I absolutely love this conference center! I go here every year to attend camp and the staff is…read morealways super friendly especially the owner Tess! The food is always delicious and they are always super accommodating towards dietary restrictions. The property itself is beautiful with a really nice pool and a big swing under the redwoods! The campfire is under a circle of redwoods that just look magical when you look up!

My husband and I live nearby and decided to stop by today and take a peek at the pool. We were…read moregreeted by the extremely rude business owner, letting us know that we were trespassing and needed to leave. Had I been aware that we were trespassing, of course we would've never entered the property. Because of her rudeness, my husband would not look at her or acknowledge her, which then she insulted him about. My husband and I are very nice people and get along with everyone. This is a seriously missed opportunity for this business owner, as she could've been polite and welcoming and invited us back but instead, she insulted us and was nasty. If being treated poorly is your jam, this is your place!!

they staff was very mean especially andrew. also they dont treat their campers nicley and often…read moremake them feel stupid. they forced a camper to serve condiments to her friends instead of joining them. this is dehuminizing and degrading. another camper was forced to do manual labor such as hauling very hevy items without any help from the lazy counclers. they were extremely disrespectful and even forced us to listen to party 4 u by charlie xcx whilst crying in teh bakcseet not allowed to speak. they treated us as sub human with litle to no considersaton of our feelings. i experienced teh worst day of my life here. the day me and a close friend were forced to stay in a shack while the rest of our friends had fun. all because of a rumor. lastly, girls and boys were rarely allowed to hang out despite having great friendships. please send your kids to another camp where they will have the freedom and respect to be normal. i was also forced to pick up pig poop when doing an activity. BAD

My 14yo daughter was exposed to illegal drugs at Kennolyn. We were under the impression that…read moreKennolyn was a wholesome, sheltered place, but one of the campers, a very wealthy boy, was apparently allowed to bring a marijuana vape pen into camp (despite the fact that the camp assures parents that they will search kids on the way in). He apparently bragged about having the weed vape all week to the other campers, and when the Camp left a group of teen campers unsupervised at night (why?), someone apparently used the weed vape. When the boy was later busted by the camp, he denied using it, claiming that my daughter and another 14 yo girl were the real culprits. The boy insisted he didn't even know he had the marijuana vape in his bag, that someone must have put it there, and said that my daughter and the other girl had "bullied" him into letting them use it. To be clear, though more than a dozen kids were there when the weed vape was used, no one OTHER THAN THE BOY WHO BROUGHT THE WEED VAPE TO CAMP ever said that the girls used the weed vape. For whatever reason, Kennolyn joined the boy in pointing the finger at the girls, and on that basis alone locked my daughter in a room by herself for a long period while they tried to extract a "confession" out of her; they performatively humiliated her by forcing her to serve the other campers at a food line, as if she was the lunch lady and no longer one of them; they refused to let her say goodbye to her cabinmates and friends, or even to collect their contact information; they made her do manual labor for a period, moving heavy bags off of a truck; and, as a final indignity, forced her to go to sleep in a cabin in the woods by herself. My daughter is a young 14, she was absolutely shamed and terrified, and said she cried herself to sleep. I'm paying $2,700 a week for that?!? When I picked her up the next morning she was visibly stressed and shaken, but she was even more angry, because she insisted she'd been falsely accused and had never even seen the boy's marijuana vape, let alone used it. When I emailed Kennolyn's management to challenge the boy's lies about my daughter and complain about the way they had treated her, suddenly their story began to change: now they insisted my daughter had confessed to the boy's accusations! My daughter categorically denied confessing to anything, and the more I dug into it, the more Kennolyn's story changed--first it was one counselor who purportedly heard the confession, then, wait, it was a different counselor altogether who had heard it, then suddenly there were TWO other counselors present for the confessions; etc. The more their story changed, the lower my trust for Kennolyn's leadership dropped. I'm not sure exactly what really happened, but they acted captiously and callously toward my daughter, and were suspiciously inconsistent in their dealings with me, particularly in the way they bent over backwards to exonerate and excuse the boy who actually brought the illegal marijuana vape to camp. My daughter feels disrespected and unfairly maligned, and regrets ever having gone to Kennolyn--they really treated her poorly. I don't blame her, and can't believe I wasted so much money to send my kid somewhere unsafe, where she would be exposed to illegal drugs. We won't be going back.

