The Chamberlains

A Caretaker Family Working Together

Interests: Pilot, building aircraft, ham radio, chess, reading, sports, crafts, camping, hiking, and dancing.

The Chamberlains (father Les, son Richard, and daughter-in-law Earleen) are a family that work together as Hosts/Campground Managers for the U.S. Forest Service. Working out of Garden Valley, Idaho, they are responsible for caretaking an area spread out over a 50 mile radius throughout the Boise National Forest, covering 21 campsites.

The campsites are nestled amid tall Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir trees, surrounded by picturesque mountains. Hot Springs and Boiling Springs are fed by underground geothermal springs where the water temperature reaches 180 degrees at the source.

Each morning they check in at the ranger station for weather conditions and campground reservations. Their duties include collecting money from fee boxes ($400 to $500 per week across 21 campgrounds), bookkeeping, checking water supply hand pumps, and constantly watching for forest fires. They are never without their two way radio.

Les, a former test engineer at Rocketdyne, has designed, built and flown both airplanes and helicopters. He loves interacting with the variety of people he meets each day. “We meet every walk of life, and we particularly enjoy meeting the many foreign nationalities that come through here.”