After the close of the original Camp Lilienthal in San Francisco’s Stern Grove area in 1925 due to lack of funds, the San Francisco Council was still in need of a permanent all weather camp that was local to the San Francisco area.  Its new summer training camp in Cazadero (Camp Royaneh) was too far away for weekend use and was not suitable during the winter months.  This need for a new permanent camp though would last from 1925 until 1929 when the estate of William Kent was offered to the San Francisco Council.  The 27 acre property was located in Marin County above the town of Fairfax and already consisted of a main house, swimming pool as well as a few guest quarters.  The property was surrounded by open land and had direct access to some nearby lakes and many hiking trails of Mt Tamalpais.  

William Kent, who died in 1928, was a well-known philanthropist as well as a United States Congressman.  In 1908 it was William Kent who donated 295 acres of his real estate holdings at the urging of John Muir to the Federal Government to create the Muir Woods National Monument.  Those 295 acres on the southern slopes of Mt Tamalpais in an area known as Redwood Canyon contained a 1300 year old virgin redwood forest.  The town of Kentfield located about five miles east of his estate is named after his family.

In April of 1929, John McGregor and Max P Lilienthal acting as trustees for the San Francisco Boy Scouts purchased the Kent Estate for $22,000 for use as their new scout camp.  Max Lilienthal was the uncle of Jesse Lilienthal, the first President of the San Francisco Council.  The Scouts would once again name the camp “Lilienthal” in honor of Jesse W.  Lilienthal the first Council President.  So there actually were two Camp Lilienthal’s (the first one located in San Francisco from 1919 until 1925 and the second one located in Marin County from 1929 until 1973.)

The new Scout camp consisted of the Administrative Building, the Morley hospital (named after Fred William Morley, a camper that died in a mountaineering accident at Yosemite), a scout craft building, a ranger’s cottage and a large swimming pool.  The swimming pool was called the McGregor pool (after John McGregor, the third President of the San Francisco Council).  The Lilienthal Administrative Building contained the main house, a kitchen, a rifle range and a vegetable house out back.  The rifle range for the camp was actually located in the basement of the main house beneath the mess hall.  Later additions to the camp would include a pool house and small cabins that were built and maintained by Troops 2, 37, 69, 85, 88, 93, 95, 104 and 234.  The entrance to the camp was located on one of the turns of Bolinas Road and did not provide very good visibility.  After the camp was sold in the 1970’s the City of Fairfax required that the new owners move the entrance to the property up the road by a few hundred feet.  However while it was a scout camp, the road into camp went past the rangers cabin and ended in front of the Admin building.

In the early years the scouts would catch a ferry boat from San Francisco and disembark in Sausalito.  From Sausalito they would then take a train over to the town of Fairfax where their camping equipment would be loaded onto trucks and driven to camp.  The Scouts would hike the 2 miles from the Fairfax train station up Bolinas Road to the camp location.

During the 1930's there was an annual Mothers' Day gathering at Camp Lilienthal for all Scouts, Scouters, and their families.  At this gathering there were picnics, races and the opportunity to swim in the large pool.  As each family entered the camp they were greeted by the Camp Director who was standing on a wooden stage which was located near the entrance to the camp.  Joe Ehrman III (future Distinguished Eagle Scout Recipient) visited Camp Lilienthal on one of those early gatherings before he was a Scout, as his family was the guest of Hilda and Max Lilienthal.  On one of those occasions, Joe was introduced to Raymond Hanson, the beloved San Francisco Scout Executive.  Hanson offered Joe the Boy Scout Handshake, but little Joe objected, saying he was not a Boy Scout.  Hanson replied to Joe "But you will be!”  Never-the-less Joe still got a handshake from Mr.  Hanson.

By 1935 the San Francisco council was in a sound financial position to pay off the remaining $5,000 mortgage on Camp Lilienthal thus making the property owned free and clear.  That same year Camp Lilienthal also served over 3389 Scouts during the weekends and 1127 Scouts during summer sessions.

