Belcher Camp

Belcher Camp is a ghost town in Ferry County, Washington, situated along upper Lambert Creek roughly ten miles northeast of Republic. The settlement took shape around 1897 after iron ore was discovered nearby, prompting the Belcher Mountain Mining Company to begin operations in the area.

At its modest peak, around 1906, the town supported a population of about 72 residents. It held a post office, a general store, a large bunkhouse for single miners, five or six houses, and a railroad — a surprisingly complete little community for such a remote location.

Today Belcher Camp is a ghost town, and visitors come largely for the sense of history and the quiet rural setting. What remains on the ground is limited, and the site rewards those with an interest in Washington's early mining-era settlements more than those expecting dramatic ruins.