YMCA Camp Lakewood in
Potosi (MO)

My kids spent a week here for camp. Each loved the experience. They each had the opportunity to pick their own activities. Options include things like horseback riding, swimming and various games. They each made quite a few friends. I anticipate them doing camps here in the future.

Went there as a kid and have sent kids there. It’s an experience they will remember for the rest of their lives, maybe make some life-long friends too!

My daughter just finished camp here for diabetes and it was an amazing time for her

I was so fortunate to have been able to attend Camp Lakewood as a kid .. that's back when going to a public school was still a whole experience. I got to go to Camp Lakewood three times, courtesy of my city school– twice in 1998 and once in 1999. Met some cool friends, ate s'mores for the first time ever, wrote letters back home to my family.. it was a wonderful experience full of amazing camp counselors and activities. I'm so happy to see Camp Lakewood still exists.??

We just returned from having our Bachelorette Party at Camp Lakewood and couldn’t have had a better experience! We were a big group, and everything from start to finish was excellent. The staff were so kind, the rooms were great, the activities were awesome, and the food was delicious. We are talking about returning just for fun next year! Thank you to everyone at Camp Lakewood for helping make such important memories for all of us. Highly recommend!

I love coming here! i am going soon this year for the 3rd time. I love the food here. (the mashed potatoes are my favorite thing ever) I love going in the creek and building dams. Last year i did equestrian camp, every other cabin was making fun of us but that’s okay. I really hated how the horse people treated us. they would yell at us if we weren’t doing it right. There was a counselor that if you moved while in your bunk, she was trying to flashlight in your face to make sure you aren’t awake. Other than that I love coming here!! But the last day of camp is not fun at all. This year i am going to east camp for the first time. Very nervous every year because of my first experience where I had no friends at all and some people would bully me, but it’s OK because I returned for another consecutive week and I made a bunch of friends and I learned that you can have fun even if you don’t have friends. P.s go if you have the opportunity. P.s Bring a fan, even if you are in the main camp.

Frequent visitor of trout lodge and former camper, now father of a camper. Dropoff is easy Counselors and staff are great as expected. Overjoyed by the new photo albums where camp photographers share photos of events for parents to grab. Wish that existed when I was a kid

I loved coming here as a kid and now my kids do also. We talk about my memories on the drive to camp. Old man I guess. The kids love coming here and can’t wait every summer. It is also nice to have a week without them. They have many activities like horse back riding, swimming, canoeing, and the love the spaghetti dinner with no utensils. Send your kids here if you can.

im coming back to this camp for my sixth year, i highly recommend this camp to parents who want their kids to be more independent and/or well rounded. im seeing stuff about it being less ideal while talking about the food, but most of the time you're hungry enough to eat basically anything that is put in front of you because you're exercising all day. im kinda nervous about going to east camp but also excited at the same time. the counselors have been nice in the past. i would suggest having a bit more guidance about how things work such as checking into east camp, but other than that everything is fine. :)

My son attended camp in summer 2020, summer 2021, and winter 2021. It was a great experience all three times. He does have an IEP but we did not have any problems with being 'cut' from camp as another reviewer mentioned. Because of covid concerns parents are not allowed in the cabins. You do not get updates other than seeing pictures posted, which are delayed, unless something is wrong or there is a notification about someone in the camp testing positive for covid. The campers can not contact their parents or have a cell phone, but parents can send postcards and emails (which get printed) daily to their kids - make sure to send these ON TIME so they are delivered the day you intend. My son did have a medical issue with some type of bug bite getting infected - the camp handled everything and kept me updated, took him to the doctor, picked up a prescription, got him ice cream, and returned to camp. The east camp cabins do not have AC, but there is power so they can bring a fan. The bathrooms/showers for east camp are in a central building. For the 13-16 age group this is similar to an outdoor camping experience. There is a significant amount of walking / hiking for the older kids, especially in the ranger camps, so I'd recommend getting your camper accustomed to this ahead of time. Overall this camp is a great opportunity for kids to unplug from electronics, bond with animals, become more independent, learn new skills, and have fun. The activities are much different than what we do during the school year and a good change of pace. My son is excited to get a token this year that is given out after 3 years of participation and attend the leaders in training session. I would recommend the equestrian camp for kids who enjoy horses, my son enjoyed learning to ride.

Horrible customer service all around. Do not take your child here if you want your concerns to be ignored. I have taken this up to the corporate level, My and my husbands emails have have been ignored numerous times. So now I have no reason but to post here as a last resort. My son attended camp Lakewood this summer as it was his first sleepaway camp. A week before camp started i got a call from a camp counselor informing me that he couldn't attend due to staffing issues. When we inquired further as to the reason we got in touch with Melissa DiFiori (after the first email attempt was ignored) and was told that he couldn't come to camp because they didn't have the staff for kids that have disabilities. First off i signed him up in March and second of all he only has an IEP for academics (which i had to fill out 10 pages of paperwork for). So clearly they do not honor 1st come, 1st serve and cut the kids with academic IEPS?? so after we pressed further he was allowed to come to camp. I feel sorry for the others with disabilities that got cut who signed up well in advance. Once we got to camp, the counselor (Malibu) was very cold when we arrived. We weren't allowed into the dorm to help him get settled in and didn't hear anything about how it was going for him for 3 whole days!!! the pictures they took were 2 days behind so we didn't hear anything for at least 2 days. when we finally picked him up on day 3 i asked his counselor Malibu for an update and he didn't have much to say. My son said he hated camp. I contacted Melissa Difiori via email again and my email was ignored for weeks. I called the corporate office and she finally called me back after 2 weeks. I voiced my concerns with her and she dismissed all of them, didn't sympathize or apologize for anything. I emailed her boss Matt Clark and he never got back to me either. The director of inclusion services (Laurie McTearnen) emailed me back but gave me a general statement but not really addressing any of my concerns. Shame on you YMCA - 1st sleepaway experience was a disaster, your administration is unresponsive, and your discrimination tactics against kids with disabilities aren't going unnoticed.

