Abandoned Girl Scout Camp Beech-Wood

This article was scraped from Rochester Subway. This is a blog about Rochester history and urbanism has not been published since 2017. The current owners are now publishing link spam which made me want to preserve this history.. The original article was published July 21, 2014 and can be found here.

   My buddies Chris Clemens and Luke Myer (from the     Burned Over District

blog) recently shared these photos with me. Chris and Luke were on their way to Sodus on an unrelated exploration trip when they recalled stories of a nearby abandoned Girl Scout camp and decided to stop and check it out [     map

].

Luke says his mother camped here when she was a little girl. In fact, many Girl Scouts earned a badge or two here over its 60+ year history. This was camp Beech-Wood and the following is an excerpt from     NYfalls.com

about its history...

   The Girl Scouts of America purchased a parcel of land along the west side of Maxwell Bay and the Rochester division then built and operated Camp Beechwood here starting in 1929.

Beech-Wood was named for the American Beech trees that grew along the lakeside bluff.

   The camp was successful for many decades, but several factors led to its decline in the 1990s. For one thing, taxes on lakefront property in NY State increased dramatically over the years.

   Secondly, Scout membership was on the decline (a national trend).

   Third, camp maintenance demands grew out of control as rising waters and storms caused uncontrollable erosion, landslides and fallen trees along the shore.

   The lake waters were filled with downed trees just below the surface, making for a creepy and somewhat dangerous swimming environment for the campers.

   The bay, which pulled agricultural runoff into the two mile stretch of Maxwell Creek (then called Salmon Creek) suffered from algae blooms and poor water quality.

   As problems compounded, the operating costs became just too much for the Scouts and they decided to put the land up for sale in 1995.

   Recognizing the importance of the Maxwell Creek watershed to Lake Ontario's health, and fearing commercial development or agricultural use of this important property, the State become interested in its acquisition. With the land already connected to utilities, and the existence of modern cabins, lodges, and recreation facilities, the state looked at the acquisition and conversion to a family park as an easy task. There was some resistance to the purchase using taxpayer funds, but with the help of the Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act the state was able to buy the land in 1996 for $600,000.

   Unfortunately, before the State could upgrade and open the newly acquired park, a budget crisis got in the way and no money was allocated for improvements. The park's purpose was then shifted more towards a manageable "preserve" and it opened with no improvements in 1999.

   Since then the buildings have fallen into decay and only the occasional mowing is done down the access road and around the main lot containing the mess hall and swimming pool.

   Recently, the Town of Sodus has been given permission by the state for use of the park as they see fit. An effort by the Boy Scouts of America is underway to help recondition some structures within the park, while the Trail Works organization has spent some time mapping the existing trails.

   The SUNY School of Environmental Science and Forestry has taken some interest in the property as of 2010, walking the grounds to take inventory for a recommended management plan. As of the writing of this article, the park has only seen a minor effort to preserve and restore the existing major buildings.

   Today     Beechwood State Park

is a great place to hike and explore. There is a gravel parking area on Lake Road near the bridge for Maxwell Creek, which includes a canoe/kayak access point as well as fishing access. Take the well worn path to explore the main camp. There are no marked trails, but at times some paths are mowed and there are old dirt roads (now grassy roads) that can be hiked as well.    * * *

Related Video:

   Go for a hike through Camp Beech-Wood with Ed and Scrappy.