Frequently Asked Questions
Click Here for more info.
Most of our cabins are independent units, and all have 5 sets of twin-sized bunk beds. Each cabin has a bathroom with a shower and is cooled with an air conditioner or evaporative cooler. The main cabin area is carpeted. There is a rack on which you may hang clothes. Our operations staff accommodations differ slightly, but the basic features are the same. If you prefer to sleep on sheets with a blanket, our mattresses work well with that option. You will want to bring hand soap along with your other toiletries. Counselors also will sometimes do a campout with their campers or on a weekend, and for that they will need a sleeping bag. (We do have some “lost and found” sleeping bags that we share for those who do not have a sleeping bag, campers get first pick.)
Summer staff get mail in their mailboxes in the staff lounge designated for their department every evening. Friends and family can send mail to you with your name clearly marked on it. They should use the camp’s address:
Ironwood
49191 Cherokee Rd.
Newberry Springs, CA 92365
On Sunday morning, all of our staff are asked to attend one of the four churches in the area. Sunday lunch is provided at 1:00, and the lake is open for a few hours on Sunday afternoon as well. At 5pm on Sunday, all staff are asked to be back on property and ready for campers (laundry put away, physical and spiritual “batteries” recharged, and phone calls made). At 5:30 pm, we have our “Worth It” meeting as an entire staff team. This testimony meeting serves as a wrap up from the past week and a preview of the coming week. After the Worth It Meeting, counselors are given their cabin lists. We have dinner and meet in small groups for a time of spiritual accountability.
There are several area churches that are approved for summer staff to attend. Each is within about a 1-hour distance from camp. Summer staff who bring cars usually have some available seats for others looking to go to the same church. One of the churches meets in a building on the camp property, so there is always a way for staff to get to a good church. We do encourage summer staff to choose a church early on in the summer and stay put so that they can better get involved in serving with that church for the summer.
We ask counselors to check their phones into the “cell phone corral” for the week for the phone’s safety, their own accountability, and the ability to focus on their campers while they are with them. Because of this, counselors should bring an alarm clock that is separate from their cell phone. Also, you may want to bring a camera that is separate from your cell phone for taking pictures during the week. (We will have photo collections each week and we will make those available to you at the end of the summer.)
Because of the dry climate and hot sun, we suggest that you invest in sunscreen, chapstick with sunscreen, a good pair of sunglasses, and possibly a hat. Bring a good sized water bottle to keep yourself hydrated throughout the day.
As a western camp in the desert, Ironwood plays up the “old west” theme in our buildings and décor. We try to create an atmosphere that is different from a camper’s everyday life. To aid in accomplishing this, we ask our counseling staff to wear western clothes on Monday mornings while they greet campers. Don’t spend a lot of money on this, we have found thrift stores a great resource for western clothes and we have several local ones.
Yes, you are welcome to keep snacks in the staff lounge that is designated for you. Many people keep things in their personal mailboxes, and there is a refrigerator/freezer available in each staff lounge as well. Food should be clearly marked with your name. “Leftover” food that can spoil and unmarked food will be cleaned out by the hospitality team periodically throughout the week. We ask that no food be stored in cabins since our desert critters will take that as a sign that they are welcome!
Because of the non-stop action of the camp schedule and the shared spaces, there is a good possibility that a sickness may be passed around the staff. If you come down with a contagious sickness, you will probably be asked to stay in the cabins of “Dallas” or “Fort Worth”, our “sick bays”, until the First Aid team feels you are past the point of contagiousness. While you are there, you should consider “getting well” as your new full-time job and not view the sick room as an escape from undesirable circumstances in your work area.
We do keep a limited number of over-the-counter medicines on hand for the First Aid Provider to dispense to campers as needed. We suggest that you bring with you a few over-the-counter medicines that you think you are likely to need (ibuprofen or acetaminophen, cold/sinus medicines, cough drops, allergy medicines, etc.)
Barstow, CA, is about 30 minutes away from camp. Barstow has a Wal-Mart, grocery stores, dollar stores, and a small outlet mall where you can get things you need. There are also several restaurants there. Victorville is a little over an hour away, and is a good bit larger than Barstow. Victorville has even more variety in restaurants and shopping. Usually on weekends there are summer staff or resident staff members with cars who offer to bring people with them as they do their errands. We do ask that you be mindful of the fuel costs involved in asking someone to take you to town and help to share the gas money burden with them.