In 1946, the program director at Camp Lilienthal (Dick Hacke) led a group of Scouts on a 65 mile trek from Camp Lilienthal over to Camp Moore (Royaneh) in Sonoma County.  The Scouts took four days to complete this trek using both trails and secondary roads to make their way.  

By 1947 after almost twenty years of use as a scout camp, Lilienthal was in need of some major repairs before the camp could open for the 1948 season.  The old wooden walk-in ice box/refrigerator was condemned by the City of Fairfax and had to be removed.  Concrete bulkheads had to be added to the Camp Office and the vocational building.  A garage needed to be built to protect the council truck and other equipment.  Fire suppression equipment such as hoses, fire lines and other safety provisions had to be added to the camp.  The total cost of the repairs was estimated to be around $10,000.  The council considered mortgaging the camp and borrowing the money but ultimately agreed to borrow the $10,000 on a deed of trust which was carried out on April 4, 1947 by Wells Fargo Bank with an immediate loan of $6,000.  This loan allowed the council to install a new state of the art electric refrigerator, build eight new troop shelters, construct a combination storage shed and garage as well as make the other required upgrades.

Being the all year weather camp, Lilienthal was used for many different activities throughout the year including conferences, planning meetings, troop day hikes, Order of the Arrow ordeals and even conclaves.  In 1952 Royaneh Lodge used Camp Lilienthal to induct a new lodge into the Order of the Arrow.  Members from the Mt Diablo Council’s newly founded Oo-Yum Buli Lodge held their first ceremony at Lilienthal.  In the early 1960’s the Rangers house which was a two-story log cabin built out of Redwoods was condemned and torn down.  In 1963 the Morley memorial hospital was dismantled due to its deteriorating condition.  The front meeting room and the fireplace of the hospital were the only parts that could be salvaged and these areas were rebuilt into a restroom and lounge.  Also, due to the changing philosophy of camping it was not necessary to have a building specific to a hospital since the nearby town of Ross had a full service general hospital.

In May of 1964, three months after the San Francisco Council and the Oakland Area Council merged, the new Roland E Dye rangers cottage at Camp Lilienthal was dedicated in honor of Roland Dye, the former San Francisco Scout Exec who died in 1962.  Roland Dye began his scouting career in Bakersfield when he started Troop 1 in Bakersfield.  Dye’s assistant Scoutmaster at that time was Arthur Myer (California’s First Eagle Scout and future Scoutmaster of San Francisco’s Troop 17).  In the 1920’s Roland Dye became Scout Exec for the Kern County Council as well as the Regional Scout Exec in the 1950's.  In 1960 though, Roland Dye took over the position of the San Francisco Scout Exec on a temporary basis until a Scout Exec could be located following the departure of San Francisco Scout Exec Oscar Alverson.

With the merging of the two councils, the San Francisco Bay Area Council now had six camps to operate and maintain.  In 1973 due to fewer Scouts using the camp, the encroachment of new housing around the property and the cost to operate so many camps, it was decided to close two of the council camps that had the least amount of use.  Although it was a difficult decision by the board, it was decided that both Camp Lilienthal and Camp Loomer would close.  Two years after Lilienthal closed in 1973 and forty-six years after it opened as a Scout camp, the property and buildings were sold for $150,000 to the Islamic Society of California.

In 2010, thirty-seven years after its last campfire, a number of the Scout buildings still remain standing including the Roland E.  Dye rangers cottage, the Admin building and the John McGregor swimming pool and pool house.  The main road into camp was moved about a 300 yards up the street and now the entrance is next to the Admin Building.  The pool house is now dilapidated and the pool itself is now green with algae and has been turned into a giant pond for Koi fish.  The foundations for the Troop cabins and BBQ pits could still be found as well as downed power lines and lights attached to the trees.  Although Camp Lilienthal is gone it certainly is not forgotten by the thousands of Scouts that used the camp over the years.