Thousand Pines Christian Camp

★★★★★Joanne Kragenbrink

I just spent the most amazing weekend at this beautiful retreat center. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Altgough I've been up here 5 years in a row, last years blizzard caused a rebuilding of the old cabins. And despite the current re- construction, it is still the most beautiful retreat space I've ever been to and the staff is top notch as well. Baruch Adonai! Bless the Lord!

★★★★★April Brambila

My family has been coming here for years to attend family camp. The staff is amazing and kind! My kids love the ropes course and rock wall, off-roading cart, pool, and all the other fun activities. The entire staff truly has a love for God and sharing him with the community!

★LA Cope

My review is about a very specific and serious ethical issue involving the camp’s medical care procedures. During camp, my son went to the medical office with a 100-degree fever and was given a medication that we had clearly indicated on his medical forms should not be administered to him. We were never contacted about his initial fever, and I am still unsure why fever-reducing medication was given at that temperature in the first place. Later, we received a call—not from the camp—but from his church team leader, informing us that his temperature had continued to rise and that we needed to pick him up. We immediately drove up to do so. When we arrived, I learned for the first time that he had been given the very medication we had explicitly declined on his forms. I was told this happened because my son had two records on file and that it was a mistake. Thankfully, our church team leader was present during this conversation and can verify exactly what was said. What concerns me most is not simply the mistake itself. Human beings make mistakes—I certainly do. What elevates this situation to a serious ethical issue is what happened next. Instead of documenting the error accurately, a note was entered into my son’s health record stating that I had been called and had given verbal permission to administer the medication “because his temperature was so high.” This is not true. I never spoke to the nurse or anyone from the camp medical staff. Neither my husband, I, nor any of our listed emergency contacts received a call from the camp. The only call we received was from the church leader. Phone records can easily verify this. Additionally, the medication was reportedly given when his temperature was 100 degrees—a level that many pediatric guidelines do not consider necessary to treat with fever reducers. The inaccurate documentation and false claim of parental consent are deeply troubling. I have made repeated attempts to address this matter directly with the camp through emails and phone calls and have received no response. The only callback I received came after involving our church leadership, which was both embarrassing and disappointing. Mistakes can be corrected. Accountability builds trust. But altering medical documentation and fabricating parental consent crosses a serious ethical line—especially when it involves the health and safety of children. I expected transparency, responsibility, and integrity, particularly from a Christian camp. My hope in sharing this is not to attack, but to encourage accountability and change so that no other family experiences something similar in the future.

★Carolyn Bryan

Do not send your child here if they have disabilities. They do not follow their nursing policy of "topical ok." Do not accommodate gray areas. Do not follow Dr's paperwork stating what should be administered but give their otc meds they think fit your child's bill because every child is cookie cutter to them apparently. My son asked for window to be closed, his allergies were camp director sided with other kids and left window open did not accommodate my son in a cabin with a closed window. Day prior his chest was clear, next day he was wheezing and fluid in his lungs when I picked him up he was just getting over infection that went into his lungs but lungs were clear when I sent. Thanks to the open window all night and kids keeping him up, he was exhausted and regressed his progress. I told my son to let them know he wanted to go home... stated he wanted to go home and nurse gave him medication that was not the one on the paperwork and also an otc med attenuating to similar thing but different underlying mechanisms. . Otc med nurse gave him did nothing, the one i directed helped immediately and was the one in his medical paperpekd. Nurse had sent him back out then called me and said "he's just homesick " no actually he was getting over fluid in his lungs, his stomach was hurt because "he got into wrong line (put it on my kid not their ability to watch and make sure food sensitivities accommodated and kids were wristbanded to endure they were watched but he was not watched apparently) and his ankle was hurt still recovering from being broke Camp director apparently stayed in cabins so when it was time for bed kids continued to keep my son awake even though he asked to sleep and apparently that was let to be continued. Engaged in vigorous activities, my son said way more than he was used to and kept them movimg 24/7 according to my son. I thought this would be a camp that did working together protocols apparently it's run the crap out of them and exhaust them to no means. When I pulled up and asked for directions to the nurses station the grounds man was very kind and I told him I was there to pick up my kid and stated "oh that happens a lot." Apparently a lot of kids high tail it out of there with the apparent vigorous treatment and not listening to concerns and belittlin them My son had an injury to his knee and kept needing told to go down on it because of a game. I'm over it. Like every kid is not cookie cutter. Take responsibility for your pitfalls (not contacting directly). I asked if there was a partial refund on the $500 due to him only spending 1 day, the director stated only if the school met the quantity of kids and the kid was only around for a couple of hours. Additionally, Left a voice-mail month prior to talk about homeopathic meds, they called me back and hung up on me during the call. Then reached out to teacher to discuss issues instead of calling me. So if I've gotten a direct contact things could've been sorted appropriately. When I called the day before to set things straight because my kid was still getting over illness and had thing he needed attenuated no one was on site for medical and no one could soeak to medical policy appropriately. I got different responses each person. The excuse was "sorry medical is transitioning." So didn't love this for my kid. If your kid has immune issues or special circumstances don't send them here. If they are not used to vigorous activity, don't send them here. For a "Christian camp" felt like a money grab tbh and keep em busy till the drop, in the middle of winter. I wanted my kid to have the same opportunity as others but his issues were belittled and inconvenience. People were very polite though and camp director very personable hovered over us leaving made sure we got out safe and extra formally kind when he knows their gaps made our experience less than optimal. Just my take though. I wasn't actually participating in camp but I would never go here for a Christian camp. Go to the one out past Barstow, that is an incredible experience.

★★★★★Neal Benson

Amazing camp! Amazing staff Amazing location! Thousand Pines is nested among the trees in the San Bernardino mountains. The camp has been here for decades and is a great place to connect with God. The grounds are clean. The housing is nice. The food is great. I think you’ll love it