There are three laundry facilities designated for summer staff use. Each has multiple washers and dryers. We will let you know which facility you should use when you get here. The cost is $1.50 to wash and dry a load of laundry. So it may be a good idea to bring some quarters to get you started! This cost helps to defray the maintenance and upkeep costs of the laundry facilities.
On weekends or in staff lounges during your breaks, you may listen to approved music on your personal device. It is the summer staffers responsibility to listen to music that honors God. If you have questions, please feel free to ask before bringing your music to camp. We will spend a little time talking during staff training about how we have become a society that fills our days with “noise” and we will try to create an environment this summer that allows us to build relationships with each other and to hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit’s promptings.
You may watch movies on weekends, but once again, we ask that you abide by some guidelines: First, you should watch the movies in a public area, such as a staff lounge for your own testimony’s sake. Second, movies should be rated G or PG and not have been in theaters within the past 5 years. We recognize that some movies that will fall within this guideline may still be inappropriate for Christians to watch, and we ask you to use good judgment when bringing personal DVD or movie collections to camp. We usually have one or two staff movie nights where we play a movie on a large screen through our ClearPlay system for a larger audience to enjoy.
The types of shoes you will want to have depend on the jobs you will do. Our operations staff are required to wear closed-toed, closed-back shoes on the job. For operations staff and Leadership Live campers who will be working outside on the grounds or maintenance crews, work boots are strongly suggested. Counselors should plan to bring comfortable athletic shoes, some kind of western boots (if you happen to have some), and shoes that you would wear to the lake. For non-active times and evening services, most people enjoy wearing sandals or flip-flops. Be sure to bring shoes that you will need for Sundays. And don’t plan to walk around barefooted; the desert sun makes the glinting sand dangerously hot for your poor feet!
Our desert climate is warm and dry (as you might have guessed!). Plan for average daily high temperatures of about 103°. We try to structure our camper schedules so that we don’t do the most strenuous activities during the heat of the day. Because of the dry air, our nights and early mornings can cool down quite nicely (usually in the 70’s), enough that some people are glad to have a sweatshirt on hand. Leave your rain gear at home!
For our summer campers, we have separate swim times for guys and girls. We ask that our lady staff members wear colored shorts and a tank top with their swimsuits. For lifeguard training and for weekend staff swim times, guys and girls swim at the same time. Our counselors are trained in lifeguarding and CPR/first aid during our two weeks of staff training. Certified lifeguards are then put on a rotation to supervise summer staff swimming times on the weekends. As a point of trivia—our lake water is tested weekly and scores nearly as pure as our drinking water…which makes sense since it is filled from a well right next to our domestic water well. All water used for drinking and cooking is processed through a reverse osmosis system so it is just about like drinking bottled water right from the tap.
Although many use their phones or tablets as an electronic Bible, we will ask that you keep those in the staff lounges for counselors or your cabin for operations staff. You will need to bring a Bible (KJV, NKJV, NASB, ESV, CSB) for counseling our campers. You may bring other versions for your personal study if you prefer.
We will have Wi-Fi available on weekends in all of the staff lounges. You may access the internet and keep up with all of your social media on our wi-fi although there may be some limitations during the week. It may result in some withdrawal symptoms during staff training, but we’ll help you through it! Be sure to send the Prayer List Form to any friends or family who want our weekly camp email with praises and prayer requests.
We will give you more details during staff training, but we love your family and friends to come and see Ironwood while you are here. The weekends are the time that works best. You will not have free time during the week to host guests and often there are no empty cabins for them to stay in while campers are here. On the weekends, if you reserve a cabin ahead of time, we have some very nice accommodations for your guests with linens provided in a small cottage much like a hotel room. There is a fee for this level of lodging. If you have guests who are willing and able to sleep in a bunk bed and bring their own linens we can work it out for them to stay in a camper bunkhouse with our summer staff counselors at no charge. The cost of meals will be explained during staff training. Our registration office is able to help with reservations and the communication to all the departments (hospitality and food service) when we will have guests on the property.
We would encourage you to bring your instruments with you, especially the counselors. If you have one let us know right away so that we can look into special music options. The staff lounges are locked at night but if you have an extremely valuable instrument it is probably best to leave that at home. The wide temperature fluctuations and low humidity are often hard on delicate instruments.
Click Here for Guys Dress Guidelines
Click Here for Girls Dress Guidelines