Central Camp, California

Central Camp
Unincorporated community
Main Street, circa late 1920s
Central Camp Location in California Central Camp Central Camp (the United States)
Coordinates: 37°20′58″N 119°29′01″W
Country	United States
State	California
County	Madera County
Elevation	5,417 ft (1,651 m)

Central Camp is an unincorporated community in Madera County, California. It is located 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Shuteye Peak, at an elevation of 5417 feet (1651 m).

From 1923 until the early 1930s, Central Camp was the base camp for the Sugar Pine Lumber Company, one of California's largest operations at the time. After the mill operations shut down in the early 1930s, Central Camp transitioned into a quiet retreat, frequented mainly by cabin owners and summer campers. In 1962, a new subdivision was developed, bringing modern utilities like water, sewers, and electricity to the area.

The community is accessible by a dirt road that follows an old railroad grade, 14 miles off Road 274, between Bass Lake and North Fork, California. The drive from Bass Lake to Central Camp takes about 50 minutes.

History

The Sugar Pine Lumber Company established Central Camp, which became the premier and most expensive logging camp in the Sierra Nevada. Home to about 500 people, it housed both single and family lumberjacks, as well as a variety of other staff. The camp, hidden in a grove of towering trees, featured modern buildings designed to withstand harsh winters. The Fresno Republican praised its modernity at the 1923 grand opening.

The camp boasted an investment of $600,000, making it elaborate for a temporary work site. It featured a hydroelectric plant for electricity, a central boiler for heating, and a well-staffed kitchen serving fresh produce brought in by refrigerator car. There were also facilities such as a theater, hospital, dance hall, pool hall, boxing ring, schoolhouse, and post office. Despite operating during the Prohibition era, whiskey occasionally made its way into the camp.

The camp’s logging operations wound down around 1931 during the Great Depression, and by then, the Sugar Pine Lumber Company had gone bankrupt. Lumber became so cheap that the company burned millions of feet of it in the Pinedale drying yards because it wasn't worth selling. After this, the camp began shutting down, and the railway tracks were removed a few years later.

The former logging camp site was subdivided in the late 1960s, but the community remains remote and inaccessible during the winter months due to snow. In 1968, a six-hole public golf course was added, but it failed to become a lasting attraction for visitors.