This is definitely one of the nicer conference grounds/camps that I have been to. I would have…read moregiven it 5 stars except for the lodging above the dining area that feels really old and stuffy. Otherwise, it was a pretty nice experience the weekend I went back in April ! Fortunately, I was at Laurel Lodge, where it felt more hotel-style with each person having their own bed (4 beds a room) and one bathroom per room. There was also ample storage space. The room we all met in for sermons was also really nice and it looked like it was updated - with two 'lounge' rooms on each side of the main room. There is also a nice open field, a big dining area with lots of seating, and it is just pretty to walk around the conference grounds. I also really liked this little lounge area where you could get tea and coffee whenever you wanted.The campground staff was also helpful, and there was also a zipline and bouldering course further up the hill of the conference grounds that was fun to do for both students and youth leaders. I also came to this camp site a little over a decade ago and although I don't remember details of that stay, I do remember having a good time. It is really good quality facility.

Amazing! It was super clean, the food was delicious and all the staff were super friendlyread more

A cut above most retreat venues in terms of food! Delicious Asian food throughout the weekend…read moreserved along with fresh salad and fruit plus addictive dessert. Rooms were clean and equipped with A/C and heating. Showers heat fast. We had a walk in closet in our room but not all rooms have that. Lots of power outlets which is huge. Cons: recreation equipment needs attention - old basketballs, no pickleball lines or net, no archery apparently just foam axe throwing at a target. Beds are going to be cot style so you move around on them a lot. But overall would return to this place for a future retreat.

I was here today for a school professional development…read more Here are the Pros and Cons. Pros: Super beautiful, natural environment, with a pool, basketball court, hiking trails and an amazing outside amphitheater. Cons: The main hall for indoor meetings, had no A/C and it was stuffy and hot during our entire meeting, not ideal with a couple adults trying to focus and have a meeting.

Our older daughter has gone here for the last 2 yrs and had a blast. The camp is a great balance…read morebetween class work and outdoor activities. There is even a parent's lunch at the end and the kids do a performance that was fun. Sadly our older daughter has aged out of the camp, but our younger daughter is excited to be finally old enough to go this year.

This is my daughter's favorite summer camp. She participated 2 summers in a row and loved…read moreeverything about it. It was just the right amount of learning time and play time, and last year they also added a music teacher and a basketball coach in addition to the camp theme teachers. The campsite is amazing, with a beautiful dinning hall, performing stage, amphitheater with a pond, and places to hike. The dorm rooms are very nice and spacious and food was really good. The location is also perfect for South Bay families. It's a short drive but it feels like the kids are staying deep in the mountains.

It's been a while since the summers I worked here. It's been even longer since I was a camper…read more I remember the drive: a friend in the backseat with me, little sister up front, and my mom navigating Big Basin Highway. I'll never forget the weeks I spent at camp. Even though it wasn't cheap, my parents worked hard so that they could afford to send my sister and I each for two weeks instead of just one (I believe there were three weeks of each age group). Worth every penny. I'll never forget my summer experiences. I honestly think that this was also the time I first decided I liked to write. I had the opportunity to write letters home and every night I sent one. Years later as a staff person, lots of campers wanted to write to me. I wrote back endless letters for years. I remember the death of a camper (not at camp) who I had been very close to. She called herself Little Frosty. (My camp name was Frosty - see my review of Wendy's and it'll explain my camp name :)). It was very difficult to lose a friend I felt like I'd had so much influence on. I can't review the camp in much detail because I'm sure it's changed tremendously, but there were hiking trails, a "flying squirrel" zip line, a pond to fish, a pool to swim, a meadow to play.... cabins, nearby bathrooms, a room for worship and a huge cafeteria hall. We played games and competed. Learned about each other, taught one another. I've always wanted to return. It'd be impossible with work I think - but not one summer of my life has gone by that I have'nt thought about quitting my jobs and trying to work there for 8 weeks. I think the pay was $250/wk when I was there last... perhaps less. But the rewards were everlasting. My eyes water every time I think about camp. The most amazing people I can remember: Thumper, and Sprocket are the two counselors I remember most from my time as a camper. Thumper was my counselor more than once. Sprocket worked with the kids who rode mountain bikes. I remember the Bruner family all lived there and helped with cooking and maintenance. I believe they're in Oregon now. Soleil was a coworker when I was staff. She was from the same City as me and we had a mutual friend at home. We still keep in touch. I remember Albacore during pool competitions. For some reason I remember his wet hair the most! xoxxox

