Hume Lake Christian Camps — Hotel in Dinuba

I've taken my family to Hume Lake many times over the years, and we all love the place. I have to preface this review by saying that we've only ever camped at the Forest Service campground and not stayed at the Christian Camp. I'm leaving the review here however, because let's face it, if you are at the lake, you are at the Christian Camp by simple dint of the fact that their facilities, their guests, and most significantly, their activities dominate the landscape there. If you are looking to commune with nature around a quiet and pristine alpine lake, may I suggest you pack your hiking boots and head for the high sierra backcountry. This is not that kind of experience. This is a summer camp. Think "Meatballs" with Bill Murray, except that instead of the motley crew of blue collar misfits attending Camp Northstar, Hume skews more toward their snootier rivals at Camp Mohawk, where every athlete has a crack East German trainer behind them, as well as a team of Swedish masseuses at the ready. Seriously though, the amenities available are self evidently first rate. I myself have bought food at their snack bar, groceries in their market, and rented canoes from their dock and have always been satisfied. Now for the downside... While I find the festive atmosphere around the lakeshore charming during the day, the noise from their evening programs is off the hook. I just got back from a mid-week two night stay. On our first night there was some sort of talent show going on and at some point in every act the assembled throngs would let out a cheer that sounded like a game winning touchdown at a pro football game. This went on for hours. This was nothing compared to what was in store for us the next night however. Clearly somebody at the Hume Lake Christian Camp marketing department got wind that EDM clubs are all the rage in Las Vegas these days, and they decided they needed some of that action. I kid you not, they had a full on rave going with an elaborate light show, and a huge sound system. All that was missing was (presumably) the drugs. The drum and bass was thumping through the pine trees for hours, and even though we were camped a quarter mile away, it sounded like we were in the parking lot of the Electric Daisy Carnival. Just a note to the DJ staff: If you guys are gonna play a techno mix of Europe's, "The Final Countdown", wait for the end of the night to do so. Don't repeat it three or four times throughout the night. It's the Final Countdown after all. The clue is in the title. Before composing this review, I went to the Christian Camp website where they have a full page describing this year's "theme" in which they say that while your child is at the camp they will supposedly, "take a look at the life of Elijah and challenge students to proclaim God’s truth in an ungodly culture." Really? You're telling me they're attempting to reject the culture with DJ's and electronic dance beats? I guess anything short of sacrificing virgins is A-OK, right guys? I am admittedly not a follower of Jesus, but I've always heard that His was essentially a countercultural message. From what I can see and hear, Hume Lake Christian Camp is about as mainstream American Culture as it gets. Your...

This is such an amazing camp! Each year, the Hume staff pick out a new, fun theme to base a week-long Bible lesson about. With a different guest speaker each week, students can hear the word of God in amazing ways.

There are many camps offered throughout the year, such as Wagon Train (elementary school summer camp), Meadow Ranch (middle school summer camp), Ponderosa (high school summer camp), Wildwood, a winter camp, several retreats throughout the year for everyone, and more. Each camp focuses on a specific age group, so lessons and sermons are appropriately streamlined to have the greatest effect on the types of people attending the camps.

For Ponderosa and Meadow Ranch, you go to chapel twice a day, once in the morning, and once in the evening. A typical day at Ponderosa looks like this:

-Breakfast (7:45-8:45am) -Chapel (9-10:40am) -Cabin Time (10:45-11am) -Recreation (11-12:30pm) -Lunch (12:30-1:30pm) -Free time (After lunch-5:30/6:30pm, depending on the day) -Dinner (5:00/6:00-6:45/7:45, depending on the day) -Chapel (8:00pm, or after an event, depending on the day) -Free time after chapel -Lights out (11:30pm)

For each camp, there are so many fun things to do. Campers can rent kayaks, canoes, or paddleboards for $10 and hour; they can play paintball or complete a high ropes course for $20 apiece; they can try archery or an escape room for $10 apiece; and so much more. For free, students can play vollyball, basketball, swim in the lake or pool, experience the blob, swing on Noah's Nightmare (a ring on a long string that campers can swing on to launch themselves into the Meadow Ranch pond), play spikeball, go hiking, and more!

The food at Hume is pretty good, it is different for every meal. Some potential breakfast meals include pancakes and biscuits and gravy. Some lunches include greek food (pita bread, cucumbers, tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, and chicken...this is personally my favorite meal), hamburgers, and pizza. Some dinners include steak, pulled pork sandwiches, and pasta. Each meal is served in a buffet style, and you can get fresh fruit with every meal. For breakfast, there is a greater selection of fruit in the buffet, and for lunch and dinners, there is a salad bar. There are also special meals that someone can pay a little extra for and request, for those with dietary restrictions.

Overall, this is a truly special and fantastic camp, and I could not recommend it enough for everyone to reestablish their...

Our family have been enjoying Hume Lake since 1998. We chaperoned our son’s 6th grade class trip to Hume Lake Christian camps and me, my husband and 6th grader son loved it immensely. We went with our son’s Christian private school. We’ve also enjoyed spending many beautiful summer day trips to Sandy Cove, and have always had a great time with family and friends. However, Saturday July 15th was very different. First off the parking lot was extremely full so my family had to park 2 cars about 1/2 mile away. That was ok but as the day progressed we noticed very rude people popping up everywhere. Many people were fishing in the designated swimming area of the beach. There were probably a hundred people, many kids and more enjoying the water including our 2,3 and 5 year old grandchildren. Myself and 3 other families tried to warn them of the dangers of possibly hooking someone in the face or body. To no avail because the fishermen were extremely rude and would not move. All of us even pointed out the sign posted on the beach designating swimming and fishing areas. Also people had several unleashed dogs running around and pooping near waters edge. On top of that bbq’s we’re being lit. Meanwhile NO Rangers or law enforcement anywhere in sight. We had alot of fun but those things added to the danger for families enjoying the beach, people breaking rules all day plus rowdy people toppled over the metal signage about fishing north of Sandy Cove. The agency who governs Hume Lake needs to be much more diligent about patrolling Sandy Cove. Thank you kindly. P.S. —although Marijuana is legal in California it should not be allowed to flow crazy in the air at a public mountain lake beach where hundreds of small children play. DO...