Boy Scouts first began camping in the Camp Emerson area of Idyllwild in 1919, making the camp one of the oldest camps in the West.!

Camp Emerson was initially formed in 1919 through a generous grant of 5 acres of land from Mr. C.L. Emerson. The area officially bore the name Camp Emerson in 1921 when the land was deeded on paper to the Riverside County Council.

During the six week Summer Camp period in 1921 Camp Emerson was host to 433 boys. Camp Emerson acted as both a long term camp and base camp for scouts hiking into the San Jacinto wilderness.

In 1922 upon seeing the success of the camp Mr. Emerson granted yet another 5 acres to the council. It was also at this point that the talk of the first structure was mentioned. In June of 1923 Camp Emerson saw its first building which acted as a Kitchen and Commissary. The 1930’s brought the addition of the A.H. Sweet Pool, Cobblestone and the James West lodge.

Camp Emerson saw its next expansion in 1948 with the purchase of 15.5 acres of land from the Idyllwild All Year Resort. This purchase added to the northern and eastern boundaries. In 1949 the council saw fit to purchase portions of the Idyllwild Golf Course.

In 1950 the William H. Kidston memorial fund was bequeathed to the council following his passing. The fund consisted of $25,000 in stocks. One condition in it’s creation was that only the interest was to be used leaving the principal intact for years to come. Camp Emerson was also in the middle of a building boom at this time seeing the addition of Baden-Powell, Boyce Dan Beard, Langston and Guenther Lodges.

In 1962 the land that is home to the present day rifle and archery ranges and Lake Gallaher was purchased from the Idyllwild School of Creative Living for $18,000. Hugh Gallaher in 1965 began to put his vision of an aquatics program on paper. This vision became present day Lake Gallaher. The construction of the dam began in 1966 with the financial backing and engineering skill of Mr. Gallaher. Following construction of the lake came the William H. Kidston boathouse. This was but a portion of the construction in camp as the boom continued. This decade brought Elmore Lodge a new Central Services lodge and the Phillip Boyd Nature Lodge. 1968 also brought about the largest addition to camp in its history by more than doubling the size of Camp Emerson with the addition of 100 acres known as Camp Brown. This purchase was meant to give the boys a place to stay that was off the beaten path.

The A.H. Sweet pool was finally rehabbed and modernized in 1975 when the filter system was changed out from Chlorine Gas to the current system. The pool also saw another addition in 1991 when Cahuilla Lodge-Order of the Arrow purchased new heaters for the pool.

In the past 10 years the addition of showers and flushing toilets has occurred through the rehab and construction of several facilities that include the Simonds Flats, Family, Boathouse and Wagon Wheel Restrooms.