Camp David, Maryland

Camp David is the famous federal Presidential retreat located in Catoctin Mountain Park, near Thurmont, Maryland, 60 miles by helicopter from Washington DC. Built as a WPA project in the 1930s, the retreat was converted to exclusive presidential use by FDR in 1942, who called it Shangri La. The rustic cabins at the camps have been replaced over the years with semi-rustic-looking bungalows that have the luxuries demanded of heads of state. Approximately 50 buildings are on site, clustered around the highest point in the park, including a large helicopter hangar, within a 125 acre fenced area, designated as Department of Defense property within the park. Reports about the extent of the underground bunkers at Camp David vary, but there is known to be an underground communications center and a VIP bomb shelter, constructed in 1959. The surrounding park is open to the public, and has a few other camps with clusters of buildings, some clearly in use by military personnel, such as the sailors and marines that protect and maintain Camp David. Camp David is six miles south of the Raven Rock facility, the primary underground operations center for the Department of Defense, capable of housing more than a thousand people underground.