Dates, Rates & FAQs

Camp Horseshoe is ideally located on 140 beautiful acres in the heart of the Northwoods, in Rhinelander, WI. Our brand new, state-of-the-art facilities, traditional camp setting, and breathtaking waterfront provide campers endless opportunities for summer fun.

Each year, campers come to Camp Horseshoe from all over the Unites States. Our largest concentration of campers is from the Midwest, including Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin. We also attract campers from Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and more.

Campers live with their counselors and bunkmates in our new, comfortable cabins. Each cabin houses 8-10 campers along with 2-3 counselors, and features front and back entrances, plenty of windows, smoke detectors, electric outlets, new beds with comfortable mattresses, and a full dresser and extra shelves for each camper. To promote cohesiveness among divisions, each cabin shares a deck with their neighboring cabin and has a view of the lake. All campers enjoy new, well-maintained bathroom and shower facilities.

Camp Horseshoe emphasizes participation and instruction while providing ample opportunities for campers to enjoy healthy, appropriate competition. Our morning sports clubs focus on skill-development, while our afternoon sports leagues are for game play. Horseshoe campers also have the chance to compete against other camps through inter-camp tournaments.

Horseshoe’s philosophy is that regardless of skill level, all campers should have a positive, exciting athletics experience that allows them to further develop their confidence and abilities. At Horseshoe, our campers love to play and give their best effort, but most importantly we keep the values of teamwork, sportsmanship, and spirit at the forefront of all of our athletics activities.

Camp Horseshoe has two honor tribes, Na Ta Ne and Golden Horseshoe. Both tribes are open to all campers and admission is based on achieving specific milestones. Every Horseshoe camper has the opportunity to strive for admission into an honor tribe based on completing achievements. Achievements include a wide variety of activities such as catching a game fish, passing a sailing test, or reciting the “Heart of Horseshoe” from memory. The Horseshoe honor tribes encourage campers to set and achieve goals through participating in all areas of camp. The primary purpose of the tribes is to promote brotherhood and encourage campers to build skills and character.

The key to a great summer camp is the quality of its staff. At Horseshoe we take pride in our commitment to recruiting, training and retaining the highest quality staff in the camping profession. With a 1:3 staff to camper ratio, we work to ensure the best possible care, instruction and supervision for our campers. Camp Horseshoe maintains a high staff return rate so we are able to provide strong continuity. When selecting our staff, the first and most important question we ask ourselves is: “Will this person take great care of children and be an outstanding role model for your sons?”

Each Horseshoe staff member undergoes an intensive 9 day pre-camp orientation. This orientation provides our staff with the proper “tools” to work with campers and achieve our goals of building relationships and enhancing self-esteem. The Horseshoe Leadership team also provides continuous support and supervision throughout the summer.

We encourage you to call or email camp ANYTIME during the summer! Do not hesitate to contact us to ask questions, check on your camper, or discuss your son’s experience. Communication is a vital part of our relationship with you and your son, and we want you to feel as comfortable at Horseshoe as your camper does.

You can send letters and emails to communicate with your son during the summer. We will print out all emails and deliver them to your child along with daily mail. Campers love to hear from you, so keep those letters and emails coming!

Each evening we post photos of campers in action during the day and an update letting parents know about our daily events, special activities, and evening program. A few times a week, we also post videos for you to enjoy.

We encourage all campers to write home at least twice a week. For younger campers, we recommend you pre-address and stamp envelopes.

Our food is totally awesome and our camp spirit comes to life in our dining hall! At Horseshoe, we offer a tremendous variety of delicious, nutritious, and kid-friendly menu items from which campers can choose. Campers sit at round tables with their cabin mates and counselors and meals are served family style.

Breakfast options include a hot meal as well as cereals, bagels and cream cheese, fresh fruit bar, oatmeal, yogurt, granola and toast. At each lunch and dinner, campers can also choose items from our Fresh Salad Bar, Pasta Bar and Sandwich Station to complement each meal. This allows campers and staff the proper choices necessary to meet the needs of even the most picky eaters. The Horseshoe menu is designed to provide nutritious meals that children will enjoy eating. Special attention is paid to campers and staff with special dietary needs.

At Horseshoe we have great food and many choices to keep every camper healthy, happy, and well fed!

We utilize our best efforts to make our camp safe for children with food allergies, and do not knowingly serve food that includes peanut or nut products. Nevertheless, there always exists the possibility that food or other items that contain or have had contact with nuts can be brought into camp, so while we are a “peanut aware” facility, we cannot guarantee that we will be “peanut free” at all times. In order to minimize the chances of any child suffering an allergic reaction, we must prohibit anyone from bringing in outside food products. This includes birthday and similar treats. We realize this may prove a disappointment to some, but our goal, as always, is to provide for the well-being of our campers.

As always, please contact us if you have any concerns about this or any other matter at camp.

Horseshoe’s health center is staffed twenty-four hours a day by 3 Nurses. We also partner with a pediatric practice that provides our campers with telehealth access to a pediatrician to assess, diagnose, advise and write prescriptions as needed. These medical personnel are available to dispense medications and care for all campers’ health needs. If a camper requires an overnight stay in the infirmary we always contact the family to let them know. Camp Horseshoe is conveniently located just 10 minutes from St Mary’s Hospital.