History

Camp Helendade was a gift of Helen and Byron Dade Davis in 1960 as a replacement for Camp Arataba. Arataba’s main lodge burned down earlier that year. Despite the catastrophic damage to the camp’s most important building, the rest of camp went largely unscathed, with the First Aid Cabin, Pool, and other structures left intact. However, the land was a leasehold on Forest Service Land, and the donation of land in Running Springs represented a very important opportunity for the Arrowhead Area Council.

Camp Helendade was a mountain Scout camp near Running Springs, California, established through the generosity of Helen and Byron “Dade” Davis. It succeeded Camp Arataba as Arrowhead Area Council’s principal mountain camping property and later served California Inland Empire Council. For generations of Scouts and families, Helendade meant summer camp, winter outings, outdoor skills, leadership training, Order of the Arrow service, and a first opportunity to spend several days living in the mountains.1

The camp’s history includes both recovery and loss. Its establishment followed the destruction of Arataba’s lodge in 1960. Nearly half a century later, Helendade itself suffered extensive damage in the October 2007 Slide Fire. Volunteers subsequently repaired trails and supported renewed activities, but the camp did not regain its former operation. The property was sold in 2018 and became a commercial cabin retreat.2

Camp Arataba: Helendade’s Predecessor

Main article: Camp Arataba — Area 4 History

Before Helendade, Scouts from the San Bernardino area attended Camp Arataba in Barton Flats. The camp opened for its first summer season in 1924 on land leased from the United States Forest Service. Named for Irataba, a leader of the Mohave people, Arataba became an important setting for the council’s camping traditions and the service activities of Wisumahi Lodge.3

In January 1960, fire destroyed Arataba’s main lodge. The disaster did not consume the entire camp: the swimming pool, bathhouse, infirmary, and other facilities survived. Scouts, volunteers, and Marines helped make another summer season possible in 1960, but the council subsequently shifted its principal mountain camp to Running Springs.4

The former Arataba site entered a new chapter in 1961 as Camp de Benneville Pines, a Unitarian Universalist camp. Its surviving Scout-era structures and landscape features connect the two institutions’ histories. Arataba therefore continued as a camping place even after the end of its service to the Scout council.5

The Davis Gift and Camp Running Springs

The history preserved by the Camp Helendade History Group dates the Davis family’s gift to 1960. According to that account, Helen and Dade learned of the Arataba fire and offered land near Running Springs that Dade had originally given Helen as a wedding present. Unlike the Forest Service leasehold at Arataba, the donated property offered the council an opportunity to develop its own mountain camp.6

Dade Davis helped organize construction. The early buildings included a main lodge, warehouse, commissary, and ranger’s residence, together with ten campsites. The earlier history identifies the commissary as the portion later situated at the rear of Weingart Dining Hall. It also credits Edison employees and Scouters with building the rifle range under the guidance of an NRA range-certification team.7

A story preserved in that history recalls that the equipment transferred from Arataba consisted of the camp Jeep and a trailer carrying six canoes, already attached when the evacuation order came. This account concerns equipment brought to the new camp; it should not be read as a claim that no buildings or facilities survived at Arataba.8

The new property initially operated as Camp Running Springs. The lodge history identifies 1961 as its Pioneer Year, and former campers remember that first season under the Running Springs name. Garth Olson recalled attending the opening ceremony in spring 1961 as a Cub Scout. Jim Pearce remembered the Pioneer Year’s large canvas tents and patrol groups collecting food for their meals.9

Becoming Camp Helendade

Scout Executive Edward Saxton proposed recognizing the donors through a name combining Helen and Dade. A contemporary announcement in the San Bernardino Sun on March 26, 1962, confirmed that the property would be called Helendade Running Springs Scout Reservation. The notice explained that the name honored Helen and B. Dade Davis and corrected an earlier newspaper reference that had mistakenly called it “Helendale.”10

Development continued rapidly. A July 1962 newspaper report described two-person “baker” tents, patrol cooking on steel sheepherder stoves, and a commissary supplying food with preparation instructions. A trading post offered tools, clothing, refreshments, and Scouting supplies. Approximately 1,200 Scouts were expected that summer.11

That report also documented community contributions. Two staff cabins came from the San Bernardino Rotary Club, and another was built and donated by the Victorville Lions Club. A new leaders’ lounge included dining facilities for one hundred people. A hillside chapel and heated swimming pool were under construction, while a lake for canoeing, rowing, and fishing was planned for the following summer. Ranger Lyle H. “Smoky” Parker lived at camp year-round.12

Summer Camp, Outdoor Skills, and Community Life

By 1965, Helendade was an established summer destination. A newspaper profile anticipated approximately 1,500 campers between early July and mid-September. Its description followed the daily rhythm of patrol cooking, outdoor instruction, swimming, and evening campfires. Activities included mapping, pathfinding, pioneering, nature study, and handicrafts.13

