susie or Susannah) of the Sauk tribe, now Sauk-Suiattle. Two of their daughters (Edith and Jean) were skilled basket-makers, horse-packers, elders and recorders of the Sauk language and history. See Skagit River Journal excerpt on the Bedal family.
The signs also told me that a gas car service of the Hartford Eastern Railway brought vacationers to the resort at Monte Cristo after 1914. When the tracks on that railway (the former Everett and Monte Cristo rail line) were removed in the 1930s, the Mountain Loop Highway was established following that route, providing access to trailheads in the Mt. Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest.
If you value access to this spectacular scenery and hikes, please thank the members of MCPA that you may see improving the trails and preserving the buildings. Their work parties are on the third Saturday of the months from June through October, and they welcome volunteers.
