Adventure awaits: Ziplines, paintball part of outdoor attraction

By Jay Shenai

It’s an offer that’s difficult to refuse: guaranteed gold in every pan. But for prospectors who make their way to Camp Dakota’s Lucky Strike Mine, anyone willing to stake a $5 “claim” can score treasures of all sorts, including gold, amethyst, crystals and Native American artifacts.

Panning for gold is what he did with his father in eastern Oregon as a child, said John Winslow, 41, owner and operator of the 45-acre campground and recreation area. And it’s one of the many things visitors can do during their stay.

“Everyone finds something at Camp Dakota,” he said.

Campers find a variety of sites, including areas with RV hook-ups, yurts and even teepees.

“Our specialty is basically group and family camping,” he said.

However, they also discover activities for campers and visitors including an 18-hole Frisbee golf course, 12 miles of trails for ATV enthusiasts and a 5-acre paintball range, as well as a track to race remote-control cars.

For the daring, there’s even a ropes course and a zipline. Visitors suspended high in the air can dance from tree-to-tree along a series of ropes, or they can zip across the pond. Trained and certified staff members are onsite to guide guests across the dizzying heights.

What Winslow has discovered at Camp Dakota is a chance to indulge his lifelong love of the outdoors. The former Christmas tree farm 9 miles from Scotts Mills has been in his family since 1969. Fourteen years ago, he left a job as an alignment and brake technician to turn the property into an outdoor playground for campers of all ages.

“They say you should do what you love,” he said.

Not that it hasn’t been difficult.

“There was an awful lot of sacrifice from my family” as they grew the business, he said. All the trails, roads and plumbing were done by Winslow himself, or with contractor consultation.

His wife works evenings and weekends at the camp, as do his two boys, Dakota, 16, and Houston, 12.

What began in 1997 as a labor of love has grown today into an enterprise with 12 employees and a level of service to campers that you won’t get at a typical state park, he said.

The camp attracts roughly 20,000 people a year, Winslow said.

Camp Dakota is a ways from civilization. According to Winslow, it is 17 miles to the nearest grocery store.

But it’s also close enough to entice vacationers with limited travel budgets. High gas prices have not kept the customers away, he said.

“Actually, it’s been positive for our business, because people can’t afford to go to some of those more farther-away places,” he said.

A lot of people choose to take vacations at or near home, or “staycations,” he said. For them, the camp is the perfect getaway, he said.

Ironically, Winslow said he doesn’t have much time for personal vacations these days. Running the camp is a full-time job.  But for someone who enjoys the outdoors as much as he does, it’s hard to feel stuck at work.