The same profile emphasized the range of young people sharing camp. Participants included conventional troops, a unit associated with the Home of Neighborly Service, boys from Verdemont Ranch, and an Explorer group serving young people with intellectual disabilities. These accounts show Helendade’s role in bringing together campers with different backgrounds and circumstances.14

Smaller newspaper reports reveal how units used the property outside ordinary summer sessions. In June 1964, Troop 150’s junior leaders practiced lashings and constructed a small pioneering tower during a two-day training outing. Their Scoutmaster, Chris Gibbs, described the exercise as a practical demonstration of Scoutcraft that the young leaders could pass on to their patrols.15

In November 1965, the Mile-Hi District scheduled a camporee at Helendade for troops from Crestline, Lake Arrowhead, Running Springs, and Big Bear. Patrol competitions covered camping, cooking, pioneering, and woodslore. A Saturday evening campfire and court of honor welcomed parents and friends.16

Helendade also drew visitors from farther away. In 1990, sixteen Scouts from Chula Vista’s Troop 27 attended summer camp and earned thirty-nine merit badges. Three advanced in rank, and the troop participated in swimming, campfires, conservation, and other activities. Their report described cool mountain mornings and evenings—a welcome contrast to the heat at home.17

Council Service, Younger Campers, and Camp Traditions

Helendade passed into California Inland Empire Council when Arrowhead Area Council and Riverside County Council merged on January 1, 1973. It complemented Camp Emerson in the San Jacinto Mountains, giving the combined council two established mountain camping properties.18

The earlier camp history records annual summer operations alongside Emerson through 1995, followed by an increased emphasis on Cub Scouts and younger Boy Scouts. Camp Wiley, Target on Transition, and Tribe of Wisumahi became especially associated with Helendade. At just over 6,000 feet, the property also supported winter Klondike derbies, unit outings, and other year-round activities.19

By its later years, the camp history listed five cabins, a main lodge, Weingart Dining Hall, archery and rifle ranges, a fishing lake, tent platforms, and three principal shower and restroom facilities. It described Helendade as a fully accredited BSA camp. The heated pool was a major attraction, although its traditional description as “Olympic size” differs from the approximately 37½-by-95-foot dimensions published during construction in 1962.20

Order of the Arrow service linked Helendade with its predecessor. Wisumahi Lodge helped develop Camp Running Springs during its Pioneer Year and continued serving Helendade through 1972. Later recollections describe Ordeals, Brotherhood ceremonies, fellowships, work projects, and youth leadership courses as important parts of camp life.21

The Firebird became a familiar camp symbol, interpreted in the compiled history as representing renewal after Arataba’s fire. Joe Rosenthal’s recollection adds another detail: he identified himself as the designer of the vulture that became the camp’s symbol. Both descriptions form part of the camp’s preserved visual and oral history.22

The Camp Landscape and Deep Creek

Published acreage figures vary. The earlier history describes an original tract exceeding four hundred acres and a later camp of approximately ninety acres. Contemporary newspaper accounts provide other measurements: the July 1962 report described approximately 210 acres in use within a 340-acre property, while the 1965 profile described a 211-acre camp. These figures should remain attached to their sources until deeds and parcel records clarify the property’s changing boundaries.23

In 1998, the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust facilitated the purchase of a 124-acre Camp Helendade parcel. The camp’s earlier history identifies this as largely unused northern land protected for the Upper Deep Creek watershed. The transaction connected part of the camp landscape with broader efforts to conserve mountain habitat.24

The Firebird Trail provided a direct connection to Deep Creek. A council account described it as a 1.8-mile route descending nearly one thousand feet from camp, used by thousands of Scouts since Helendade’s early years. The trail also served local residents and hikers.25

The 2007 Slide Fire and Restoration Efforts

The Slide Fire burned through Helendade in October 2007. Early messages feared near-total destruction, but later reports established that portions of camp survived. The council identified the nature lodge, handicraft and sports lodge, storage garage, and recently completed pool-house and classroom facility among the buildings lost. The compiled camp history also records additional damage associated with fire-suppression efforts.26

The response demonstrated the attachment campers felt to the property. Former staff members and families contributed memories of winter camping, swimming, archery, summer staff, and ceremonies. Their accounts repeatedly emphasized the people who made Helendade meaningful and expressed a desire to return and help rebuild.27

Restoration did occur. In August 2009, the council thanked thirteen parents participating in the Webelos-to-Scout Transition and Tribe of Wisumahi programs for spending a day repairing the Firebird Trail. Fire and erosion had damaged the route, and the work benefited both camp users and the surrounding community. This contemporary report confirms that Helendade’s post-fire history included continuing programs and volunteer service.28

Sale and the Property’s Later Use

Helendade did not return to its previous level of operation. The camp’s compiled history records its sale in 2018, but public records show that the transition was still being negotiated that June. A Running Springs Water District memorandum described proposed water and sewer service for Getaway House, Inc., which planned a campground with approximately forty-three tiny houses. The prospective purchaser had approached the district in late 2017.29

The former camp subsequently became known as Getaway Big Bear. It is now marketed as Postcard Cabins Big Bear, Outdoor Collection by Marriott Bonvoy, at 2001 Wilderness Road in Running Springs. The “Big Bear” name identifies the retreat’s branding; the property itself is in Running Springs.30

Although its use has changed, Helendade remains part of the shared history of thousands of Scouts, volunteers, and families. This history project preserves the photographs, patches, landmarks, documents, and recollections that explain what the camp was and why it mattered.

