This Rest Area along Highway 12 provides a very nice area to stretch your legs, use the restroom, take a brief rest if you're getting drowsy, have a picnic and give your pet a needed break in a specially marked area. Although this site does not have awesome views - and Bevin Lake is actually across the highway - it does have very pleasant surroundings along the White Pass Scenic Byway at Milepost 126. There is a nice shady area with several picnic tables to rest and enjoy listing to the sounds of the birds, listen to the breeze, or maybe even hear the trickle of a stream nearby. There is plenty of parking for all sizes of vehicles from personal autos to RVs and large commercial trucks.
The Bevin Lake rest area is the site of some local history, as the first post office in the area opened nearby in 1889. Three decades earlier, the first recorded visit of white men to the Packwood area occurred in March 1861, when James Longmire, William Packwood, George Blankenship and Walter DeLacy, accompanied by five Nisqually Native Americans, trudged up the Nisqually River, across Skate Creek, and down to the Cowlitz River near the present site of Packwood. They were looking for a wagon route across the Cascades. For the next twenty-odd years, the only white visitors to the area were prospectors and the occasional railroad reconnaissance party.
In 1889, August Snyder made a claim at what is now the community of Packwood. The first post office in the upper valley was located four miles west of Packwood near the Bevin Lake rest area.
You will not likely be the only visitors when you stop here, as it is a well-used rest stop, so please be stealthy when making your find to preserve it from muggles. Years ago there was another cache in this general area, as well as a Letterbox. Both have now been archived for well over five years.
2016 was the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, and to celebrate, Visit Rainier and WSGA hosted the Visit Rainier Centennial GeoTour - 100 caches placed in and around Mount Rainier National Park. The geocaches highlighted the rich history, scenic wonders, quaint communities, and hidden gems of the Rainier region. Participants received geocoin and pathtag prizes for finding all the caches.