I went here in summer '08 and I loved every second of it. Back then, they had Spelunking which was by far my favorite elective. The counselors were really nice, fun, and enthusiastic. I miss them all!

Hi, i am sending this from my mothers phone. i am/was a camper at camp Lakewood and all i can say is WOW. this place is the best place i have EVER been. when you ask me what my favorite part i come up with 100000000 things. this is a great place to make friends and just be yourself. and i TOTALLY recommend horsemanship elective. it is so much FUN

Had a wonderful trip here during the fall. A lot of great places to hike. Good food and fun times. Highly reccomend. If you can afford it.

The Lindbergh High School Marching Band does a band camp here and I honestly can't think of a better place to do it. The food is amazing, the cabins feel homey, and they have excellently maintained fields for practicing.

the best place on earth! camp lakewood has become my second home after going there for 8 years and counting. if you have the opportunity to send your kids here, do it! they will have experiences they couldn’t get anywhere else and meet the most amazing people, including counselors and other campers. it’s such a special place and i think that people just need a little lakewood in their lives.

My daughter just returned from the “Mini Pre-Teen Camp” at Camp Lakewood. This was her first year attending. She had a fantastic time. I do want to speak on the differences between Main and East camps. For the mini camp, 11-12 year olds were put in the East camp, whereas if she would have went for the week long camp, she would have been in the main camp. There is a BIG difference in the accommodations and I didn’t read it closely enough on their website, so I wanted to put it here plainly in case it could help anyone. There is NO air conditioning in the East camp cabins. There is 1 common bathhouse for all of East camp. Both the cabin and the bathhouse were HOT. It is definitely “roughing it”. Meanwhile, main camp cabins are much more modern with air conditioning and bathrooms in the cabins. I’m not against the kids roughing it, I just think it could have been more clear in the literature. I think one place does say East camp is “non climate controlled”. But right above that, it talks about “comfort in nature” when talking about the Main camp. So, be warned. When it’s 90+ outside, those East camp cabins are just awful hot. Again, my daughter had a really good experience. We are going back next year for the week long camp on the Main side. I’m a little disappointed the cost was the same for the Main camp and East camp. The level of accommodations aren’t even close to the same.

The place was beautiful. My kid absolutely loved her camp at this location. She came to this summer camp twice in 3 years. They provided transportation to and from south county family YMCA with a fee. Staff were friendly. There were lots of activities at this camp. They took a lot of pictures during the camp. I was able to access those pictures in my computer. No cell phone was allowed during camping.

We came here for 6th grade camp. Kids had a great time, staff was wonderful, food was great, cabins clean. I plan on coming back with my family to do some if the stuff we did not have time for, horseback riding, kayaking, etc. We had a large group of kids and they were very patient with them. They made great accommodations for my daughter who has a gluten allergy. If I could give more than 5 stars I would.

Very beautiful and friendly place to relax.

The place is very secluded, and quite far away from where we live at Arnold. We took my son to go for the 3 days mini Summer camp for 7 years old. He had wonderful time. In fact, my son said next year he will be 8, and he wants to go for a week Summer camp ;)

I just picked up my 8 year old from his 1st time at camp. He had a wonderful time! The staff was friendly and supportive from the start. The cabins are nice. There was plenty of programs and adventures for all of the campers.

One of the best camps in the world. There food is amazing. There is a variety of activities at this summer camp. They treat people very well and can really keep everyone occupied with fun activities. I felt so healthy after camp and so happy! Everyone should go to summer camp especially this one!

We visited for the first time for a quick weekend get away and wished we had time for a longer visit. The clear lake is teaning with wildlife. The staff is from around the world. They are friendly, helpful and interesting to talk to. The rooms are simple but we really only slept there. The beach was great for relaxing, swimming and sandcastles. We rented 3 different boats. Can't wait to go back!

Great place for the kids. They also have Trout lodge which is more like a hotel. Meals are included in the price. They do a lot of activities for the children .horseback riding,swimming,canoeing,hiking,nature center,alpine tower over all is a great place

My grandmother Brenda. woked there for almost 20 years. The people are great and are like a big camp family and trout lodge resort is amazing. The lake is beautiful there are many fun family activities and day camp and summer camp for the kids even boy and girl scouts it's a great and fun experience that everyone should try at least once. ?

Camp Lakewood was one of the most fun experiences I've ever had! We get to do a variety of different activities of our choice (indoors and out) every single day for seven days straight! You can fire a bow at the archery range, discover the sunken canoe in the lake, make friendship bracelets, spleunk in the mud caves, shoot some hoops in the basketball court, and SO much more! We have silly all-camp games, crazy campfires, an overnight in the woods across the lake, and East Camp even has a dance at the end of the week! On top of that, Camp isn't just fun activities- it's a home away from home. The counselors are so nice and supportive, you make friends that'll last a lifetime, memories to be remembered and shared constantly, and you make a personal connection with your cabin that can never be broken.