“Maybe those mountains are hard to climb. Those trees so hard to cut. But the air is pure, the water fine. And we’re climbing right out of the rut…" That was the Build Back spirit, circa the 1930's.  Read on to learn the enduring connection between our national parks and FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps.

The Grand Canyon features a stunning example of iconic "national park style" stonework: A rock wall on the South Rim that runs along the Rim Trail between the El Tovar Hotel and the Bright Angel Lodge. This---and many of the walls, paths and picnic shelters found at parks & rest stops---was constructed by FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps.

From Travel Awaits: "Anyone familiar with United States national parks has probably come across the signs describing the work of the band of intrepid young men of the Great Depression who assembled in camps across the country, planting trees and building roads and trails as they went. The CCC helped Grand Canyon and other national parks construct streets and roads, trails, picnic shelters, campgrounds, and telephone lines."

"I especially love the words from a former CCC enrollee inscribed on a sign along the Rim Trail: 'Maybe those mountains are hard to climb. Those trees so hard to cut. But the air is pure, the water fine. And we’re climbing right out of the rut…For besides helping ourselves, you see, we are helping Mother and Dad.'"

On a personal note: The above photo is of a rock wall built by my husband's grandfather Kenneth in the '50's (and still standing today.) During the Depression, Ken was one of those "intrepid young men" working in CCC camps and he later used those skills to install walls and paths on his own property. He built back after Depression and War and moved this country forward.

I am so grateful to the Greatest Generation, who came together and pulled the country "out of a rut." We did it then, and we can do it again.