Olympic Fields was first naturist resort on the United States west coast. The nudist movie Elysia, Valley of the Nude was filmed on site of this early nudist camp. Hobart Grassey and his wife Laura leased the land in 1933 for a resort they called Elysia. A year later they purchased an additional 300 acres about 3 miles away and moved the operation of Elysia to the new location and called it Olympic Fields. 1Nudism was norm at Olympic Fields
The camp was a rustic with cabins without electrical hookups.2Nudism was norm at Olympic Fields
Deep in the Cleveland National Forest, high above Lake Elsinore on the border of Orange and Riverside counties, there is a winding road called Ortega Highway. Although it is only 40 or so miles from Los Angeles, it feels like another world — A couple of turns take you to the entrance of a dirt road, rutted and deserted. An old, vandalized sign indicates that you are entering a place named Mystic Oaks. A short drive down the road, you hit what looks like the entrance to an abandoned camp — chicken-wire gate, a wooden sign for Mystic Oaks, KEEP OUT and BEWARE OF DOG postings. Behind the gates, there is no one, just the remnants of wooden buildings and scurrying lizards. Despite its current foreboding feel, for more than 70 years this secluded camp was the refuge of pioneering nudists who danced, sunbathed and played naked in the dusty sun. 3THE RISE AND FALL OF A NUDIST COLONY THAT SCANDALIZED L.A. IN THE 1930S
Also see Elysia Valley of the Nude
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