Photo Credit: Lea Blevins
Nestled in the trees near the southwestern side of Lake Tahoe sits Camp Shelly—a 25-site family campground operated by the Livermore Area Recreation and Park District (LARPD) and staffed by its park rangers. Located about 175 miles—or a three-and-a-half hour drive, southeast from the campground in the San Francisco Bay Area—the special district leases the 7.7 acres through a special-use permit from the U.S. Forest Service.
In its more than 50 years operating Camp Shelly, LARPD has learned a variety of tricks about running a campground that have helped make it the intimate, special spot it is today. But that doesn’t mean things have always come easy. These park rangers have learned through trials and tribulations of the many benefits in planning for some bumps in the road.
Expecting The Unexpected
Camp Shelly is open from mid-June through Labor Day weekend. Until recently, staff headed to the campground about a week before opening day to prep the grounds—until off-season problems popped up. In one recent year, the rangers discovered someone had broken in and appeared to be living in the small one-room cabin where staff members stay during the summer. Another surprise was the discovery of copper piping stolen from the bathrooms. A plumber was there fixing the problem the night before opening day.