The original owners of Keen Camp were John and Mary Keen who moved their resort in 1905 from Strawberry Valley to its current location east of Mountain Center. In 1911, Percy and Anita Walker purchased the Keen Camp. After Percy Walker drowned in Lake Hemet, his widow married Robert Elliott in 1919. They built the Tahquitz Lodge on the property. It was a popular hotel in the mountains until its destruction by fire in 1943. Also located at Keen Camp were a store, a school, other buildings, and surrounded by meadows.
Thanks to Tinsley Yarbrough.
DIRECTIONS: From Los Angeles, take Interstate 10 east to Beaumont. Take highway 79 south to highway 74 east. This is the easier driving route from Los Angeles. A somewhat harder but shorter route is to continue on Interstate 10 past Beaumont to Banning. Then take highway 243 south. At highway 74 (past Idyllwild), turn left (east). Keen Camp will be on the left (north) side of the highway, about a mile from the intersection of 243 and 74.
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY:
"Springtime in the Rockies" (Republic 1937) Directed by: Joseph Kane. Cast: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Polly Rowles, Ula Love, Ruth Bacon, Jane Hunt, George Chesebro, Alan Bridge, Tom London, Edward Hearn, Frankie Marvin, William Hale, Edmund Cobb.
"Gold Mine in the Sky" (Republic 1938) Directed by: Joseph Kane. Cast: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Carol Hughes, Craig Reynolds, Cupid Ainsworth, LeRoy Mason, Frankie Marvin, Robert Homans, Eddie Chrekose, Ben Corbett.
"Colorado Sunset" (Republic 1939) Directed by: George Sherman. Cast: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, June Storey, Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Barbara Pepper, Robert Barrat, Patsy Montana, Parnell Pratt, William Farnum, Kermit Maynard, Jack Ingram, Elmo Lincoln.
"Take Me Back to Oklahoma" (Monogram 1940) Directed by: Al Herman. Cast: Tex Ritter, Slim Andrews, Terry Walker, Karl Hackett, George Eldridge, Bob McKenzie, Olin Francis, Carleton Young, Sherry Tansey, Gene Alsace, Don Curtis, Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys.