When they were young, we loved taking our boys to Camp CedarRidge. Great staff, excellent…read moreprogramming, Christ-centered. Mike Rauch, the camp director, has made our connection to camp even better. One of our sons completed his Eagle Scout project at camp by building a set of railroad tie steps in a hillside. Now we serve on staff and value the fellowship and camaraderie.

From the owner: Located in the middle of Huron National Forest in Oscoda, MI, Camp CedarRidge allows kids to unplug…read moreand make memories that last a lifetime. For 75 years, our goal has been to help campers grow closer to Christ and form lasting friendships. Whether attending an overnight camp, day camp, or wilderness adventure trip, your camper will have a one of a kind experience, cultivating his or her independence, exploring new skills, and learning how to bring Christ into every aspect of life.

Loooooooove Camp Barakel so much. We have had many great weekends here while enjoying couples and…read morefamily retreats. This is a Christian camp, and they preach God's Word and apply it in a meaningful way. They tell about God's grace and Jesus's forgiveness, and bring it full circle to teach about improving and healing relationships. Every time we have attended, we have been blessed by it. Thank you!!!!! They are on a beautiful spring-fed lake, and there are tons of activities and opportunities to get back to nature. And as a true Yelper I can honestly attest: The food is good, too! Some of the sleeping accommodations are more rustic than some newer ones, but they are in the process of renovating every cabin, as I understand. The newer lodges are really nice!! I'm sure they can fully fill you in about where you would stay if you call. Life is simple here and it provides an opportunity to focus on what is most important. I have huge respect for their dedicated staff. They treat others with such love, and you can feel an attitude that demonstrates their care and dedication in their ministry. I have seen their worship leaders gracefully serving others as staff in the dining hall. There is a lot of walking involved. My dad went with a walker and could get around, but some places were a little harder than others, and a few were just too hard. There are two camps, one on each side of the lake, so they can run two different camps at once, or one big camp. I also love singing hymns in chapel, especially Ancient Words. It really sums up what they are trying to do here. Holy words long preserved for our walk in this world, They resound with God's own heart Oh let the ancient words impart. Words of Life, words of Hope Give us strength, help us cope In this world, where e'er we roam Ancient words will guide us Home. Ancient words ever true Changing me and changing you, We have come with open hearts Oh let the ancient words impart. This is not just a summer camp or a lake getaway. Barakel means "The place where God has blessed" and we have encountered Him here. Barakel is not fancy, but it's real, and I mean that in deepest and best sense of the word.

I just spent a weekend fishing while at a Christian Men's Retreat at Camp Barakel in Fairview, Mi…read more(near Mio in Oscoda County), and I wanted to blog my experience because I could find no fishing information for the camp's privately owned Shear Lake. https://www.bing.com/maps?q=shear+lake+michigan&FORM=HDRSC4 https://www.campbarakel.org/ Shear Lake is a shallow, clear water, spring fed lake with a sandy bottom and sparse aquatic vegetation. The perimeter of the lake is peppered with many lay downs of fallen trees. While staying at Camp Barakel, the campground provided small rowboats, canoes, kayaks, and paddle boats for recreational use. At peak times of the day, there can be a lot of campers using the small lake, so fisherman will need to be patient with the recreational users who are attempting to paddle around it. Prior to fishing on Shear Lake, the only fishing information that I could find was that the lake contained Blue Gills. Having fished the lake last fall and this spring, I can verify that Shear Lake has Large Mouth Bass, Rock Bass, Perch (some are jumbo size, being12 inches or larger), and Blue Gills. The lake is rumored to have Pike, but I am not aware of any being caught. Although the lake may contain only a few lunkers (last fall, I failed to set the hook with a weedless frog on what was probably around a four pound bass), the overall Large Mouth Bass fishing seems to be quite good. Some 16 to 18 inch bass were caught while while standing on the docks. Even though the lake has sparse vegetation, the lake's shallowness makes it easy for lures that come in contact with it's sandy bottom to constantly pick up clumps of plant material and algae. Also, it's easy to get hung up on the many branches and tree trunks that line the shore. Consequently, weedless lures (like a Texas-rigged soft plastic worms), plus mid-water and top-water lures (which are fished away from the shore) work well. I caught ten Large Mouth Bass (12 to 16 inches) and one Rock Bass last weekend on a Texas-rigged soft plastic worm. Some had good luck using spinners or top water lures that worked in the mildly windy conditions, like Jitterbugs. Others had good luck with live baits such as Big Red Worms or Minnows. Last fall, I had some luck swimming small curly tail jigs, but I now now prefer to drag Texas-rigged worms along the lake's bottom, near the many fallen trees.

I LOVE CLLL. There are sooo many activities and all the Staff are very nice, the campers are too…read more 10/10 Camp.

