Lake Julia. (Small inset) Girls dining room Photo by Danny Bernstein
By Danny Bernstein
DuPont State Recreational Forest, located between Brevard and Hendersonville, has a history that goes beyond its six spectacular waterfalls. But why does the forest have an airstrip?
Because Ben Cart, founder of Summit Camps, needed a way to access the summer camps he established on the land that is now DuPont Forest. Summit Camps were a latecomer in the camping world. In 1967, Ben Cart bought land in Henderson and Transylvania counties, adjacent to the DuPont Corporation plant. He built two traditional summer camps, one for girls and one for boys, situated about a mile apart as the crow flies—close enough for approved co-ed activities.
First, Cart built Lake Julia and named it after his first wife; what is a camp without a lake? The centerpiece of Girls Camp was the dining room, an octagonal wooden building surrounded by a covered porch. The dining room has since been removed, but other buildings from the Girls Camp still survive.
At the lodge, girls gathered for rainy-day activities and snacking. Julia Cart cooked meals here early in the camp’s history. Later, food was driven down from the Boys Camp to the Girls Camp on large, heated trays. The girls’ lodge is now used by the forest service.
The Summit Camps infirmary was located above Lake Julia. After the Summit Camps closed permanently, the infirmary was repurposed into a seven-room inn for DuPont Corporation visitors. It’s now used as the ranger office for DuPont Forest.
The airstrip, completed in 1979, was only meant for private use. Cart and some camp parents used it to fly in and out of Summit Camps. Since the land became part of DuPont Forest, the airstrip has been used for training exercises and to evacuate patients in case of a medical emergency. The Hunger Games, a blockbuster movie filmed in the forests of North Carolina, features a shot of the airstrip adapted with computer-generated imagery.
In the 1970s, Cart built a dam on the southern end of his property to create Buck Forest Lake, now called Fawn Lake. This was a first step in Cart’s grand idea for the Buck Forest Development, an upscale housing estate. Fawn Lake, with its dock and gazebo and a decorative stone entrance to the Fawn Lake Access Area, are all that remains of the Buck Forest Development. The houses never materialized.
In 1991, DuPont Corporation bought the Camp Summit property, including the airstrip. But plenty of drama would ensue before the land finally became DuPont Forest.
Danny Bernstein is the author of DuPont Forest: A History, published by The History Press, which tells the story from the first settlers to the forest today. The book is available at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café and online.
I was a camper at Summit one summer in the early ’80s. I did my first open water distance swim in the lake under the supervision of Ellen, a counselor from NJ. I can’t remember my cabin counselor’s name but she was a sweetheart and sang with us at night. The camp director was CeCe Cart, Ben’s daughter. We did junior lifeguard training and to pass the rescue test, 12-year-old me had to drag CeCe’s large German boyfriend across the swim area while keeping his head above water. Forty years later and I am still an open water swimmer (Alcatraz, Hellespont) and recently re-certified in lifeguarding. We use flotation tubes now – it’s a lot easier to rescue large Germans.
I was one of a small crew of college boys who did some of the early construction of the camp including clearing the lake bed, building a spillway, tending the sawmill, and gathering rocks from the streams for the cottage foundations. There were a few campers that summer guided by Kells Hogan, the activity director.
Went here in summer of 1970 I think it was. Place was still under construction here and there. Was a head counselor named Lee, tall guy with curly hair. And Bruce McDonald was my counselor. Watched the Shaggy Dog one night outdoors with rest of camp (including girls). Beautiful place and kids nice, but I got homesick and Ben Cart took me aside and said I was crazy and ruining his dream, then recounted some story when he was wounded in the legs in WW2, and that I should buck up. Ha! Early shock therapy. Didn’t work per se. Was fun time basically, but all that fing greenery and those ticks n mosquitoes…was a bio hazard. No fond feelings or memories except that I remember campers being mostly well heeled, and that one hillbilly kid, Casey, a boy who wore these kind of red hot pants w white suspenders, was busted for trying to spread litter about our cabin on inspection day. Songs on radio were How Can You Mend A Broken Heart? And Hands Across The Water. Still hate them both. Learned to scuba dive and one plump boy from Spartanburg told a hilarious joke about some couples wedding night where the wife’s peeling off lingerie from the finest cities in the world, and the punchline was the husband pulling off his robe to reveal his missing phallus and exclaiming ‘ Korea, 1953.’ Still think it’s funny.
I was lucky enough to attend camp there for two summers, 1971 and 1972. It was truly a magical experience for me. Coming from Miami, I had never seen a landscape like this – waterfalls, mountain hikes through beautiful forests laden with wild blueberries, fog over Lake Julia every morning – just stunningly beautiful. I learned to horseback ride, shoot rifles, kayak, whitewater canoe, got my lifeguard certificate, cemented my love for tennis. I wish I could go back and do the same as an adult. I recently trekked through the grounds, which brought back so many wonderful recollectioins of campfires, dances, telling ghost stories late into the night. I was very glad to see the boathouse has been preserved. Beautiful place, beautiful memories.
