Sturtevant Camp needs help

Historic Sturtevant Camp in the Angeles National Forest, owned and operated for decades by the United Methodist Church, is in jeopardy of being sold or closed down if reservations don’t pick up significantly in the coming weeks. If that would happen, the 74-year-old Adams’ Pack Station would also surely cease operations, as the largest percentage of its business of delivering supplies to forest inhabitants comes from Sturtevant Camp, according to pack station co-owner and operator Deb Burgess.

Photo by Ed Johnson posted at trazzler.com

The camp, established in 1893 that is only accessible by foot 4-miles by trail from Chantry Flat at the top of Santa Anita Canyon Road (extension of Santa Anita Ave.), is the only camp still in operation from the Great Hiking Era of the San Gabriel Mountains. It was purchased in 1945 by the Southern California-Arizona Conference of the Methodist Church, which expanded and modernized it. A dozen or so rustic cabins are available for rent by campers and groups of up to 44, according to the website. Guests are required to bring their own bedding, food, and dishwashing supplies.

Like Adams’ Pack Station, operation of Sturtevant Camp has almost always been a break-even or money-losing proposition, with owners operating these entities primarily out of personal passion to keep them alive. Chris Kasten has managed Camp Sturtevant for nearly 20 years. Kasten writes on his BigSantaAnitaCanyon.com website: “Every week I leave my family in Wrightwood, drive down to the trailhead at Chantry Flat and put on a backpack. I hike up the trail that thousands before me have enjoyed and toiled on. Sometimes I arrive at camp in the dark and let myself into the snug cabin and light a kerosene lamp and watch its warm glow push shadows off the rafters…”

In an e-mail sent to concerned area residents and supporters of all things in Santa Anita Canyon, Rev. Gary M. Keene, executive director of the Methodist Church’s Connectional Ministries, California-Pacific Annual Conference, explained that Sturtevant continues to be a ‘front porch ministry’ of the regional United Methodist Church, wholly dependent on support from other UMC campsites in southern California. That system of campsites is running in the red, he said, and is dependent on the regional budget of the UMC, which is itself supported by what people put in the offering plates on Sunday mornings.

Although an initial sub-committee recommendation has been made to cease operations at Sturtevant, perhaps as soon as Dec. 31, there are many additional decisions to be made and steps to be taken before that would happen, he noted. In the meantime, Keene, a former manager of the camp, said that writing and phoning to express support carries little weight with decision-makers who need to see more reservations booked and hands-on support to raise funding.

Keene encouraged supporters to make a reservation, bring friends and persuade them to make their own reservations later. That may still not be enough to balance camp finances as that would require more than 30 people in camp every weekend, which would likely generate too great of a load on the water and sewer systems. So, donations and alternate funding sources will also be required. Those who wish to help in this way should contact Keene at (626) 568-7314 or gkeene@cal-pac.org.

There is no phone service at the camp. To make reservations and check availability, contact the camping reservation office: P.O. Box 6006 / 110 S. Euclid Ave, Pasadena, Ca 91102-6006 (626) 568-7333 (800) 244-8622 x333 smiller@cal-pac.org

For tour & other information: Sturtevant’s Camp, P.O. Box 847, Sierra Madre, Ca 91025-0847 (760) 249-4626 (760) 249-4626 fax sturtevant@cal-pac.org

— By Scott Hettrick