Camp Ro-Ki-Li was a camp located in the Barton Flats area of the San Bernardino Mountains. Like several other Scout camps in the area, it was located near Jenks Lake. The camp was said to be about 33 total acres of land.
Camp Location
While it is often straightforward to identify the location of closed Boy Scout Camps, some are a challenge. Camp Ro-Ki-Li, despite being the flagship camp for Orange County for 40 years, is one of those instances.
In the early days, the local post office was in Seven Oaks 1. The address was as follows:
Camp Ro-Ki-Li
Seven Oaks, California
At the time, in a sparsely populate area year-round, it was easy to send mail in this manner, and it pre-dated the advent of zip codes.
The camp was located Northeast of the intersection of Jenks Lake Road and Barton Flats Road, just East of the upper area of Camp Tahquitz. No permanent structures remain. This area is on government property, but no easy access exists into the area.
A trail from Jenks Lake existed. Coming from the lake, a left at the trail fork took you to Camp Arataba, while a right took you to Ro-Ki-Li.
Events At Camp Ro-Ki-Li
In 1937, San Fernando Valley Council ran a two-week Summer Camp at Camp Ro-Ki-Li. The sessions were July 26 – August 2 and August 2 – August 9.
The first Order of the Arrow Area 12-A Conference in 1951 was held at Camp Ro-Ki-Li. The camp would close in 1967 as part of the move to Lost Valley Scout Reservation.
Additional Links
A Brief History of Scouting in Orange County (Phil Brigandi)
Orange County Historical Society Orange County Scouting (Phil Brigandi)
Credits: Many thanks to Marty Latimer for the help in the location of the camp.
Page Credits: Rick Breithaupt, Ryan Bushore, Marty Latimer
Camp Ro-Ki-Li Pages
Camps Pages
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- Camp Allen
- Camp Anderson (1961 – ?)
- Camp Arataba (1924 to 1960)
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- Camp Procter
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- Camp Ro-Ki-Li
- Camp Silver Fir
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- Camp Tahquitz – Idyllwild
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