The term “ghost town” in today’s time has evolved from its more literal interpretation to describe any small town that has been abandoned or vacated. In fact, there’s a whole culture of folks dedicated to discovering and exploring ghost towns and their history. Most of the time, however, towns devoid of inhabitants have nowhere to grow but older. Not so for old Alder. Join your fearless field guide Erich Ebel as he takes you on a beautiful drive through east Pierce County, into and out of the Ohop Valley and along the Nisqually River to Alder Lake, a body of water made artificially larger after the construction of Alder Dam – the same structure that turned Old Alder into a ghost town in 1944.
