Long On Fun, History -- Camp In West Seattle Celebrates Its 50Th Year As An Urban Wilderness

Fifty years ago, youth-group advocates worked to turn 68 acres of West Seattle woodlands into a place where "for the price of a bus token" city kids could camp out and learn outdoor skills.

The cost of riding a bus has gone up since 1941, but buses still thunder past Camp Long, the only Seattle park that allows overnight camping, and kids still get off to play in the woods.

The multicolored sign designating a Seattle City Park blends in with the residential homes on 35th Avenue Southwest. But just a block east of that busy West Seattle boulevard lies a nature preserve that last year attracted 52,000 visitors.

Camp Long celebrates its golden anniversary Saturday with a full program of what it does best: offering children the chance to tour a nature trail, explore the ecosystem of a pond, roast marshmallows over a campfire, and take a short introduction to mountaineering on a 25-foot climbing rock and training "glacier."

In 1937, the city acquired timberland on a hill southwest of the West Seattle Golf Course, then under construction. A King County official, noticing that a group of WPA workers were preparing to chop down a grove of trees on the hillside, got them to stop.

A group of people involved in youth "character-building agencies" including the Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls and YMCA, teamed to turn the land into an urban escape for children.

A longtime juvenile court judge, William G. Long, who died in 1974, led the effort. Several years after the opening, Long admitted he took some unusual steps to ensure the camp was built. He said he "liberated" lumber from another city park, "moonlighted" rocks from an East Madison Street site for a headhouse and got another judge to contribute some shrubs and trees from a foreclosed nursery.

The camp, Long once said, was "built on benevolent larceny on behalf of children."

Long wanted it named after Ben Evans, a longtime playground superintendent for the Seattle Parks Department. Knowing about the string-pulling and Depression-era maneuvering that got the camp built, Evans insisted the camp be named after Long, a man he called "the biggest highbinder of them all."

The camp was dedicated Nov. 8, 1941. A plaque outside the Camp Long Lodge, a stone structure with sturdy wood beams and hardwood floors, says the camp was established through Long's dedication. His goal was to build a camp "for Seattle's youths, that they might learn camping and climbing skills in a unique setting within the city."

"It started really as a place for organized groups, but always the leaders would come with their kids," said Lynne Givler, Long's former senior naturalist. "What has changed is that we've opened it much more to the general public."

Scout troops, church youth groups and school groups still are the most common users of the 10 cabins. But increasingly, families wanting an easy in-city escape also rent the cabins for $15 a night.

Said one West Seattle woman, unloading a station wagon packed with sleeping bags, pillows and junk food for a family birthday party: "The best thing is if we forget something, we can just go home and get it."

The cabins, which sleep 12, are rustic. Spring through late fall, they usually are reserved quickly, but even in the winter, hardy campers plug in a portable heater and cook over the outdoor fireplace.

Camping ispopular at Long, especially for summer star-gazing, but the biggest attraction is a 25-foot pile of rock.

Every dry day, climbers crawl around Schurman Rock, originally called Monitor Rock but renamed after the camp's first director, Clark Schurman. The various faces of the miniature mountain offer challenges for all skill levels.

Ten-year-olds from Webelo Scout Pack 747 got their first lesson in rock climbing last Saturday. The six boys, wearing helmets and climbing harnesses, shouted terms such as "off belay" and admitted that the first climb was "scary" - but worth it.

"We got a lot of grief," troop leader Bob Denny said. "We live in Maple Valley, and people would say, `You're really going to go camping in the city?' But it's been great."

Camp Long's anniversary celebration is from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday. To receive a quarterly brochure detailing Camp Long's programs, send $1.50 to Camp Long, 5200 35th Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98126 or call 684-7434.