Learn About Camp Mac
Find out what makes Camp Mac so much FUN!
See vidoes of activites and events.
Get a better idea of what life at Camp Mac is like.
Want to learn all about Camp Mac? Our online brochure will show you almost everything we do at Camp Mac, from the activites you can choose, to a look at the facilities that make Camp Mac such a great place.
Camp Mac Dates & Fees Request Information
Recent 21st century research funded by the Lilly Endowment and others now confirms what Mr. Mac knew to be true way in 1948 – "Summer camp is good for kids". And we have seen what Camp Mac has done for thousands of kids over the years.Our goal is to continue to offer these opportunities to thousands more – and our hope is that, one day, every child will have the opportunity to attend summer camp.
We hope Camp Mac is what you're looking for, but if it's not, we encourage you to take the time to find the camp that's "right" for you and your family. All camps are different, and all too often parents do not take the time to investigate the program, facilities, staff experience and camp philosophy before making this important decision.
Learning Camp
From the beginning, Camp Mac has been a "learning camp". Over the years, we have carefully developed a program that appeals to children who are active, curious, welcome challenges and enjoy the out-of-doors.
Co-Ed Program
Although boys and girls have always attended Camp Mac at the same time, instructional activities are conducted in single-gender classes. Boys and girls are given the opportunity to mix with each other within their own age groups during evening recreation and other non-instructional times of day. This unique structure provides an instructional program like that of an all-boys or all-girls camp, while allowing brothers and sisters to attend camp together.
This also gives boys and girls the opportunity to learn to live in the same community – just as they will for the rest of their lives. And although we have had parents tell us that they didn't want their little girl (or little boy) going to camp with the opposite gender, over the years we've noticed that the boys and girls who have grown up here with us seem to have a level of respect and understanding for each other far beyond that of many boys and girls who have not had the opportunity to learn to become friends in a family setting like summer camp.
A study of world history teaches us that when a group of people segregates themselves from others, they're more likely to have misconceptions and distrust of one another than when they live, work and play side-by-side. And even though they're in there together every day, a classroom at school can, however unintentionally, pit individual boys and girls against each other as they compete for grades and social standing.
At camp, you compete primarily against yourself – and you try to do better than you did last summer or last week – or the last time you tried to do a dock start on one ski or beat your best time in the barrel race on your horse. So children at camp tend to build supportive relationships rather than competitive ones. We all sit side-by-side at "6:00 News" and cheer for each other's accomplishments, and when we have the inevitable setback, we sit side-by-side on the bench at the barn and encourage each other to get back up on the horse and try again.
Session Length
Camp Mac offers two, three and four week programs, but our Jr. 2-Week Term is designed to serve as an introduction to camp for children who have not been away from home before, and as a “stepping stone” to the more advanced and complete program available to campers in our four-week sessions.
While shorter sessions are obviously easier to fit into a busy summer schedule, it's essential for our program and our campers' development to be able to offer opportunities and more instruction than we possibly could with a series of one or two week terms – especially for our older campers. Our camp parents tell us they want their children to learn independence and self-reliance at camp, and they recognize that gaining that self-confidence takes time.
Our four-week terms are not simply back to back two-week terms, but rather consist of a carefully planned progression in which campers participate in a wide variety of activities and move from one skill level to the next – day-to-day, week-to-week and year-to-year.
Our three-week terms are simply the first three weeks of a four-week session, so campers enrolled there have the same opportunities and activity choices they would in a four-week session – with the option of staying the 4th week should they decide to do so after the term gets started.
Tuition and Fees
Past and present camp parents tell us that that a summer at Camp Mac is the best investment they ever made in their children.
Summer camp fee structures vary as much the camps that set them. At Camp Mac, we believe that every child here should have the same opportunities as every other camper his or her age. So we don't have extra fees for certain activities – or for anything else. When our camp parents drive up to their campers' cabins on Check-Out Day, they pick up their children, not a bill.
There's no additional fee for Horseback Riding, Water Skiing, Riflery ammunition, field trips, or Crafts projects. There's no spending money account for drinks and snacks, and there's no charge for a Camp Mac t-shirt to wear on Sundays. We don't charge for emails to campers, and we don't even make t-shirts, caps, camp chairs, etc. available for campers to purchase except on Check-In and Check-Out Days when they have parental supervision. There's no charge for laundry service, and as little boy one camper excitedly wrote his mom a few years ago, "The food is great here! And, best of all, it's free!"
During the course of the summer, we give away a variety of t-shirts and other Camp Mac apparel as awards or as recognition of the number of years a child has been part of our family. We give away window decals and bumper stickers, and even the items we do sell are priced at our cost. We're not in the retail apparel business, we're a children's summer camp – and the more people out there who proudly wear our name on their backs, the better we like it!
Return Rate and Staff Experience
Each summer, more than 85 to 90 percent of our four-week term campers were Camp Mac campers the year before. And over 95 percent of our staff members have been campers and/or counselors at Camp Mac during previous years. Not only does this experience greatly benefit our camp and campers, it allows these campers and counselors to form lifetime bonds and friendships, build on their own experiences at camp and to learn and grow in ways that would not otherwise be possible.
Naturally, for relationships to endure over multiple seasons, both campers and staff must return to camp. At Camp Mac, our unique CIT and Jr. Staff programs have, for years, cultivated and developed staff from the camper ranks.
If you're interested in learning more about other summer camps in our region that serve a clientele similar to our own, we've put together a list of links to their websites.