Lake Whitney Ranch

Lake Whitney Ranch is a 876-acre (3.55 km2) property near Whitney, Texas that is under development as a summer youth camp, Pathfinder camp, church camp and conference center for the Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

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View of Lake Whitney from the north property
Grazing area and cattle barns

The ranch is a replacement for Nameless Valley Ranch which was sold in 2007.

The camp consists of two bundles of property that are divided by a Farm to Market road. The "north" property is where most of the buildings and camp activity will take place. The "south" property will be remain in a natural state for hiking, camping and horse trails.

The geographic highlight of the camp is the expansive view of Lake Whitney from atop the bluffs.

Location
Location of Lake Whitney Ranch

The camp is located in Bosque County, Texas on Lake Whitney at 31.896287°N 97.410622°W / 31.896287; -97.410622. The primary "north" camp property is approximately bounded by FM 2841, FM 1600, FM 1609, FM 1606 and approximately 1-mile (1.6 km) of Lake Whitney frontage to the northwest of Walling Bend Park. Shulers Point Subdivision and King Creek Subdivision are adjacent to the property. The current entrance to the north property is via FM 2841 but the main entrance will be moved to FM 1606 as part of the improvements. Access from Lake Whitney is limited to one cut down to the lake as the camp sits on rock bluffs approximately 100 feet (30 m) above nominal water level.

The "south" camp property is on the south side of FM 2841 and has no lake frontage although Curton Creek drains from the property into the lake at Pritchett Point.

Caboose on the property

A visible landmark on the north property is a red caboose that sits high above the lake and can be seen by boaters. The caboose is outfitted as living quarters. Rock Island is directly off-shore of the north property.

Master Plan

The master plan calls for $26 million of phased improvements to the property to include:

The master plan calls for the property to support up to 5000 campers at one time.[1] The first phase of development is prioritized on facilities for the camporee area for Pathfinders, Adventurer and Master Guide areas.[1] Progress towards the master plan are planned as funding allows.

History

In the early 2000s there was a desire by the church constituency to replace Nameless Valley Ranch near Austin with a new camp property in the area bounded by DFW, Houston and San Antonio The Nameless property was placed for sale in 2004 and a search for new camp property commenced. In 2006 the Nameless property was sold to private developers, and in 2007 the Whitney "north" property consisting of 469 acres (1.90 km2) was acquired from the W4 Ranch where it had been maintained as cattle ranch. An additional 407 acres (1.65 km2) of "south" property was acquired in 2007 in additional purchases from private parties.[2]

Naming of the camp

The naming of the camp was a multi-step process begun by a contest of names submitted by church members. This list of over 500 names was reviewed and narrowed down to four names by a group of lay advisers and the Camp Operating and Development board. In 2009 the 4 names were presented in various town hall meetings where the list was narrowed to two choices. These two choices "King Creek Ranch" and "Lake Whitney Ranch" were presented at the church constituency meeting in Killeen, Texas on April 19, 2009 and a vote was taken.[3] "Lake Whitney Ranch" was chosen with 276 votes to 248 for King Creek Ranch.[4]

Milestone dates
  • May 2009: Infrastructure construction begins. Development expected to be completed sufficiently for Pathfinder camporees in 2010 and summer youth camps to begin in May 2011.[2]
  • November 2009: Open house - the pond is constructed and filled, and the sewage plant completed.
  • April 2010: "Fearless in Christ" Dedication Pathfinder Camporee with 3,500 campers and 500 guests[5]

Wildlife
Deer near the planned camp HQ building

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The property is heavily populated by wildlife.

See also

References
  1. The Flame. Alvarado, TX: Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (Spring 2009 Constituency Session Report): 3. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. The Flame. Alvarado, TX: Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (Winter 2009): 14–15. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. Naming the Camp at Lake Whitney. Texas Conference at Lake Whitney. April 19, 2009. p. 1.
  4. "Lake Whitney Updates". Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2009-05-23.
  5. Sharp, Austin. "Lake Whitney Ranch Inaugural Ceremony". The Flame. Alvarado, TX: Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (Summer 2010): 8–9.
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