Locations
Camp Locations
Lutherhaven Ministries is blessed with three magnificent sites. Together, Camp Lutherhaven on the lake, Shoshone Mountain Retreat up the river, and McPherson Meadows on the wild side provide Christian camp and retreat programming year-round for over 13,500 “campers” annually: kids, teens, adults, families, and groups from all over the region, across the nation, and around the world.
With gracious hospitality, excellent facilities, welcoming staff, and activities for everyone, we can’t wait to serve you at camp!
Click here for directions to Shoshone Mountain Retreat
Click here for directions to Camp Lutherhaven
Location History
In 1945, a group of area Lutherans cobbled together a $500 deposit to purchase Camp Lutherhaven’s original 16 acres on Lake Coeur d’Alene’s Mica Bay, priced at $2500. Six separate land purchases brought Lutherhaven to its current 60 acres. Who would have imagined the camp would grow to be among the largest and most beautifully located Christian camps in the nation! Camp Lutherhaven can accommodate up to 280 guests.
Then, in 1998, Lutherhaven acquired a special permit from the United States Forest Service to operate Shoshone Work Center, a “gem in the wilderness” up the beautiful North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River. In 2009, after two Acts of Congress and a bill signed into law by President George Bush, Lutherhaven was able to purchase what’s now Shoshone Mountain Retreat & Ranch, 35 acres on two rivers in the Bitterroot Mountains, surrounded by 3 1/2 million acres of national forests. The camp is also home to Lutherhaven’s Shoshone Creek Ranch.
The Ranch’s signature building, the McPherson Homestead, was hand-built by legendary Frank McPherson in the 1920’s and ‘30’s from trees killed in the Great Fire of 1910 that still show fire scars from that blaze. McPherson did all the work himself, using a team of two horses to lift the squared logs into place. Lutherhaven disassembled the homestead and rebuilt it at Shoshone Creek Ranch, where the historic building serves as the ranch’s main gathering place. Stream-side tent cabins open onto Shoshone Creek and provide camper housing. The old-fashion canvas wall tents include covered porches, cozy furnishings, and cots for sleeping comfort. McPherson’s two 1920’s hand-hewn log barns were combined to build the Bunkhouse — a great place to swap stories with new friends, laugh late into the night, share in a Bible study, and imprint forever memories on young hearts and minds — all under the supervision of ranch staff. Hand crafted log beds compliment the upstairs-downstairs camper cabin.
In 2019, Lutherhaven Ministries added the stunning McPherson Meadows to its family of camps, thanks to the unbelievable, unforeseen property of Ray and Eleanor Grannis and additional land and retreat house purchased with the generous financial support of the Grannises and two passionate camp benefactors. McPherson is camp on the wild side–adjacent to 60,000 acres of natural areas, on blue ribbon Tepee Creek, and at the trailhead of the Coeur d’Alene River National Scenic Recreation Trail. McPherson is set up for small groups of up to 18, with full, “off the grid” amenities.