There are some places in the country where people just breathe the spirit of Christmas. A place that has the wonder, the family atmosphere, and, of course, Santa Claus. In the 1950s, Santa's Village opened in southern California with the idea of bringing Christmas year round. A touching video of the original Santa's Village can be viewed here. One patron reminisces in a review of Santa’s Village, "Oh...how I remember this place. Going in the snow, building snowmen while waiting to get on a ride. The wonder of it all when you're just a young kid."
For a while, it was successful, however it eventually went bankrupt after a couple of decades. It was then bought by Pamela and Putty Henck, who expanded the park with rides, horseback and nature trails. It stayed in business until 1998. It was originally going to be brought back to life by a new owner, but it was not to be. A fire in 2003 destroyed much of the area and some of the property; however a lot of the historic structures were saved by the local fire agencies.
Now, the park has returned and, soon, it will have a full hookup RV park to allow people to take advantage of even more amenities than ever before. The park is called SkyPark at Santa's Village and is owned by Bill and Michelle Johnson. There is a little bit of everything at the park - top of the line bike trails, climbing walls, ice skating, ziplining, ax throwing, and, of course, Santa!
Ginger bread house in the Christmas themed park [Photo/SkyPark Santa’s Village]
Bill Johnson says, "Bringing Santa back to his Village is also very important to us. He is why we are here in the first place! Santa is at the Park all year. He will be actively participating in our outdoor activities. Every year, SkyPark at Santa’s Village transforms into a dazzling Christmas Wonderland. Experience the nostalgia of an ‘Old World Christmas in the Woods’ with your family and friends and create memories that will last a lifetime."
Johnson and his wife, Michelle, were looking for property to open a Mountain Bike/ Recreational Park in the area. "We both were raised in Lake Arrowhead and wanted to stay close to home but we were looking for a greater challenge with our career," says Johnson. "Michelle has years of experience in design and construction and I am a developer and Real Estate Broker. With two daughters the idea of creating a family park for all ages just seemed natural for us and we chose to buy the original Santa’s Village located just outside the Lake Arrowhead community in Skyforest, CA."
Once they brought the park, they set out to create the bike trails they wanted, as well as keeping the spirit of Christmas at the park alive. They have shows and events that include Santa and his faithful dog, Arrow, as well as a host of other characters. Having a setting in the mountains adds to the wonder of the park. Open year round, it has activities that correspond to each of the seasons, such as a lot of biking in the summer and in the winter you will see it transform into a winter wonderland. "It is magical all year round," adds Johnson.
The development of a campground is a natural result of expansion for the park. "There are no campgrounds in the area that cater to guests and, because it takes the average visitor 1-2 hours to drive to SkyPark, a campground makes sense," Johnson tells The Buzz. The Campground/RV park sites sit opposite to the “Rim of the World” scenic Hwy 18. The views from the campsites are amazing as they span across all of Southern California. You can see the entire Inland Empire, Saddleback Mountain and in the distance on clear days the Pacific Ocean including Catalina Island.
The campground was not easy to build due to all the building codes in California and San Bernardino County. "It is not your ideal place to develop new ideas," recalls Johnson, "Fortunately with cooperation by the community and sheer will, the campground is being completed with 70 RV sites, all with 50 amp service, sewer hookups and water." The campground will be open in the beginning months of 2020.
Johnson notes that it is important to keep the history of the park alive, but also find ways to change with the times. Nowadays, families like to be active together. So giving families opportunities to do that in the beautiful mountains of southern California is one of the ways to accomplish that. And camping adds another American favorite to the mix. So gear up and check out the new RV campground in Skyforest, California. Who knows? Your camping neighbor might just happen to be Santa Claus.