ELKINS, W.Va. (WVDN) – An eighty-three-year partnership between Monongahela National Forest and the Ohio-West Virgnia Youth Leadership Association continues with the signing of a sixty-year Historic Property Lease. The long-term lease ensures the adequate preservation of the historic Camp Horseshoe and Horseshoe Recreation Area and continues YLA’s mission and programming.
“I’m confident this long-standing partnership will continue to benefit people and this uniquely beautiful property,” said Forest Supervisor Shawn Cochran.
Camp Horseshoe was designed and constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1939 and 1940 to serve as an organizational youth camp complex. It is a rare, well-preserved example of federally owned organizational camps erected during the New Deal era (1933-1942) of the Great Depression.
“Since 1940 YLA’s Camp Horseshoe teen entrepreneurship and leadership camps, as well as Adventure and Youth Opportunity Camps for children have benefited young people and communities across West Virginia, Ohio and beyond,” said YLA director David King.
Camp Horseshoe is among the last surviving examples of its type, and it remains one of the oldest federal organizational camps still functioning in its intended use within the eastern United States. The property has continuously been operated since 1940 by the YMCA, and its successor YLA, in partnership with the Forest Service to meet the original commitment and the reason it was established, “…providing experiences for those children or adults who would otherwise be unable to enjoy forest recreation.”
Information about Camp Horseshoe and Horseshoe Recreation Area is available by calling the Ohio-West Virgnia Youth Leadership Association at (304) 478-2481 or visit www.ylaleads.org.
