From Serrano to Celebrities to Guest Groups

OUR HISTORY

 

Alpine Retreat and Camp's (ARC) history begins with the Serrano people, a Native American tribe also known as the Yuhaviatam meaning "people of the pines". The 1800s were marked by many violent clashes between the tribe and Spanish and American settlers. Unfortunately, as a result, they were relocated to missions and reservations to make way for sawmills and tourists. Our own Redwood Lodge is the site of the original Clipper Sawmill. 

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In 1930, the Arrowhead Alpine Club was built and opened its doors as an elite resort which quickly became a popular destination for the rich and famous of LA. Alpine is still in possession of an original leather-bound guestbook documenting visits from Hollywood stars such as Fred Astaire, Joan Crawford, Richard B. Harrington, Bette Davis, Shirley Temple and Mr. Black, Lana Turner, Clark Gable, June Lockhart, Jane Russell, Betty Grable James, and more. The Club consisted of a central lounge, dining hall, café-bar, and six guest cabins, all of which are still in use today--Redwood Lodge, The Branch café, and Cabins 1-6 (the current pool and pool house were added soon after). 

 

By 1956, the Club failed as a business venture due to multiple liquor license violations and suspensions. Instead of allowing the Club to be shut down, it was put on the market. In that same year, the Evangelical Covenant Churches (ECC) of Southern California was seeking to purchase a camp to host their congregational retreats; a place to call home. As providence would have it, in February 1957 while ECC members Bob and Dorothy Lundberg and Dan Seagren were at a retreat in Twin Peaks, the realtor for the Arrowhead Alpine Club was also present and offered to show the Club. Impressed by what they saw, they agreed to raise the required $8,000 deposit in only three days; meanwhile the down payment for the buildings and 25 acres of land was $39,000. With the deposit secured, a proposal for the new Covenant Camp was presented to the ECC and received unanimous approval for purchase. After hosting an ECC open house on March 9, 1957, just one month after first laying eyes on the property, escrow opened on April 1, 1957 and the Alpine Covenant Conference Center was born.

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Since then, Alpine has changed names and leadership two additional times, being called Alpine Camp and Conference Center (ACC) and now Alpine Retreat and Camp (ARC). Purchased in October 2021, Mile High Pines' is the current owner and operator of ARC offering guest group retreats and programs for faith groups, summer camps, and Christian schools.