Camp Southwoods — Local services in Town of Schroon

This camp is horrible. I would give it negative stars if I could. Last year the camp got new owners and most of the counselors left the year before because of how horrible the camp was (campers and counselors said the previous owner was drunk on the job) so it basically was a testing year. I or any other new campers were not informed of this, which is incredibly frustrating because I would have never gone to the camp if so. I got referred to the camp by hilltop after they got bought and closed down. Me and my friend (age 14) went and it was a really awful experience. The food was of the lowest quality. Powdered eggs that taste like rubber, dry meat, extremely cheap food in general. And not enough variety either. There was a point where they kept giving us dry meat, so my vegetarian friend was eating a sunbutter and jelly every day. That was before they ran out of jelly and didn't restock for a WEEK, so he had to eat sunbutter butter on bread 2 meals a day. And there were some good counselors, but some awful ones too. In particular one named Jonah acted like he was 5 years old all the time and was very rude and immature. There were also not many fun activities, so after practically a day you get really bored of the activity selection. The cabins had 0 AC other than a plug in fan which barely changed the temperature at all. 3 days in I was crying and feeling depressed because I wanted to go home so bad. Unfortunately there is no option to call your parents to pick you up so I had to stay there for all 3 weeks. 5 days in I was trying to be optimistic about the camp but it just kept getting worse. The power went out so we had to shower in the cold. It kept raining, cancelling activities. I was dreading camp, the only thing good about it was my bunkmates and counselors in my bunk. I am NEVER going back and won't go back to ANY sleepaway camps because of this. This camp was hell and I am surprised this doesn't have more bad reviews because many people at the camp also hated it. I would give this camp millions of one star...

This place reminds me of a place that once was fun but is in dire need of renovation. Southwoods is dirty, food is horrible, no ac in the bunks, and rude staff members. The only good thing about this camp is the lake, otherwise this review wouldn’t even deserve a star. The scenery by the lake and in certain spots at the camp are pretty good. Another stupid rule required at the lake is not wearing life vests in the deep end. It just isn’t safe. However, in order to go into the deep end you have to take a swim test. Still, life vests should be required. The activities here are very outdated and they don’t offer much of anything other than sports and the lake. Logan was a great driver on the tubing boat. Most sleep away camps will have an array of activities for campers to choose from. The food options were horrible and there wasn’t that much to choose from. Some kids would skip meals because there was just nothing for them that they liked to eat. Last night in my bunk, the power went out, and the smoke alarm went off. My bunk had to evacuate at 12:30 in the morning so the staff can figure out what the problem was. Instead of solving the problem, the guy removed the smoke detector from the bunk. This is not safe since now there would be no alarm going off if there were to be a fire. The mosquito problem here is like no other. Many people were getting bitten up like I’ve never seen before and bug spray just wasn’t good enough. There are no showers in the bunk. Instead, you had to go to a separate shower house and there were no hot and cold knobs. There was only a lever to turn the shower on or off, so the water would either be freezing cold, or boiling hot. Overall, don’t waste your money and time here. Go to a better sleepaway camp in...

Do not send kids or come to this camp. This place was hell. They have many problems with this camp. I came here for a week and here’s my experience. To start, the mosquito problem is like no other. I have never been so miserable. I was constantly itching myself and flicking them out of my face. I have mosquito bites all over my legs and arms as did everyone else. The bunks were brutally hot. The only thing we had to cook us was a very slow spinning fan that really did nothing. It was so hot kids were lying on the floor because it was a degree cooler. Not proper living conditions at all. You don’t need an air conditioner but at least have a better fan. Also, there’s no shower in the bunks. You have to go to a shower house where the shower is very very small. Also you turn it on, so there’s no hot or cold knob. Sometimes it would be freezing or boiling hot. Last night I stayed, the smoke detector went off at 12:30. Luckily, it was a false alarm. However, they did fix it. They took the detector out of the ceiling and didn’t put in a new one. For the lake it was the best thing at the camp. It was beautiful and had fun activities to offer there. However my problem was that in the deep end we’re it’s 30-40 feet deep, you don’t wear life jackets which scared me. Staff was ok. Some were nice, and some were rude. Only good thing about this camp was that beautiful lake. I can only pray for this...