Sturtevant Camp has nine public buildings, including the historic dining room and accompanying kitchen plus a fireplace room; a bathhouse with hot showers and flush toilets, and six facilities for sleeping, including the Retreat Lodge, Honeymoon Cottage and four cabins with double-bunks and several queen beds.
Here are some of the possibilities you’ll find at Camp:
Group spaces
- The 1897 ‘Swiss Dining Pavillion’ is a flexible use dining hall with movable tables each seating eight, for a capacity of about 50.
- The Adams Fireplace Room next to the dining room is a common place for gathering around the fireplace, with chairs, a game table, and a piano. There are table games, donated books, contemporary bibles and a collection of hymnals. A pro-quality ping-pong table can be used either in the dining hall or Fireplace Room.
- The 1903 Ranger Cabin is an open room around large fireplace with some chairs; great place for storytelling late at night, or dancing! (To preserve its historic status, currently there’s no electricity.)
- (The Outdoor Chapel is also appropriate for groups; the heliport is a good open space but without seating.)
Outdoor Spaces
- Trails to Mount Wilson, Mount Zion, and Newcomb’s Pass and the backcountry of the Angeles National Forest (for descriptions, click here.)
- The Nature Trail out to the heliport overlook, a short level walk markeded with an accompanying guide to the trees and plants along the way. This is a great place for stargazing and morning watch.
- Outdoor Chapel: just beyond cabin #1 and above the stream, this is an open-air chapel with bench seats at the foot of one of the big Big Cone Spruce trees and a canopy of bay trees.
- Outdoor games: there’s a croquet court, badmitton court, shuffle-board court, and a horse-shoe pitching track.
- Picnic tables and other outdoor seating for small group gatherings and relaxing outside.
- The Big Swing: in the center of Camp, first thing everyone tries!
- The Zip-Line: just above the heliport trail, this is a low-risk, high-squeal ride for all ages.
What’s at the Camp for sleeping?
Download a detailed bed roster
All the sleeping facilities include wall heaters, beds with mattresses, blankets, and pillows (please bring your own pillowcase.) Hot showers and flush toilets are located in the central bathhouse; the Retreat Lodge has its own shower and toilet. Beds are single except as noted below:
The Retreat Lodge
features one room with a double-bed, and one room with two bunk-beds, upper and lower; a common room with dining table and chairs; a kitchenette; a bathroom with stool and shower. Total capacity is six people.
The Honeymoon Cottage:
this is one of three historic buildings at Camp, the last of the small cabins that were once scattered up the canyon. It has a double bed, and a double-bunk, upper and lower, sleeping four in total. The Cottage is located just below and is served by the central bathhouse.
(The Retreat Lodge and Honeymoon Cottage are often reserved together, serving a maximum of ten people—although that would be a lot to squeeze around the dinner table!)
Cabins 1-2-3-4
are located above the bathhouse (#3 is the ‘high’ cabin, recommended for the energetic!) Each one features four upper and lower bunks for a total of eight each. For parents with small kids, #2 is closest to the bathhouse.
Note: Cabin #4 has a double bed replacing one double-bunk; capacity remains the same—eight people. Check back for when cabins 1 & 2 will also have a double bed in place of one bunk each.
- Total sleeping space in Cabins 1-2-3-4 is 32.
Total sleeping capacity is 42.
Overflow / emergency capacity:
- The 1903 Ranger Cabin is an open meeting room with floor space for sleeping bags; it is located in the lower part of Camp at a distance from the bathhouse; it has no water, light or heat (except for the fireplace when it is safe to use.)
- The Lower Lodge room is also at a distance from the bathhouse; it has light but no heat; it has one double bed. In summer it is cool, in winter it is cold. Located under the main dining room, it can also be noisy and dusty!
- Technically, there is floor space for sleeping bags in the dining hall.
