We stayed at Forest Dunes for two nights and played Forest Dunes and The Loop - both courses are in…read moregreat shape!! It was also really fun that my husband and I got to play both rounds by ourselves, which almost never happens, so bonus!! The Bootleegger Bar is such a fun spot on the property - really enjoyed having a drink out there! We stayed in their lodge. The accommodations were adequate, but in need of an update. It's a beautiful secluded property, and I wouldn't hesitate to visit again, but the lodge rooms need some "vision". The staff were very helpful and welcoming throughout our stay. The pro shop is great! Whoever does their buying is doing an amazing job!! :).

Courses were good but play was slow. Bring your bug spray, but it probably won't help! Where they…read morereally failed was the customer experience. Everything closed early our entire trip due to them being slow and not being able to justify the employee expense is what we were told. Food came out cold and took forever to get to the table. Looking elsewhere next round. Once a year golf trip that could have been better with some simple customer service.

So last night, one of my best friends and I were discussing how customer-service is pretty much…read moredead today. Well, I'm very happy to say that it isn't dead! Dan & Lindsey Schneider now run Hinchman Acres. The customer service they provided was top notch. They have gone way out of their way to make my family stay up here exceptional! I told Dan that this kind of superior customer service will make for an extremely profitable business. I am honored to share with all my friends my review and recommendation of this business. If you ever want to canoe/kayak one of the most beautiful rivers in the world- stay at Hinchman Acres in Mio Michigan!!

Bunch of ignorant people Sarah who apparently "owns this place" got in all of our faces and cussed…read moreout all of us including my 15 year old brother considering you "own this place" you should act like it. All 9 of us sat at the pick up from 4:00 pm until 6:30pm considering you charge us $100 after 6:00pm pick up you should have given us a refund. Not impressed and 100% do not recommend.

Horrific Customer Service, Stolen Funds, and Aggressive Management - Avoid at All Costs…read moreBetter options in Mio! Our family booked a 15-canoe memorial trip for 30 people three months in advance to honor our late uncle. A month before the trip, we pre-paid in full. We were explicitly told by staff that we could adjust our reservation up to 24 hours in advance. The day before the trip, we emailed to scale down to 9 canoes (19 people).Upon arrival, the woman claiming to be the owner flatly refused a refund for the 6 unused canoes. Her justification was hostile and absurd: she stated we "should not have prepaid" and that refunds are only avoided if you pay the day of. This policy was never disclosed to us verbally or in writing.The customer service deteriorated rapidly from there: Hostility at Departure: The owner stood on the deck screaming at both her staff and our family, demanding everyone wear life jackets inside the transport vans--saying no one left without one on-falsely claiming it was a transport fine--rather than explaining it calmly as a high-water safety precaution. Labor: Despite paying full price (plus the 6-canoe overcharge), the resort provided only one staff member per van. Our group was made to help manually unload the canoes at the launch, and drag them up a steep hill and reload the trailers upon return. No trash bins were provided at the landing. Just a bag one of the drivers found in the van Verbal Abuse & Shushing: When two family members calmly went into the office to discuss the refund, the owner became instantly belligerent. When a female family member asked why she was being so rude, the owner told her to "zip it" and repeatedly shushed her like a child. When challenged on the overcharge, the owner claimed she "felt unsafe" and "threatened" from 10 feet away. Physical Altercation & False Accusations: The situation turned completely unhinged when we had to turn our vehicle around to look for a missing key fob. The owner's husband marched out "ready to fight," chest puffed out, screaming at customers. Looking for the guy who "threatened his wife" the situation escalated and The female owner then physically shoved her way into our group at the back of our vehicle, intentionally bumping into a smaller female customer. When the customer pushed back to create space, the owner began screaming like an actor that she had been "assaulted," before videotaping us and threatening to call the police. Honestly we thought at that point we were being punked. The river and weather were beautiful, but Rainbow Resorts completely tarnished a memorial trip for a grieving family. They stole money for services not rendered, treated paying customers like physical threats, and exhibited erratic, hostile behavior. Do not go here. They are completely unprofessional and running a financial scam on pre-payments.

The new owners bought the business Feb. 2023. They were very friendly and helpful. We picked the…read more3hr trip with kayaks. The river was pretty. It did storm on us for part of the trip but we still made some great memories. We plan on coming back!!

Ha d a great time staying in the trailer house! The oven didn't work but we made it work with the…read moregrill and had a fabulous, relaxing, quiet time. We went canoeing one day and hung out at camp the rest of the time. Was worried it would be noisy with all the buses and people, but it was not loud at all. The owners are great people and just want everyone to have a great time! Highly recommend. Trailer house had a bathroom with no shower, but showers are just a few feet away. It had 2 bedrooms, 1 with a bunk bed, full on bottom, twin on top. The other room had 2 twin bunk beds. Couches were comfy if someone had to sleep on it.

Great shuttle service for the Au Sable River! They rent canoes and tubes, too. And have camping…read moreand cabin options, too. We paddled the Au Sable from McKinley Bridge to the Foote Dam without cell service until we got to Foote to make proper arrangements. Thankfully they were able to accommodate us, shuttling our canoes, gear and tired bodies back to our vehicles. We highly recommend their service. Thanks Jim and Chanda!

A little pricey got the limited animals but that was ok. I was disappointed the animals were not…read morereally "petable". You can purchase food to feed them but almost all have signs not to touch the animals. The most interesting was the slough because there was s keeper with it who provided interesting information. On the plus we were very happy to find they had free strollers for my grandson.

Cindy Lu's Petting Zoo was great! We booked it for my daughter's 5th birthday. Cindy wanted to…read moreknow what my daughter wanted to see and let me pick the animals. She brought everything that was needed, and only required an extension cord to keep the baby chicks warm. So cute. The kids could handle all the animals and Cindy even brought treats for the kids to feed the animals. We will definitely book with her again!

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 spent two days hunting pheasant here and it was one of the best hunts I have ever done. They have…read moreall sorts of hunting packages and the land is incredible. I definitely will be visiting in the future.

Hi, I scheduled an afternoon Pheasant Hunt. I showed up at noon and enjoyed a home cooked lunch --…read moremore like a full dinner. Then was guided on a 5-bird hunt. Bill, my guide, was very pleasant, easy going and helpful. We were accompanied by two bird dogs, and had a great time, in spite of the rain. They also have a lodge and cabins. Looks like a nice and friendly operation. I would definitely recommend it as a hunting destination. They also offer Deer and Turkey packages.

Wolf Creek trail is a wide, clear, well-marked path following the Au Sable river just below Mio dam…read moreand winding through the scrubby red pine-jack-pine-red oak woods (including some red pine plantation areas) that are typical of this area, with plenty of evidence of past burns. We hiked the longest loop, which took us about 4.5 miles. No steep climbs or descents. Access is easy from the trailhead at the Mio boat launch, where there are toilets and drinking water available. I doubt anyone comes to Oscoda County seeking the hiking experience of a lifetime, but if you're looking for a pleasant place to stretch your legs, this is a fine choice.