I went to this camp in 2017-18 (can't remember which exactly) but I ended up leaving early because…read moreas someone with pre-existing anxiety, the camp traumatized me. My friends would rave about how fun it is so I decided one year when I was maybe 11-12 that I would go. Now I'm 18 and still scarred from it. I will say, aside from the weird things they did there, it was a fun camp, but not worth the lifelong trauma. First of all, when eating in the cafeteria, if you accidentally chewed with your mouth open, you would get called out by all the other kids and counsellors and made to go under the table and scream "I'm a piggly wiggly" to which everyone would respond with "what?" and repeated at least once or twice. There's another instance of this where if you put your elbows on the table even if for a split second, again, you'd get called out and you'd have to do a lap or two around the cafeteria while people chanted a humiliating song at you. Another thing they did which to this day turned me away from Christianity was take us to the field saying we were playing a game, and proceeding to chase after everyone while dressed in all black with black makeup talking about how "Satan is our God" to which you'd have to respond with why God is our savior and not Satan. As an 11 year old who thinks we're about to play a fun game like "Steal the Bacon" or whatever, the outcome scared me half to death and when I cried from being terrified, I was taken to the church and given Oreos as compensation. Great, right? Anyways, I don't know if any of this has changed within the past few years, as I obviously never went back, but I sure hope it has. What I do know now is that they're teaching kids how to play poker if you care about that at all.

My grandsons have been going to this camp for several years and they have been transformed with…read moreconfidence and care for others! I cannot say enough wonderful things about the camp in their staff. Recently, we discovered a glitch in registering a family. The Camp staff knocked themselves out in order to provide a space for a child in need. I cannot say enough about the professionalism and integrity of the camp staff and everyone related to Lake Louise Christian Community!

From the owner: Summer Camp Programmingread more

Addyson was the perfect trail guide the farm has the most amazing vibe. There were chickens,…read morekittens ponies perfect place to take your family for a trail ride and play with the animals. Can't Addison took a wait to go back again!

My husband and I came for a ride on 10/4/25 and had the best time! The owners were very friendly,…read morethe horses were the sweetest! The property was beautiful! We can't wait to come back!

First, let me say that the Midland Community Center offers a very large range of activities...two…read morepools (lap pool and a large family pool), basketball courts, weight room, racquetball courts...there is definitely a lot to do at the MCC. However, in the past few years they have made visiting completely cost-prohibitive. Do you like to swim to stay in shape? It will cost you $40 a month...and the pool is only open for a few select hours each day for open swim (seriously...go look at their schedule and try to figure out when you can and cannot swim). That, and their lap pool only has 5 lanes, and there were multiple occasions where I had to share lanes with up to 4 people at a time. What if you just want to drop in and run around the track? $7 A DAY. You do get access to their weight room, too, but for $3 more you could just get a MONTHLY membership at Planet Fitness. All membership plans also require an "auto-draft joining fee" of about $100. So, if money isn't an issue and you like to stay in shape, definitely check this place out. However, if you're working with a tight budget, try one of the other gyms in the area, because MCC is one of the most expensive ways to stay in shape in the area, and there are better options out there for far less money

It's a great place however the prices are insane. Having lived in Hawaii and New Jersey I paid 30 a…read moremonth at 24 hour fitness or LA Fitness and this was with childcare all day (9am-8pm) at the community center for north end it's 60 a month with childcare only in the morning, and 90 a month for the other location with more accommodating hours. I'm sorry but that is just too much.

Had a lot of fun kayaking, awesome place to enjoy a peaceful Sunday morning! Owners were very…read morefriendly and the prices are great!!

HIGHLY RECOMMED! The owners are very nice and very accommodating. We've been to Paddle Brave 3x's,…read morewe tent the first time and rented Cabin #3 last two times HIGHLY recommend! We rented it again for this Memorial Holiday weekend 5/2026.

I would recommend Expressions in Motion not only for their amazing dance and gymnastics…read moreinstruction, but also for the integrity in which they conduct their business. Expressions in Motions owner, Theresa B., works hard to keep her classes, apparel and recital costs affordable. The close attention paid to providing excellent service at an affordable cost that has enabled me to allow my daughter to explore her love of dance and gymnastics. Expressions in Motion not only provides an awesome environment that children can go to to work on their gymnastic and dance skills, as well as build their self-esteem, listening and direction following skills, but also I place that I can feel good about sending my child to.

I highly recommend Expressions in Motion Dance and Gymnastics Studio for anyone in the Bay City…read morearea who would like their children to learn to dance or tumble. Miss Theresa Baker is a wonderful, kind, caring, patient teacher and my children love her. The classes are affordable and the class sizes are small. It's a wonderful, caring environment in which children can learn.