As a music leader for my church, I have had the opportunity to provide music at many youth…read moreministries and churches in the Santa Clara Valley. From my particular locale, that usually means the retreat centers are in the Santa Cruz Mountains - and there are LOTS! This past weekend, I provided praise and worship and Mass music (it was a Catholic youth retreat) at Camp Hammer. In all the years I've been doing music for retreats, I had never done a retreat at Camp Hammer. Admittedly, on the way up the hill, I was a little doubtful of the place as I had heard mixed reviews from folks at my church. But as soon as we got to the facility, all my doubts were erased. The grounds are GORGEOUS! The facility is tucked within the redwoods along the Big Basin Highway. It's lush with vegetation which really promotes an incredible peacefulness - just what I needed! I knew then that this was a very special place. My first stop was the central hall to unload my gear. When I walked in, I was absolutely amazed to see sub-woofers on each side of the stage! No other facility where I've provided music has had that. I turned to the guy who was running sound for the weekend and said, "SUBS?!!! Oh wow! This is gonna be great!" The reason this was so good is that subs provide that low bottom end that gives a band's sound a much deeper texture. Not only that, the room had two HUGE ceiling-mounted mains and the stage was equipped with big monitors, so hearing ourselves while we were performing was going to be great! As a musician, the sound quality of a venue is very important to me, and Camp Hammer really hits the marks on that note. People have complained that the facility doesn't have that much equipment like mics and mic stands. But to be honest, any performing musician worth their salt should have those items. I brought up three mics of my own - my vocal mic is A LOT better than the standard Shure or Sennheisers most venues use. So if you read this and you're a musician, you'll be in for a real treat! As far as amenities are concerned, my room, which I shared with my wife (we both are very involved with the youth ministry at our church), was the best room I've ever stayed in at a retreat center. I thought Mount Hermon's was pretty good, but this room was ten times better! The food was also VERY good. It's not extravagant. But it's healthy, and more importantly, the cooks make it delicious. What was really impressive was the Sunday lunch, which is the last meal of the weekend. They provided homemade pizza! Lots of different varieties as well. Other facilities usually do a build-your-own sandwich bar with kind of cheap cold cuts and cheese. Not Camp Hammer. They go all out. All the staff at Camp Hammer are incredibly engaging and friendly. They go out of their way to ask if everything's going well or if there are any issues that need to be addressed. They want to get feedback! Admittedly, the staff at Mount Hermon do that as well, but I did feel that Camp Hammer's staff goes just a bit further with their support. In a word, the staff is AWESOME! All things considered, I will make sure other people know about this wonderful retreat facility. Oh! Before I forget, here's a really awesome thing that actually has nothing to do with the facility, but it's a big factor: Cell phones don't work there - no network will connect, unless you have a satellite phone. When you're up there, you're disconnected. And that's great. They do have WiFi available, and even as a leader, I probably should've connected just in case, but I didn't bother because I figured that since I didn't have a direct operational role, the likelihood that I'd need to utilize an internet connection would be minimal. So I disconnected from the outside world the entire weekend! That was SO refreshing.

I've rented SUP boards from here several times and always had a good experience. Trudie is helpful…read moreand friendly, making sure I get the right kind of board and advising me on the conditions. I would just say I haven't tried the lessons or kayak rentals from SUP Shack so I can't comment on those.

Had a great paddle around the SC harbor with a friend this morning. Trudy the owner is great lady,…read moresuper friendly, and even opened a little early for us. We were also happy to help a local business, particularly with the Murray St bridge closure. Afterward, we had coffee at Java Junction. A great June morning!

We had fun watching our first baseball games of the season. It was fun watching the kids play…read more This park also has a good skateboard area. There are places for barbecues and picnics. There is green grass area. Its a fun park to go to.

Before I start, this review is about the skatepark. Highland skate park is really fun, there's a…read morereally nice bowl wit some street. id give it a vert rating of 7/10 and a street rating of 2/10. it has a really nice section for beginner's and for people learning to grind, but it has very good ramps for vert as well. it is not a big park, its quite small. but it is always so much fun to ride. the community there is always nice and I would rate it a 9/10. overall this park is a 7.5/10 because it is really fun but it isn't higher because its not very big. hope this helps.