Emandal – A Farm on a River

In 1908, Em and Al Byrnes opened up their home to friends who wished to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life. All the fruits and vegetables served were grown on the farm, as were the meat and eggs. Em baked all the bread. Since 1946, the Adams family has continued the tradition of country vacations with farm-grown and home-cooked meals. Today Tamara Adams, following in the footsteps of her in-laws, Clive and Jessie Adams, and her late husband, Clive Adams, Jr., operates Emandal’s Family Camp in the summer, Environmental Education for school groups in the spring, and hosts groups, workshops and other special events throughout the year. On arrival, you’ll find redwood cabins beneath towering Douglas firs and mighty Madrones, complete with cozy down quilts, a large light-filled commercial kitchen, lovely young folks working diligently, a flower-infused vegetable garden, farm animals, chairs in the shade of the old apple trees, hammocks in which to lie, star-studded night-time skies, shapely rocks on which to enjoy the summer sun, or from which to jump into the cool clear water of the Eel River, and colorful lines of laundry along the fence, waving in the afternoon breeze. But Emandal is more than a place on the map, a destination to which families journey in the summer. Emandal is an attitude. Emandal goes beyond playing in the river or putting on campfire skits or triumphing in Trivial Pursuits. It’s a community! Generations of families and friends have been coming to Emandal each summer for over 100 years, always learning just a bit more about the other.