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Frost Valley Environmental Center and Camp

Established in 1955, Frost Valley is an environmental research center and summer camp located in the Catskill Mountain region of New York. It hosts approximately 800 campers each summer and employs a staff of 50 counselors and camp administrators. There are year-round environmental and outward bound programs available to student groups, and the summer camp accommodates campers between the ages of eight and fifteen years.

Grounds and Facilities

The environmental center and camp grounds cover approximately 6,500 acres, and the facilities include 14 dormitories, 5 administrative buildings, a dining facility, 8 environmental outpost buildings, and 8 multi-purpose facilities.

Environmental Programs

The maintenance and protection of the plant life on the camp grounds is a major focus of Frost Valley's environmental programs. Tree husbandry, and infectious plant disease prevention are the cornerstones of the camp's approach to environmental education. Water cycle analysis and creative recycling are also emphasized.

History

Before the addition of environmental programs, Frost Valley was founded solely as a summer camp in 1955 by Ebeneezer Frost. Frost was a local community board member and naturalist, and decided to create a camp so that the children in the community might have a place to congregate and learn about the terrain and flora of the Catskill Mountain range. Begun as a day camp, in 1958 Frost took on the first boarding campers, and Frost Valley has remained a sleepaway camp since.

Urban Legend

There are various unanswered questions surrounding the 1966 deaths of Ebeneezer Frost's wife, Lucretia, and son, Thomas, and these speculations have led to numerous urban legends about the family's demise. The most frequently told version of the story begins when Frost and his family, while living at the camp during the off season, were confronted with the blizzard of 1966. This blizzard left much of the Catskill region without electricity for almost two weeks and prevented even short distance travel for 8-10 days. It is said that he murdered them both in their sleep and threw their bodies into an infamous nearby landmark called "devil's hole" - a pool of water on the camp's grounds that draws objects downwards instead of allowing them to float to the surface. Frost was never found, and the bodies of his wife and son were recovered from the east branch of the Delaware river, several miles away from the camp. Steven King is said to have based his 1977 novel, "The Shining," on the story of the Frost murders. Adding to the legend's popularity are the recent unexplained disappearances of two visitor's to the environmental center.