The area certainly has an interesting name, and there are several theories about what might have lent the moniker. A natural explanation for it originates from a time when a windstorm blew down hundreds of the spruce and fir trees that originally grew here. The upturned roots supposedly resembled gravestones in a graveyard.

But there is a man-made explanation as well. During the early 1900's, when the mountains were being extensively logged, all that remained in this valley were the stumps of cut trees. Over time, mosses eventually grew all over the stumps, resembling an overgrown graveyard.  However, later during the logging era, catastrophic fires swept through the area, destroying anything resembling a graveyard and heating the soil enough to sterilize it. The once dense spruce-fir forest was forever changed from that point forward. Plants to this day have trouble growing in the nutrient-poor soils, although trees, shrubs, and grasslands are slowly replenishing it and will eventually take over once again.