This is a review for the Kidder Creek in Etna, CA and not for the Mt Hermon location in the Santa…read moreCruz mountains. Important to note they're different locations about 5/6 hours apart from each other which is a common mistake. I had done a lot of research prior to our recent trip (just got back a week ago) but noticed there wasn't much information about Kidder Creek in Etna especially pretty much none/minimal info online about their accommodations so hope this review will be helpful to you with your prep/planning.
We just visited the Etna location with my son's troop. Had a great experience with all the fun activities they offer (horseback riding, hiking, laser tag, archery, swimming, fishing, petting zoo, zip line). The staff and counselors are great with both kids and adults. They assign counselors to each group to help as a guide throughout your time there and to connect with the kids which we really appreciated and found them really helpful and knowledgable. We also had a wonderful time of worship over s'mores each night and had ice cream the last night. They also have a snack shop right by the pond area where you can buy coffee and treats. A great experience overall.
They offer different accommodations depending on what your group is looking for. We stayed in the Timberline area which includes "tent-cabins" with our own fire ring for campfire time, bathrooms, cafeteria/eating area which was really convenient. It's at the top of the hill of Kidder Creek and we either drive our own cars or ride their stagecoach down the hill for all the activities. Refer to my pic for what the cabins look like. These cabins are rustic and minimal so it's good to be prepared and set proper expectations (see below). The bathrooms in our areas have three separate areas: boys, girls and one single combined bathroom that's "adult-only" that includes a toilet, sink and shower). The boys/girls bathrooms have a sink area (girls have two sinks), four toilets and four showers. Bathrooms are equipped with hand soap and paper towels. Some tips of things to bring to help make your accommodations more comfortable include: camp chairs, portable battery pack, portable power station, foldable camp table, sanitizing wipes, power strip (if you don't bring a power station), twin bed sheets, pillow, ear plugs, sleeping bags, flashlights, an electric lantern, bag for garbage, shower slippers, personal toiletries, clothesline (to hang wet towels and swimsuits) and a about 1.5 yard of rope/parachord string. We also brought out own camping toilet since we already have it which made things a lot easier for us:)
With that said, these cabins are built with just wood panels, a metal sheet cover that sits on the roof without any insulation, a roll of tarp attached on the outside that serves as window curtains and has no access to electricity and light source (no ceiling/wall lights), so similar to a tent, you can hear everything outside so bring ear plugs to help you sleep. Their windows are basically just a cut out with an open space with no frame/screens so keeping the tarp down helps with privacy and keeps some of the bugs out (they can still crawl around it since the tarps just loosely hang on the outside of the window and doesn't have a frame to seal them out) but this can also make your room very stuffy and warm. I noticed the beds in my cabin was pretty dusty and had some stains on it (therefore the sanitizing wipes and bed sheet recommendation). We went during one of the hotter weeks so our room just got very warm and stuffy at night until it cooled off briefly during the wee hours. There's no electricity in these cabins so you won't be able to plug in a fan (unless you bring your own battery/generator which you would want to do anyway if you want to charge your electronics/medical devices). They have a couple of outlets in the bathrooms and the cafeteria you can use for charging purposes but note that you'll be competing for outlets with others who may want to do the same (so therefore the power strip/power station/battery pack recommendation). I've noticed they have other tent-cabins onsite that do have window screens so you can keep your windows open at night so consider asking for these when you book to have a little more comfort. Also the tent-cabin doors here are literally just a panel of wood with an outside door handle so you can pull the door open (but no inside door handle or lock mechanism) which means the door does not close for privacy nor does it lock for security. Our troop leader thankfully was a good problem-solver and tied a rope to the outside door handle where I was able to tie the other end to the inside bed frame to keep it shut (therefore the recommendation for a rope/parachord string).
