Two and one half years ago at the 2002 May Convention the Lodges comprising the Arizona Elks Association voted to adopt a second Major Project namely a defunct YMCA camp located in the Sierra Ancha Mountain Range on Workman Creek 22 miles South of Young Arizona. The elevation of the camp is about 5600’. In March of 2003 we became the proud owners of the 7.83 acre camp.

The camp is located adjacent to the Sierra Ancha Wilderness Area and is very primitive. There is no electricity, TV cable, telephone or cellular phone service. Many deer have been seen in the camp ground and there are Elk, Bear, Cougar Coyote, Fox and other animals in the vicinity. The Arizona Game and Fish Department stock rainbow trout in Workman Creek every spring for the benefit of the fishermen.

The camp consists of a large main hall with a craft/first aide room and kitchen with facilities. There is separate male/female restrooms and shower facilities. There are 8 cabins at the camp that will sleep 6 to 8 people in each cabin. The camp has a generator room that supplies electricity for the camp and we have a potable water well that supplies water to the kitchen and restrooms/shower rooms.

The members of the Arizona Elks Association and its member Lodges have spent a vast amount of time, energy and money to refurbish the camp to benefit the youth of Arizona which includes Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Brownies, Explorers, Camp Fire Girls, 4-H, CASA, Church Groups and other Youth Service Organizations. The camp is also available for family reunions.
The maintenance of the camp is never ending so we require the groups using the camp to assist in keeping it clean and in good condition.

Because of a few dedicated Elks and their wives and families, the camp is nearing completion. Most of the credit has to be given to this group that are willing to spend weekends and even weeks at the camp working on projects to improve and enhance the camp. A lot of projects were completed this year because of their dedication.

A lot of credit has to go to the Boy Scout Troops and their Leaders from around the State that have given their time and effort to complete Scouting and Eagle projects at the camp. Credit also has to be given to the family reunion groups that have used the camp and helped our efforts by performing cleanup, cutting, raking and brush burning projects.

The camp has not been officially opened or advertised and we had 15 groups this year that have used the camp and most of the groups have helped work on projects and we already have 8 bookings for next year.
Because we did not get the help that we anticipated from the Lodges and members this year the grand opening has been postpone until early next spring so we can complete some necessary projects before the opening.

Through our experience this year we have realized that it important that we need to have a full time Camp Director. His job description and duties will be drawn up by the new Youth Camp Board that will go into effect in May of 2005 and the Youth Camp Committee.

The Youth Camp Committee has drawn up a ‘Youth Camp Statement’ along with a set of rules and regulations governing the use of the camp by Youth Groups and Family Reunion Groups. Michael Carragher, Chairman of the AEA Legal Advisory Committee, has drawn up a ‘Waiver of Liability, Covenant not to Sue, Indemnity, Hold Harmless and Guaranty to Defend’ clause that adults and parents of underage children will have to sign before using the camp.

The above mentioned Camp Rules and Regulations and the Waiver of Liability Clauses plus a map to the camp, all the update reports from day 1, camp history and pictures can be found by logging on to www.elks4kids.org or www.prescottelks.org and clicking on the ‘Elks Youth Camp’ link. Update reports are emailed to interested elks and those Lodges that have email and also posted on the above web sites.

The web master of the Prescott web site is Rock Anderson, E.R. of Prescott Lodge # 330. Our committee members would especially like to thank Rock for posting all the camp information on his web site so everyone with access to the internet can be kept up to date. We have had a lot of inquires from people searching the web for youth camps in Arizona.

Jack Warter Jr., PSP, Chairman
Arizona Elks Youth Camp