Located in the rolling hills of West Georgia, Woodland Christian Camp & Retreat Center is the perfect place to get away from the pressures of everyday life. Woodland's wooded setting and beautiful lake combine to create an environment that encourages reflection and relaxation. For people of all ages it is a refuge for recreation and renewal, a place to find balance. Woodland is a special place.
Woodland Christian Camp & Retreat Center exists to provide opportunities for Christian growth in a natural setting. In order to fulfill our mission, we host summer camp programs for young people and provide retreat facilities for churches, ministries and non profit groups; we also host and/or lead leadership training programs for the larger community, where Christian principles are taught and/or modeled.
Woodland Christian Camp, Inc. was established in 1969 as a non-profit ministry of Christian Camping and is sponsored by a group of Christian Churches in Georgia and Alabama. The legacy of Woodland's leaders cast a vision of excellence in facilities and programming. From that beginning, Woodland has grown into a multifaceted ministry, four camps on one 120 acre site, a challenge ropes course, and a popular retreat location for many different types of groups. Over 11,000 people a year enjoy the unique facilities of Woodland.
The original property, located on 44 acres in Temple, Georgia, was purchased in order to provide a place for Christian youth of the Atlanta metropolitan area to camp, retreat, and fellowship. That first summer of camp hosted 487 campers.
With increases in campers and usages, leaders of Woodland Christian Camp realized the need for full-time management. In 1971, Earl and Mary Alice Hobson were hired to fulfill this need. The camp continued to grow at a steady pace, and in 1980, Joey and Cindy Westbrook were brought on staff to direct administration and finance.
In 1982, 56 acres were purchased for the construction of a second camp. An eight-acre lake was the first item completed. In addition, land was cleared for the Woodland Junction camp. The development of this railroad theme camp was aided by the donation of twelve box cars by Southern Railway, Inc. The camp came on-line in 1988.
The challenge course, a high and low ropes course, was added to the facilities in 1993 to enhance camp programming. During the 90's, the camp continued a steady growth which resulted in additional staff and facilities.
In 2000, the camp purchased an additional eighteen acres of land, bringing Woodland's total acreage up to 120. Construction for Woodland's Heritage Camp began in November of 2004. The first Heritage Camp use was in May of 2005. Additional Heritage cabins were added over the following ten years, so Woodland's capacity increased to over 400 beds. Woodland completed construction on a multipurpose gymnasium in 2007. The facility houses full court basketball and three meeting rooms.
