Monday, April 5, 2010

Camp Sunningdale

All through my teen years I worked at a summer camp in Maine, Camp Sebago. It was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by forest, with a nearby lake. One of my favorite parts of camp was bringing new staff members to "the haunted camp" each summer. It was called Camp Sunningdale. It was about a 20 minute walk through the woods, and we would only take people at night. It had been closed since the 1960's and not really cared for. It was a perfect place to scare people.

The first time I heard about Camp Sunningdale was in the summer of 1992. No one that I talked to knew how to get there. It wasn't until the following summer that I would be able to find this rotted camp thanks to a friend's vague directions, "Head down the road until you see power lines head off into the woods. Follow them."

Here are some recent pictures of the camp, taken in the late summer of 2007. Camp Sunningdale is in the process of being fixed up, I believe. It's a shame they would ruin all that atmosphere and try to make a real camp in that area again...

This is the path through the woods to get to Camp Sunningdale. The powerlines often come down below head level...


This is your first view of camp. The path is overgrown and the cabins are noticeably falling apart.


This is the first cabin you pass. It's very small with one bedroom and one bathroom. Perhaps a head counselor's cabin?


This is the backside view of one row of cabins. The shutter ropes are rotted and the roofs are in disrepair.


The cabins are fun to explore, but not at all safe to be in. Plus, they are full of spiders...

*I'll have another post at some point with some interior pictures of the cabins, and photos of the rec hall.