I was also at the Summit Camp. It was my first Month long summer camp and I remember being home sick, but I also remember what an amazing place it was. I became an expert marksman, fishing was awesome, and the dance with the girls camp…well I won first place with a girl who was older than me what a great time. I even had the courage to perform a song in front of both the girls and boys camps. The song came from an album I had and it was about the “Animals coming two by two” describing Noah’s ark and the gathering of the animals. It’s all I can remember. My older sister was there as well as my cousin Chaney. I am very grateful for the experience. I was the shortest one in my cabin but I place in almost all the activities. I learn most of my canoeing skills there and earned, I believe, a trunk award in canoeing. It is based on the tree: roots, truck, branches not sure how that all works, but the skills stayed with me my entire life. I remember we would harass one of the counselor who had life guard duty. Something about his name the kids had latched onto about “Smells like Mackerel-Spanish Mackerel” we kept it up and would just die laughing and jumping in the water to escape him from grabbing us. Well as we were warned to stop we did not so the counselors took there revenge by waking us up in the middle of the night and made us I don’t exactly remember maybe stood out in the rain or something uncomfortable but nothing dangerous. It was all apart of a boys initiation into manhood (?). I do remember a very cool initiation we did that came from an American Indian ritual. We spent all day digging up fairly large stones and dug a hole and built a log cabin type of structure where the stones could be placed in and lit that on fire, then a teepee was erected over the pit and we had a sweat lodge. That night we all gathered inside the tent and would say thanks to nature to the deer etc.. Then we would get out of the hot and cramped sweat lodge, and only a few yards away we plunged into the cold lake water. It was really neat and felt so good. I think we did the in the teepee to the lake and back maybe 5 times. Mind you the fire we built to heat those stones also came from small pine trees we cut down. It was an all day event so we were sore from the work. I got a lot out of that ritual with the work, the build, and the dedication to nature. Then the cleansing inside the sweat lodge to the quenching relief of the cold water. I also could swear up and down that Ian Anderson the singer for Jethro Tull had a side gig and came and sang to us! I mean this guy was a dead ringer for him. Yes, although I was home sick the Summit camp was a special place. Thanks mom and Roger (step father) for sending me!-Christopher Thomas/Houston, Texas
My brother (Todd), sister (Stacie), and I attended Camp Summit for four consecutive summers in the early to mid-1970s. It was hands down the best experience of my youth.
I participated in most of the activities, including learning to water ski, riflery, archery, horseback riding, sailing, lifesaving, and canoeing down the Nantahala and Green Rivers. Ben Cart allowed me and some buddies to build a “zip line” across the small cove on the Boys’ side of the lake, close to the infirmary.
I have so many memories … the chance to ride in Ben’s WWII jeep, morning inspections (with the associated cabin-to-cabin competition), and “capture the flag” at the spillway on the steep banks of the overflow (spillway) stream. Oh, I can’t forget Saturday dance and movie night at the girls’ camp (saw Black Velvet and The African Queen). And we always looked forward to the weekly trip to a small local store called Ollie’s, where we could purchase snacks/candy. In 1979, I even returned as a counselor for one summer before heading off to college.
About 35 years ago, I attended a wedding in the area and managed to sneak onto the property. It brought back many fond memories and some sadness to see the camp closed … unfortunately, no other kids would experience this wonderful camp.
I even contacted Ben about purchasing the property before DuPont. Still, the operating costs, costs to retrofit an abandoned camp, and especially liability risks in today’s notoriously litigious society dissuaded me from making the purchase (think of those capture-the-flag events on the steep banks of the stream … I tumbled down the side many times and could have easily broken a bone, suffered a concussion, or worse).
What Ben Cart created was amazing, and many of the core values & abilities I have today stem from my positive experience at Camp Summit. So, when I saw this post, I had to share my thoughts.
I loved Summit! My brother, Will, and I attended together in. I think it the mid or maybe the late ’70s. He at the boys camp, of course, and me at the girls. I remember the cool dance routines we campers would do in the dining hall. We danced to the Jackson’s song “ABC” in a huge group and it was so fun. I got to eat honey on my Cheerios cereal at Summit! We ate a snack between activities of saltines and chocolate milk. I took sailing, I think, (but I skipped class bc I hated the cold morning weather), and archery, and, I think I found a giant orange salamander in the creek. (I went to other camps, but I think Summit had a great shallow creek with wildlife in it.) I think we shot rifles (they were huge and loud!) and we maybe rode horses.