Pristine, tranquility, serenity, authentic, recreation, awakening, harmony, and relaxation.
These are the words White Pine Camp's website uses to describe their restored Great Camp in the New York Adirondacks.
Back in the day, Great Camps were complexes where the wealthy could get away, enjoy parties, and be surrounded by the natural landscape. But they weren't just little cabins in the woods. Many camps had movie theaters, bowling alleys, and tennis courts.
White Pine Camp has an old-fashioned bowling alley, board games, and a pool table in the Bowling Alley.
White Pine Camp is no exception. The camp is located near the small town of Paul Smiths, in the heart of the New York State Adirondacks. It was originally built for a New York businessman named Archibald White in 1907. The final product of his camp was built on 35 acres of land and included 20 buildings. The camp features four sleeping cabins, the owner’s cabin, two boathouses, a dining hall, a Japanese teahouse, a bowling alley, and an indoor tennis house.
The camp was famously known as the summer White House of former US President Calvin Coolidge in 1926. He and his wife stayed in the owner’s cabin from July to September of that year. Sprinkled around the camp, you’ll find mementos of his time at White Pine.
Newspaper clippings from Coolidge's time at White Pine Camp.
"Keep Coolidge" and other memorabilia.
Later, White Pine was donated to nearby Paul Smiths College where the college used the camp for student housing for roughly 35 years. And, of course, today it serves as a nature escape for anyone willing and able to drive far into the Adirondacks, far past the reaches of cell service, in order to find a little bit of peace.
Just outside the Great Room and Owner's Cabin.
Since the days of President Coolidge, the camp has been completely modernized. White Pine is now a year-round getaway made up of 13 unique cabins and cottages that surround Osgood Pond.
Cabins
The cabins are comfortable and cozy, though with narrow stairs to the second floor if you have one. My cabin was called Kirkwood, which had two floors, two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, a sitting room, and a balcony on both levels.
Each cabin has hand-built Adirondack-style wooden furniture. They also feature stone fireplaces or wood stoves. Being at camp feels more like a nature resort than actual camping. I'm a fan of modern plumbing.
Relaxing on camp, soaking up the sun.
There’s a lot to do at the camp, from kayaking, swimming, fishing, bowling, tennis or badminton, ping pong, board games, or just reading a good book by the water.
My cabin was connected to one of the four very large cottages, which have been broken up into several different guesthouses. It admittedly didn’t offer much of a view of the water, so I was determined to get out there and check it out.
Kayaking
The first thing I set out for was a kayaking adventure around the pond. The camp has two boathouses, each stocked with plenty of kayaks, single and double.
One of the two boathouses.
Inside the main boathouse.
A map of Osgood Pond.
As I started paddling out into the water, Osgood Pond started to look more and more like a lake. It’s massive.
The wind can be strong on the water, making your outbound paddling from camp a breeze (pun intended) but a battle on the return.
Hiking
You can also take a short hike around the camp's limits. There's a narrow, dirt path that starts from the water's edge and eventually climbs slightly in elevation and loops back to the cabins. I did this on my first day to get a feel for the place.
At the farthest end of the hike, you'll stumble upon this small hut.
Being at White Pine camp feels like a nature reset. There's a level of silence at the camp that I hadn't experienced in years. No cars in the distance, no planes overhead, nothing. It can be almost unnerving at first. It's just you and the pines. And the loons if you're lucky. The wind can whistle and howl at night, in a beautiful, albeit creepy (at first - I'm not used to it!) way.
Japanese Tearoom
I spent a fair bit of time just sitting out by the camp's Japanese tearoom soaking up the silence and gorgeous views.
The tearoom sits on a small bit of land at the edge of Osgood Pond. You have to cross a long, wooden bridge and a small Japanese-inspired bridge to reach the teahouse. You can sit inside the tearoom to hide from the wind or lounge on an Adirondack chair just outside.
The Japanese tearoom is at the edge of a long, wooden bridge.
For me, it was a selling feature of the camp. Despite being there in early June, I always had the spot to myself!
Swimming
From the teahouse, you can also access the swimming area in the pond. It was too cold in early June, but from the looks of it if you plan on going swimming remember to bring water shoes! The bottom of the pond has rocks and broken seashells.
Remember to bring water shoes if you'll be swimming!
Fishing
While I was there, I decided to try my hand at fishing. It'd been years since I'd gone fishing, and I'd never caught anything. I brought my own fishing pole and bait, but the camp did have a few poles but no bait.
In short, I'm not very good. I managed to catch quite a few trees. Still, after a few efforts in different spots around the camp, I caught two fish! Of course, they ended up back in the water, but it was a fun thing to try.
I'd love to tell you that I'm a natural fisherman, but it was mostly a lot of unhooking from trees...
I caught a fish!
There's so much to do at White Pine, but sometimes the best activity was simply sitting outside with a cup of tea or playing board games in the Great Room. The Great Room is the only spot in the camp that has Wi-Fi, so it's also the place to be if you have any desire to connect with the outside world.
Mornings were spent with a cup of tea out on the boathouse dock.
The Great Room has Wi-Fi, puzzles, board games, and comfy reading chairs.
Initially, I made the trek out to White Pine Camp in hopes of catching a glimpse of the Milky Way. The Adirondacks are one of, if not the darkest place on the US East Coast. While the first night I saw epic stars and a comet that could inspire a new religion, the other nights were cloudy.
As a result, I ended up being up and around for more camp activities than I expected! Overall, this camp was such a throwback and is the perfect place to get away for a few days. As always, let me know your thoughts in the comments!
