Frankfort Summer Camps

Trips are non-competitive and are offered to anyone regardless of trip or outdoor experience.
Participant involvement is vital to Crystalaire Adventures. Trips participants help plan and prepare for trips, help organize in daily activities and assist with daily chores including preparing meals, washing dishes, fetching water and making fires.
One of the most important aspects of Crystalaire Adventures is that they are focused on group interaction, making friends, having fun, being safe and enjoying beautiful natural surroundings. Through hiking, canoeing, backpacking, caving or kayaking our goal is to help campers foster a sense of belonging to the natural world and a feeling of wonder for the environment to which we belong. We aim to lead trips that are not about conquering mountains or pushing personal limits, but that help us discover what it feels like to sleep under the stars, come across a moose on a woodland trail, taste pancakes made over an open fire and sit around a campfire telling stories with friends.

Days at Camp Lookout vary as widely as the creativity and imagination
of campers and staff. No two days are ever the same! During three daily
program meetings, campers and staff organize and choose activities. Small
group activities with 1 or 2 staff members and 4-6 campers are encouraged,
but an individual camper’s desire to start a special art project or to explore a
personal interest is also recognized. Camp Lookout has a strong community
feel and camper input in programing is encouraged!

Campers’ daily activity choices range from the traditional--sailing, kayaking,
windsurfing, art, sports & games, hiking--to the more spontaneous and
creative--writing an original camp play, participating in make-believe and
drama games, creating a big camp game for evening program, designing
a “theme-meal” or creating a large, outdoor artwork. Evening activities are
larger group activities that bring the whole camp together. Typical evening
activities include talent shows, skit and story nights, all-camp cookouts,
campfires and original camp games like Jurrassic Park, Capture the Flisk and
Stratego.

Camp activities are non-competitive. There are no color wars or intra-camp / inter-cabin competitions. Although we have many team sports, team composition changes frequently so that everyone who wishes to play will have an opportunity. Scores are kept haphazardly.

Camp Lookout is located just outside of Frankfort, Michigan, 30 minutes west of Traverse City, MI, about 3.5 hours northwest of the Detroit/Ann Arbor area and around 6 hours northeast of the Chicago area. Situated on a peninsula nestled into the sand dunes of Lake Michigan and Lower Herring Lake, all access into and out of camp is by Pontoon Boat. There is no road access into the camp.