Page credits: Ken DeWitt, Wes Fish, Joe Rosenthal, Tracy Schultze

  1. Camp Helendade History Group, earlier compiled camp history; Area 4 History, “Arrowhead Area Council.”
  2. California Inland Empire Council, “Monday Memo 5/26/09,” May 26, 2009, and “Monday Memo 8/3/09,” August 3, 2009; Camp Helendade History Group, earlier compiled camp history.
  3. Area 4 History, “Camp Arataba”; Cahuilla Lodge History Book, Wisumahi Lodge history.
  4. Area 4 History, “Camp Arataba”; “Memories of Camp Arataba Boy Scout Camp,” Camp de Benneville Pines Connection, 2018, p. 11.
  5. Camp de Benneville Pines, Connection, Fall 2010; “Memories of Camp Arataba Boy Scout Camp,” Connection, 2018, p. 11.
  6. Camp Helendade History Group, earlier compiled camp history.
  7. Camp Helendade History Group, earlier compiled camp history.
  8. Camp Helendade History Group, earlier compiled camp history; “Memories of Camp Arataba Boy Scout Camp,” Camp de Benneville Pines Connection, 2018, p. 11.
  9. Cahuilla Lodge History Book, Wisumahi Lodge history; Garth Olson and Jim Pearce, recollections preserved in “Slide Fire Camp Dedications and Memories.”
  10. “Helendade Chosen As Name for New Scout Reservation,” San Bernardino Sun, March 26, 1962, p. B-1; Camp Helendade History Group, earlier compiled camp history.
  11. “Ready, Set, Go—It’s Scout Camp Time,” San Bernardino Sun-Telegram, July 1, 1962, p. B-10. California Digital Newspaper Collection, University of California, Riverside.
  12. “Ready, Set, Go—It’s Scout Camp Time,” San Bernardino Sun-Telegram, July 1, 1962, p. B-10.
  13. Peyton Whitely, “Near Running Springs: 1500 Boys Make Use of Camp’s Facilities,” San Bernardino Sun, August 27, 1965, p. 32. California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  14. Peyton Whitely, “Near Running Springs: 1500 Boys Make Use of Camp’s Facilities,” San Bernardino Sun, August 27, 1965, p. 32.
  15. Chris Gibbs, “Scout Doings,” Leader, Lucerne Valley, June 25, 1964. California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  16. “District Scouters To Attend Camporee, Court of Honor,” Hilltop Messenger, November 19, 1965. California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  17. Joyce Camblin, “High Adventure Team scales Mt. Whitney,” Chula Vista Star-News, September 12, 1990, Scouting column. The column contains several separate unit reports, including Troop 27’s Helendade visit.
  18. Area 4 History, “Arrowhead Area Council” and “California Inland Empire Council.”
  19. Camp Helendade History Group, earlier compiled camp history.
  20. Camp Helendade History Group, earlier compiled camp history; “Ready, Set, Go—It’s Scout Camp Time,” San Bernardino Sun-Telegram, July 1, 1962, p. B-10.
  21. Cahuilla Lodge History Book, Wisumahi Lodge history; “Slide Fire Camp Dedications and Memories.”
  22. Camp Helendade History Group, earlier compiled camp history; Joe Rosenthal, recollection in “Slide Fire Camp Dedications and Memories.”
  23. Camp Helendade History Group, earlier compiled camp history; “Ready, Set, Go—It’s Scout Camp Time,” San Bernardino Sun-Telegram, July 1, 1962; Peyton Whitely, “Near Running Springs: 1500 Boys Make Use of Camp’s Facilities,” San Bernardino Sun, August 27, 1965.
  24. San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust, “SBMLT Accomplishments,” 1998 entry; Camp Helendade History Group, earlier compiled camp history.
  25. California Inland Empire Council, “Monday Memo 8/3/09,” August 3, 2009.
  26. California Inland Empire Council, “Monday Memo 5/26/09,” May 26, 2009; Camp Helendade History Group, earlier compiled camp history.
  27. “Slide Fire Camp Dedications and Memories,” Camp Helendade History Group, recollections contributed following the 2007 fire.
  28. California Inland Empire Council, “Monday Memo 8/3/09,” August 3, 2009.
  29. Camp Helendade History Group, earlier compiled camp history; Running Springs Water District, June 20, 2018 board meeting packet, agenda item 6.F, pp. 123–125.
  30. Camp Helendade History Group, earlier compiled camp history; Marriott, “Postcard Cabins Big Bear,” property overview and location.