About Us
*photo courtesy of Rebekah Ford*
Quietly nestled in the mountains of Kentucky is Camp Blanton the gateway to Blanton Forest. It is the only uncut old-growth forest in Kentucky and the thirteenth largest in the eastern United States, covering 2,350 acres of Pine Mountain. The trees that tower 100 feet above the forest floor are the same ones that Daniel Boone and the settlers saw as they came through the Cumberland Gap and moved westward into Kentucky. It's a union of past and present, one of the rare places where nature’s will has gone unchallenged and unexploited.
Initially built as a Boy Scout camp from land donated by the Blanton family in the 1930's, camp Blanton continue to be the mountain meeting place for troops and packs throughout the region, and has most recently become the location for community day camps and events. The camp has infused itself into the community, but more important it has changed the vision of the youth that have grown up in one of the nation's most distressed socioeconomic environments. At Camp Blanton a child learns lifelong skills, respect for the environment and respect for their fellow man.
In the midst of the camp, a still lake shimmers in the summer breeze and often freezes solid in the winter. It is during the autumn season though, when the mountain sky seems to be the bluest that the lake softly ripples in deep sapphire currents. Reflections of the camp's old cabins can also be seen. Within the structures, valuable learning and self-discovery has taken place through the years as well as plenty of fun filled memories.
There's also a wooden pier stretching out into the lake. Upon its cracking, aging boards, several generations have cast fishing lines into the waters of Camp Blanton. Watching their reflections mature as the seasons change. Doctors, lawyers, teachers and businessman claim an attachment to this Pine Mountain hideaway.
Some of the children who once sank lures now serve on the Camp Blanton Board. In 1985 a panel of local community members formed the Camp Blanton Board of Trustees to better manage and find this Harlan County tradition.