Idiotville

Located just 50 miles from Portland in the Tillamook State Forest just off of Oregon Route 66, sits the ghost town of Idiotville. While the town is not just an eerie patch of land in the middle of the forest, it was once a less-than-thriving mining community that earned its name. Long ago, Idiotville was a logging camp tasked with salvage operations after two straight decades of forest fires that ravaged the Oregon wilderness from 1933 to 1951. Started by sparking steel cables, a discarded cigarette, and possibly even a Japanese weapon, the four massive fires became known as the Tillamook Burn, and were responsible for destroying nearly half a billion dollars worth of lumber. Idiotville, and the nearby Ryan's Camp, were set up in an attempt to save whatever wood could be salvaged after the blazes. The salvage camp was located far from civilization, taking several days worth of travel just to reach. The operations were hard, sending the lumber workers through burnt, barren fields where the chances of salvage were slim. After a hard day of work, the men would return to their camp covered in soot, their lungs full of ash.  Soon, the camp began to be known as Idiotville, because only an idiot would travel so far for such fruitless work, leaving him stranded in the middle of a forest fire's aftermath. It wasn't long before the name stuck, appearing on maps even after the town's work dried up and the buildings disappeared. A nearby stream was even named after the town, and in 1977, Idiot Creek was added to the official United States Board on Geographic Names.  Today, Idiotville isn't much more than a name. No structures remain in the old lumber camp, but it remains a popular destination for hikers who often trek out to the location.