Nestled at 7,000 feet in the majestic San Bernardino Mountains is Cedar Lake Camp, 270 acre year round retreat center considered by many to be one of the most beautiful camps in Southern California. Surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest with a private lake, the camp has many amenities for groups of 35 or more in a captivating mountain setting.



This “Heaven on Earth” getaway is a two to three hour drive from Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties and just five minutes away from Big Bear Lake and Big Bear Village, with its shops, restaurants and activities for all seasons.



The powerful lure of Cedar Lake Camp brought the movie industry, which began filming here in the mid-1930s. Stars such as Ed Asner, Henry Fonda, Hayley Mills, Elvis Presley, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and John Wayne have all starred in and/or produced films on the premises. Television shows such as “Bonanza” “FBI Story” and “Hart to Hart” were also filmed here at Cedar Lake Camp.



We invite your group to call or email us for reservations. There are various lodging options and we schedule on a first come first served basis. So, contact us now to arrange your stay at Cedar Lake Camp.

From a place to graze cattle, to tourist attraction, to its present use as an all seasons camp serving nearly 8,000 campers a year, the land that makes up Cedar Lake Camp has had a long and eventful history.



The Talmadge brothers bought the land in 1913 to graze cattle, selling the land in 1922 to the Bartlett brothers. The Bartletts wanted to subdivide and sell the land, and felt that building the lake on the property would increase the value, so constructed a 30-foot dam in 1929, forming the 3½ acre Cedar Lake.



The Bartletts sold the property to one of the brother’s sons, Guy Bartlett, in 1937, who originally wanted to develop a resort, but chose to promote Cedar Lake as a tourist attraction, later charging a 25-cent admission fee to enter the property.



The tourist trade was successful for a number of years, with several hundred people a day coming during the summer and holidays. Bartlett built two cottages and a house, rented boats, stocked the lake with fish and started charging a fishing fee. But as the 1950's began, Bartlett had increasing difficulty making his operation profitable.



In the early 1950s the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, at the time one of the largest churches in the country, decided to start a camping program. Thinking that an attractive camping program would increase youth membership, the church began looking for a camp in 1954, sending up a scouting party to the San Bernardino mountains consisting of senior pastor Dr. James Fifield, William Stoufer, and others.



After visiting several properties, Guy Bartlett's accountant suggested Cedar Lake to the scouting party, and after touring the property the group was smitten. The church purchased the property in January of 1955 with some monies raised by a special fund. The original parcel of 110 acres was augmented the same year by a second parcel, increasing the total area of the Cedar Lake property to its current size of 270 acres.