Celebrating 50 Years of Camp Paradise

About Our Camp

Camp Paradise is a remote Christian retreat ministry in the north woods of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. We provide intentional experiences for camp participants to grow spiritually and relationally in a distraction free wilderness setting. Owned and operated by Willow Creek Community Church since 1976, we serve campers and volunteers from across the U.S. and internationally. We invite you to check out our father-child retreat (Dads Camp), women’s retreat, summer staff, and volunteer work weeks opportunities.

Camp Stats

- 4,584 campers – impacting dads, kids, and women, and countless families!
  - - 48 Dads Camp sessions
      - 26 Father-Daughter sessions
      - 22 Father-Son sessions
  - - 2 Women’s Retreats

- 26 baptisms – including summer staff, adult and child campers,

- Campers from 27 states + 3 international countries

- Nearly 400 churches represented

- 200 volunteers – serving annually at Spring and Fall Work Weeks, and in Summer operations and medic roles

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From Dads Camp to Summer Staff, there are many options to experience camp this upcoming summer!

Experience Camp

Camp Paradise is built and maintained in whole by the generosity of others. Your contributions fulfill our mission and maintain the facilities, equipment, and resources God entrusts to our care.

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The Camp Story

Camp Paradise has a rich history of life change, impacting generations of kids, students, and parents. Let’s look back at 50 years of impact, starting at the beginning.

1975

Willow Creek Receives Land for Camp

A benevolent donor gave Willow Creek 720 acres in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Armed with directions written on a napkin, Tim Vanden Bos and a handful of others head north to find the land and a dilapidated early-1900s cabin.

1976

Camp Paradise Opens

Camp Paradise was born. Volunteers from Willow Creek and a church in Kalamazoo, Michigan, join together to build the first cabin and the original lodge.

1977

First Lodging is Built

4 cabins, 2 shower houses, and an outhouse are built just in time for the first campers to arrive in June.

1977-1991

The Early Days of Camp

Camp Paradise welcomes thousands of junior high, high school, and college-age students from Willow Creek along with church staff retreats. Hundreds begin a relationship with Christ and are baptized in the Tahquamenon River.

1991

Camp Continues to Grow

Willow’s student ministries grow to the point where they can no longer be accommodated at Camp Paradise and begin to transition to other locations over the next few years.

1991

Dads Camp Launch

37 dads and 37 sons arrive for the first Father-Son Camp.

August 1993

Father-Daughter Camp Launch

Campers attend the first Father-Daughter Camp.

1991-2019

Dads Camp Flourishes

Camp facilities expand from 8 cabins to 12 to meet the increased demands of Dads Camp. Thousands of dads, sons, and daughters have come across the river to Camp Paradise to grow spiritually and relationally with God, each other, and in community at Dads Camps.

2011-2014

Camp’s Journey to a New Chapel

Camp begins its first major fundraising campaign to build a dedicated Chapel along with four new cabins to replace ones built in the 1980s. The Chapel at Camp Paradise is completed in under two years by hundreds of volunteers.

2015

40th Anniversary

Willow highlights Camp Paradise at its 40th anniversary service. Thousands of green wristband lights reveal “immeasurably more” lives impacted than expected!