Camp Bluefields was built in 1910 as a training academy and rifle range for the National Guard. Above-ground tunnels made of thick concrete were constructed to protect people traversing across the shooting range by artillery falling from above. By 1913, problems arose as the bullets rained down upon the residents of Grand View On Hudson, and after multiple complaints and fires, it was shut down. From 1913 to 1918, it was used by the New York YWCA as a womens camp, then it returned to its use as a training camp in 1918 in preparation for World War I.
After the first war ended, the facility closed for good and the National Guard moved the training facility to Camp Smith in Cortlandt. The Palisades Interstate Park Commission took control of the property and called it Blauvelt State Park (the family name of the original property owners before 1910), and demolished all of the buildings on the site except for the tunnel system.
