Redwood Christian Park

my mom & dad wont let me go & im beging them

I went on a High School retreat here over 30 years ago, and I haven’t forgotten it. The facility was beautiful and fun and I talk to others about this place even now.

Camping!

Nothing says «enjoying nature» like having your retreat in the middle of a forest of redwoods, the tallest trees in the world. Redwood Christian Park makes it possible with a beautiful campus, fine accommodations and easy access to trails, all less than an hour’s drive from Silicon Valley (if you take windy Highway 9).
GROUNDS: (4.5 stars)
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The location and grounds are simply beautiful. Each building is designed with rustic flair, and the campus is big enough to enjoy exploring, but not too big to get lost in. There’s a small stream and a footbridge by the dining hall, cabins secluded in groves of trees, a large field to play in, a prayer chapel, and coolest of all…
A massive recreation of Noah’s Ark! Large enough to hold classrooms on the deck level and perhaps a large hall in the hull. Now that’s aesthetic AND functional!
There’s a good amount of recreation: a volleyball court, swimming pool, ping pong tables and a tiny archery range (two bales of hay). Equipment is not provided.
ROOMS: (4.5 stars)
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Rooms range from humble cabins to deluxe rooms that rival a decent hotel room; and then swanky cottages, in a category of their own, with full amenities. The wife and I were pleased to have a «select» room, one step up from a cabin, with two beds, a writing desk and a small bathroom. Towels and soap were provided. There was also unprotected WiFi access in my room, and not some crappy DSL speeds either! Definitely not the norm for a campsite!
FOOD: (3.5 stars)
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The food was your typical cafeteria-​style buffet. Various days’ mashups were:
* Eggs and potatoes
* Pancakes and sausages
* Hamburgers and hot dogs
* Tri-​tip and potatoes
* Roast chicken and broccoli
* Lemon chicken and salad
The food was enjoyable, but nothing in particular stood out as super flavorful. At one point, a rice porridge was served that was very bland (though I appreciate the kitchen staff trying to cater to this large group of Chinese people). Also, the chicken kept running out and was slow to be replaced, but there was always ample tri-​tip. hmmm…
HIKING: (4 stars)
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A 3-​mile loop of trails is nearby, with access from the west and east ends of the campground. You can get a free trail map from the bookstore (highly recommended). At one of the trail ends is a 6-​foot wooden cross, requiring a moderate climb to reach (a metaphor for the Christian life, perhaps?). Worth checking out.
Just stay off the «Sandstone Path». It’s one of the dotted lines on the map and is a very poorly defined trail cutting through a neighborhood, the banks of a stream, or who knows what.
OVERALL: (4.4 stars)
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RCP is not perfect, but neither are we in this life (hey, another metaphor). RCP offers a feature-​rich stay at a very reasonable price, bringing their total rating up a bit. We had a very pleasant stay and would definitely enjoy coming back!

They have the best food ever! Cannot resist to break my diet when I look at their food.
The stuff member very accommodating nice and friendly. I like how they provide all you can drink coffee, hot chocolate, and a bunch of different kind of tea through out the day.
If you stay at a nicer lodge, you don’t have to bring towel. It is like a motel.
Every room has heater! That’s AWESOME!
overall, I really like this place for church conference! =)

Our church has had their retreats here a few times. The drive is only an hour from San Jose, but you feel like it’s a world away. The tall redwood trees are a beautiful setting. We love the replica of a Noah’s Ark that houses classrooms. The kids got to watch a movie called Evan Almighty which was appropriate being that there was an actual ark onsite.
The accomodations are nice. We stayed one time in the deluxe lodging. They are very comfortable like staying in a hotel. The cabins are spacious and have their own bathroom. You need to bring your own sheets/​pillows and towels when staying in the cabins.
The dining hall is huge and there are 3 stations for food. Food is buffet style and pretty tasty. You can request to use their refrigerator if you need to store your own food.
Being a Christian camp, everyone is very friendly, even if you are not part of the same group.
There are playgrounds for kids to play and a swimming pool which is opened during the warm months.
The downside is the lack of parking. You often need to double park because there is not enough parking for all the groups there. Be sure to leave a note with your name and phone # if you double park so someone can contact you if you need to move the car.

Our chuch, has held its annual family retreat at RCP for the past 4 years. The staff is great and the grounds are beautiful. Marci, the event coordinator, is very accommodating with all our needs, even the last minute requests :)
Some of the rooms have had a facelift this year and I hear others will be transformed soon… I’m hoping in time for our 2012 retreat ;)

I’ve been here twice in 2011 and it was 20 years before since I’ve been to another camps so I can’t really compare.
Some of the rooms are being/​have been remodeled so I heard high praises about those rooms. Others feel dirty and smell musty.
I guess this is a popular site for Asian groups since the two times I’ve been here there is another Asian group besides the one I’m with.
They even serve jook in the morning! I haven’t eaten anything there, but from the filled up plates that I’ve seen, the food must be pretty good.

