History

Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts, personally established just one camp in her lifetime – this one. She came to this place by mule team in 1921, explored the flat mountaintop on foot, and found a place of great natural beauty, with a rock swimming hole and boulder-strewn hillside. The Ledbetter brothers, who had offered her 10 acres of their northwest Georgia land for her project, truly wished to keep the swimming hole for themselves, but Mrs. Low declared firmly, “The rocks it will be or nothing.” And so Camp Juliette Low began– on the founder’s terms– and so it has remained.

From the first, Camp Juliette Low was a place for girls and young women to develop confidence and prepare for leadership responsibilities. Its original purpose, in fact, was to train Girl Scout leaders while providing a wilderness camping experience for younger girls. It was eminently successful in both purposes, attracting several hundred campers each summer.

While CJL retains friendly ties with the Girl Scouts, it became an independent nonprofit camp in the 1930s. It is currently managed by a board of trustees, many of whom were CJL campers and staff in their youth.

The original 10 acre tract has grown to about 330 acres and now includes a long stretch of the East Fork of the Little River, a lake, a white pine forest, and many other natural attractions. On CJL’s northern and eastern borders, the State of Georgia owns over 1000 acres of forests and fields that has been set aside as a wildlife management area.

Camp Juliette Low is on the National Register of Historic Places and is accredited by the American Camp Association.

If you are interested in learning more about Camp Juliette Low's story, a book outlining CJL's history is available for purchase. It was published in 2024 after camp's 100th anniversary celebration. They are $15 per book (shipping included). If interested, please email the camp business office at info@cjl.org.