Former Boy Scout camp available for rent

Camp Saturna has lakeshore views, creeks at its rustic setting

By Elisa Claassen For the Tribune

SILVER LAKE — Whatcom County’s Silver Lake, part of the Whatcom County Parks Department, is popular for day visitors and campers. Many local residents may not realize private property farther on the lake is also available with additional resources and a lot of privacy.

The former Black Mountain boy scout camp has been purchased, extensively remodeled and is available to Boy Scouts and to the public for rent for special events such as family reunions, weddings and office retreats. The lakeshore views, creeks and rustic setting stir memories from the past. Cell service is limited.

Renamed Camp Saturna after the purchase, the 133-acre parcel is at the north end of Silver Lake and can be used any season. Saturna Environmental Company, a separate subsidiary of Saturna Capital Company of Bellingham, purchased the land in 2015 and according to a corporate press release proceeded to remodel the many structures on the property which had been in disrepair after the Scouts had ceased camp operations.

In addition to rentals, the site is used for educating school children on the environment with an assortment of partners, according to the Camp

Saturna website www.campsaturana. com.

Students grades 5-8 use a curriculum focused on regional ecology, environmental science and natural resource management. According to their website, Camp Saturna provided the backdrop for part of a National Public Radio (NPR) story about outdoor learning via Mount Baker, Blaine, and Bellingham school districts’ Connections program during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now other local school children continue to use the same grounds to learn about the ecosystem of the environment from the mountain to the sea: the water cycle, types of soil, pollination, timber management and harvest, and bird identification.

Rental includes the entire property: a main lodge with a commercial kitchen, a dining hall that seats 139 people and a historic rock fireplace.

Aside from the lodge are a 44-bed bunkhouse, apartment-style twobedroom lodging, and four group campsites near the shore of Silver Lake. Rental also includes three new seasonal-use cabins, a climbing wall, an obstacle course, an open-air chapel for rustic weddings, several fire pits for conversations, indoor and outdoor meeting/educational spaces, and a boathouse containing different watercraft and safety equipment.

More information is available at campsaturna.com.

Access is at 9514 Silver Lake Road near the public boat launch in Maple Falls. Make an appointment if interested in renting the campgrounds. Winter and summer rates are available online.