Considering sending our kid to first "away from home for a week" summer camp. Looking at Sky Ranch, Pine Cove, Ozark etc. Anyone have any feedback or experiences on any of them that they would be willing to pass on?

My daughter is 9 years old.

Thanks

Went to Pine Cove from the time I was 8 or 9 through high school, then was a counselor there after my freshman year in college. It really is an incredible place, the leadership is amazing, and all the counselors are fantastic. Cannot recommend it enough.

Ozark is amazing. It is a 2 week session and I am not sure how much space would be left.

Pine Cove is a good start for overnight camp.

Have to round out the thumbs ups and put in a good word for Sky Ranch. Went there for many years from age 9 and up. Looked forward to it all year long. Don't think you can go wrong with any of the ones you mention, though.

Thanks. We have her going to Sky Ranch this year. Our 6 year old is doing the Pine Cove in the City program for a week. She has been to Sky Ranch with the YMCA Adventure Princesses and has a couple of girlfriends from school in her session. We thought the familiarity and friends going would be a good way to ease our way into it.

Thanks again for the feedback on all of this.

My kids like Sky Ranch quite a bit. Pine Cove, Kanukuk, Ozark are other religiously based mainstream options. People rave about Kanukuk but maybe you get a bit more out of it since it costs so much. The other three options seem quite fine.

The "cool kids" camp is Longhorn.

catfan said:

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The "cool kids" camp is Longhorn.

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Only if they teach you how to use a hand saw and allow you to practice

oldag941 said:

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Thanks. We have her going to Sky Ranch this year. Our 6 year old is doing the Pine Cove in the City program for a week. She has been to Sky Ranch with the YMCA Adventure Princesses and has a couple of girlfriends from school in her session. We thought the familiarity and friends going would be a good way to ease our way into it.

Thanks again for the feedback on all of this.

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Can't say enough about Camp in the City. My daughter (Aggie Class of '17) has been on staff with Camp in the City and it is a wonderful program. Those into this should look for a church hosting Camp in the City close to them. Great way to start off the younger ones.

Wes '87

Has Kanakuk recovered from their "Paterno" incident? I was a camper right in the middle of all that. tbh I have no idea how that all got sorted in the end. I know they directly contacted me for information which I thought was odd.

culdeus said:

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Has Kanakuk recovered from their "Paterno" incident? I was a camper right in the middle of all that. tbh I have no idea how that all got sorted in the end. I know they directly contacted me for information which I thought was odd.

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Yes. They paid some cash iirc and the guy went to jail.

I mean my Kanakuk experience was great, but I mean holy crap it's jesusy to the extreme. And that was 25 years ago or whatever. I can only imagine that it's gotten even more that way with the demographic shifts.

If they had camp that was a little lighter on the Jesus stuff I'd consider it for my kids. There are plenty of great options without that. Longhorn/Stewart are great options if you have the cash. It's super spendy any way you cut it and I know it's getting less and less popular to do the camps that go more than one week anyways, this is why Pine Cove is so successful imo. On a per day level PC is super spendy, but you can stomach it because it's just 7 days.

jake2011 said:

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When there aren't prices on the website you know it is bad. My niece went to Mystic a month every month. When my brother told me how much it cost I almost spit up my food.

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A bunch of it is opportunity cost that's baked in. One of the Stewart owners had a 1/2 acre on the river for sale. I didn't hear what it sold for. These camps are several hundred acres and the land alone are probably worth in the 100 Million range. I wouldn't be shocked if you told me Waldemar wasn't worth a 1/4 billion.

Ozarks is great, owned by an old ag.
Sky Ranch and Pine Cove are also great.
T Bar M was good back in the day.
Sent my kids to Camp in the City when they were younger, and they enjoyed it.

I am sending my kids to Kanakuk this summer. Expensive, but worth it.