In 1963, Nat King Cole released a hit single, “Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer” whose lyrics of German origin recall a nostalgic past, not unlike this image of Gaffney’s Lake Wilderness resort sometime in the 1930s or 1940s. Today, Maple Valley’s 117-acre Lake Wilderness park encompasses all of the properties that Thomas and Kane Gaffney assembled after acquiring two rival resorts, owned by C.H. McKinney and R.F. Dieckman, that were purchased in 1939 and 1949.
Gaffney’s Lake Wilderness became one of the most popular private park destinations in south King County. The combined resort’s attractions included a dance hall, skating rink, bowling alley, tennis courts, horse riding, and picnic areas along the shoreline, and 67 modern cottages. A 9-hole golf course was located across the street that stretched to Witte Road. Dancing was one of the biggest draws with an orchestra typically playing Thursday through Sunday.
The lake’s shoreline included features we now associate with waterparks such as the 40-foot-high Otter Slide; three-level high dive; flying trapeze rope swing; plus an enclosed swimming area shown in this southeast-facing photo. In the foreground are tennis players on two courts with a baseball game under way on the field below. This postcard photo comes courtesy of JoAnne Matsumura, an Issaquah historian and archivist.
Given the large crowds their resort was attracting, in 1952 the Gaffney brothers invested $250,000 to build the Lake Wilderness Lodge on the north-end section formerly owned by Dieckman. The lodge boasted 12 overnight rooms, a dining hall that seated 140, plus ground-floor banquet facilities accommodating 400. By 1952, an air strip was added with air taxi service to and from Bellevue. Today the lodge is an architectural landmark and a popular gathering place for weddings, celebrations of life, local gatherings, and meetings.
Over the years public tastes changed as state and local governments began investing in their own free parks and facilities. Increasingly government-funded swimming pools, ball fields, and recreation spaces crowded out private facilities and the older resorts slowly died off. In 1967, King County Parks purchased the Gaffney property and tore down most of the old cabins and deteriorating facilities but retained the lodge. In 2003, King County transferred the property and remaining buildings to Maple Valley. Today Lake Wilderness is the crown jewel of the city’s park facilities and a focal point for summer recreation and year-round community activities.
