Camp Kulaqua Celebrates Seven Decades of Faith, Fun and Friendships

HIGH SPRINGS ‒When we hear “Summer Camp” we often think of a season when kids are out of school, cabins lined with bunk beds, and cooling off in the water. Swimming, games, horses, archery, campfires, are often synonyms of our summer camp ideas.

This year marks 70 years of Camp Kulaqua, a summer camp and retreat center located in High Springs, Florida. A celebration of these past 70 years was held over a weekend in October and 450 people were in attendance, with staff and campers from the decades of the 1950s to present. Camp Kulaqua is owned and operated by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and is a Christian camp and retreat facility that serves over 50,000 people each year.

The history of Camp Kulaqua starts in 1953 with a few men sitting on the banks of Hornsby Springs, prayerfully considering if they should purchase the 250 acres for $18,000. Prayers were answered and the land was purchased.

“The land was a jungle from the road of 441 to the spring,” recalled one of the early staff members of the camp, John Ryals. At the celebration, 96-year-old Mr. Ryals recalled the men clearing the land in the hopes of having a summer camp there soon. “It was a boys only camp that first week. In the nights we slept in tents. During the days we went swimming. Built a barn for some horses. And during downtime we caught lizards on a pole and released them later.”

As time passed the camp continued to develop. Land was cleared. Activities were added. Staff from the 1980s recall mini-dirt bikes, a treehouse at the end of the spring run, and off-site boating trips to Lake Butler’s lake.

Nature became one of the highlights of camp. One day, two orphaned racoons found their way to Kulaqua needing a home, and the Wildlife Sanctuary & Zoo was created. Today it still serves as a needed home to exotic animals and a sanctuary for the injured. Many from the neighboring community can recall the lion’s roar from the early days as the sound traveled for miles around.

Camp Kulaqua has now expanded to more than 800 acres with hundreds of buildings. In the growing town of High Springs, Camp Kulaqua hires over 80 employees from the community. Camp is a place that loves to serve and be available to the community. Families from the surrounding area often frequent the waterpark in the summer season and church families use the facility for retreats and meetings. Camp is also a resource to the children and local schools, providing education tours of the Wildlife Sanctuary to classrooms, a place for Extended Day Enrichment Program (EDEP) children to attend day activities, and is used by FFA Chapters for their yearly meetings.

Phil Younts, Executive Director of Camp Kulaqua for over 40 years, offers his appreciation for where camp is today. “Camp Kulaqua originally started as a summer camp and today we strive to serve the whole family. Family Camps, Outdoor Education, Summer Camps for children, just to name a few, are offered today. We are glad to be a part of the City of High Springs — a great place to live and a great place to serve God.”

“It’s the friendships we come back for. The once in a lifetime, never forget memories that are built at camp,” Julie Minnick recalls. As a camper and previous staff, Julie traveled from Virginia to be at the celebration. “This is always home for me,” is her response when asked the value of traveling the 300 miles for the 70^th year celebration.

Seventy years in operation is no small feat. Camp Kulaqua wants to thank God for the many blessings that He has given the millions of people who have entered its gates.

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