Our Church ALWAYS has a good time here! It’s so beautiful at the camp. Huge trees and so quiet and peaceful!
The plus is that it’s not too far away from civilization.

Long story short: Beautiful Christian retreat/​conference center.
Long story long:
This retreat was the site (and many others years prior) of the 25^th Anniversary of World Christian Conference, an annual missions conference held in the bay area. Numerous people from my church have gone for several years and have even served on the planning teams. Last year was my 1^st year, which was actually up in the Santa Rosa area (
). My friends told me this site was a little better.
Boulder Creek actually wasn’t that bad/​far/​long of a drive from San Jose. Actually I take that back. We took Bear Creek Road and it was one of the WINDIEST roads I had ever been on. Combine that with a wet road from rain earlier that morning, but my friend who’s car we were riding in was a lowered, but even more so because I calculated we had an extra 700+ lbs due to me and 3 other guys in the back seat. Yes, that’s how we roll sometimes.
If you’ve ever been to a retreat center in the mountains and/​or remote forest, it all pretty much looks the same. Just the layout may be different. It was actually kind of cool that there was fog still hanging out amongst the tree line. One of my friends said it was like Twilight, to which I could only shamefully shake my head at him for.
When I had registered, I originally signed up for the Standard accommodations, but I guess being the bassist of the worship team, I automatically got bumped up to the deluxe. That meant instead of sharing a room and shower/​bathroom with 6 or 8 guys, I had my own full size bed, only sharing the room with our electric guitarist and we had our own private bathroom. I’m serious, it looked more like a hotel room than a retreat/​conference center. The only thing missing was a TV, coffee pot, phone, ironing board, and a «Do Not Disturb» doorknob placard. There were even towels in the bathroom. I didn’t need to bring my own towel or sleeping bag, which my friend told me to. I’ll know for next time. I actually never got around to seeing any of the other rooms, so I can’t comment on those.
The dining hall was pretty standard. They actually had 2 buffet lines. One for the primary dining room, and another for a smaller room on the side. Hardly anyone went to the 2^nd line, so there was always food at that one. Some of the offerings weren’t bad considering the setting. One day for lunch we had bbq pulled pork sandwiches. I think that same day for breakfast we had pancakes and cinnamon rolls. One night for dinner we had tri-​tip and mashed potatoes.
The admin/​lounge building was always busy in the afternoons because it seemed to be the only place on site that had WIFI. So yes, I was definitely in there in the afternoons.
The sanctuary/tabernacle’s set up wasn’t too bad. Only thing is it kind of smelled like BO when you first would walk in. Their sound system was pretty basic and we had a couple minor difficulties making it do what we wanted it to, but we made due.
I will have to say that we couldn’t have asked for better weather that weekend. While it was still cold and we had that cool fog hanging out among the tree line every morning, it was dry and clear the rest of the weekend. It was amazing, especially with all that fresh air.
I would definitely return to this site.

This retreat site wonderfully accommodated our group of 200 adults and kids. First thing to note is the convenience of the location. I took a crazy windy road courtesy of google, but there are very simple directions you can find if you call them, and much less windy for all you motion-​sickness people. I don’t remember what our main worship room was called, but it was clean, temperature controlled, and had a sink for convenient hand washing.
I stayed in the smaller bunk cabins, which smelled a little funny, but again had the basic necessities you need: clean bathroom, clean sink, and heater. The bunk mattresses, or 7 inch pads i should say, were really uncomfortable and noisy whenever you moved around. The shower had hot water at all times.
The food was actually pretty good. They serve buffet style, and depending on the type of meal, you’ll get a solid fill of food for sure. They even have dessert and fruit usually that go along with your salad and main course. Breakfast was just alright, for the two mornings I was there (eggs, pancakes, cereal, porridge), but the lunch and dinners were great (chicken pot pie, meat loaf, spaghetti with meatballs).
The staff was also very friendly and accommodating to all our needs. Another great plus is that all the facilities are in close proximity to each other. I’ve been to other places where you have to walk 10 minutes just to go to the bathroom. Overall, great experience minus the backaches from the bunk beds. Great job Redwood Christian park!

Words cannot describe this place. I’ve tried so many times to update this review to really reflect how amazing this place is.
Though I’m here off and on (I have a friend works/​lives at the camp), I’ll review what I know the yearly womens’ retreat (usually the 3^rd week in April).
Things that are great!
Worship: The early morning worship makes the whole weekend for me. It’s at like 6 or 7 am, I’m not really sure. My eyes don’t really open until after I hit the coffee bar and even then… I’m a little sleepy-​eyed. But the morning worship team softens my heart and really shows me the joy and peace of our Heavenly Father.
Things that are normal:
Food: There’s GREAT, good, and eh parts, but it’s all buffet style and you can eat pretty much as much or as little of everything or anything.
Things that are not so great:
Lodgings: it’s a really old camp and… well it’s a camp. So you really can’t expect much of a 5 star hotel feeling here. The houses are nice (kind of like a time share feeling) and the cabins are well… cabins.