Avalanche auto camp is located in a grove of cedars and cottonwoods on
a picturesque flat at the mouth of Avalanche Creek. It is equipped with
modern toilets, showers, and laundry, but has no stores or gasoline
station. A Government ranger naturalist and a camp tender serve the
camp, which is on Going-to-the-Sun Highway.
Near the upper end of the camp, Avalanche Creek has cut a deep, narrow
gorge through brilliant red argillite. It is filled with potholes
scoured out by stones swirled in the foaming torrent. Drooping
hemlocks, festooned with goatsbeard lichen, keep the spot in cool,
somber gloom even on the hottest midday. This gorge is the home of the
water ouzel, which is often seen flying back and forth in the spray.
From the gorge, a self-guiding trail leads 2 miles to Avalanche Basin,
a semicircular amphitheater with walls over 2,000 feet high over which
plunge a half dozen snowy waterfalls. A dense forest and calm lake
repose on the floor of the cirque. Fishing is good in the lake. The
narrow canyon through which the trail leads from the camp offers fine
views of Heaven's Peak, Mount Cannon, Bearhat Mountain, Gunsight
Mountain with the cirque bearing Sperry Glacier, and the canyon in
which Hidden Lake reposes. In the early season the walls of the basin
and canyon are draped with countless waterfalls. The sides of Cannon
and Bearhat offer one of the most opportune places for seeing mountain
goats. In late season huckleberries are abundant.
A ranger naturalist conducts an entertainment every evening in the
campfire circle in the auto camp.