By mid-September 1937, C.P. and Cora Snell closed the Juniper Lake Lodge for the season to return their home in San Francisco. In mid-October 1937, Park Ranger Barton went on a routine inspection of Juniper Lake. What he had found was Snell’s lodge had been destroyed by fire. The area had recently received an electrical storm that was probably the cause of the fire. The lodge had a galvanized iron roof and it was believed lightning struck it, igniting the fire. In the aftermath, the lodge was reduced to ash and rubble.

Not to be undaunted the Snell’s built another. There was a major change in the operation, as the Snells leased it. This remained the status quo for a long time. In 1950, the Snell’s granddaughter, Leslie, along with her husband, Ray Hanson decided to “rejuvenate the resort.” As Leslie recalled, “We had eight cabins and a small store. We rented boats and campsites and quite a few of the vacationeers returned year after year.”

The Hanson’s stint of being operators would be short-lived. In 1955, the National Park Service filed a “friendly” condemnation suit against the Snell family to acquire some 400 acres of private property inside the park. At that time the Hanson’s closed the lodge and in 1957 the park acquired ownership of the property.