A starting point for trips eastward into the Lewis River area.

The Lewis River Ranger Station was established sometime before 1910 near the homestead of Ole Peterson, about three miles east of the community of Cougar. Peterson was a trapper and fur trader, probably working for the Hudson’s Bay Company, who set up his homestead in the early 1890s at Cougar Flats on the Upper Lewis River. The Lewis River station was used by rangers, guards and backpackers traveling to the Lewis River area from the west side. In 1931 a new guard station was built, along with a garage and barn.