The Facilities of Camp Ray Bird
Our present facilities that can be rented include a lodge with sleeping accommodations for 132, a kitchen, dinning hall and our main meeting room with fireplace overlooking the lake. The lodge is heated and available for year-round use. Indoor activities take place in our gymnasium and our lake house. The gym is also heated and features a full-size basketball, court, bathrooms and a meeting room on the upper level. The lake house consists of an indoor room and a large covered patio, both which overlook Bass Lake. The indoor side also functions as a small meeting room for groups of 20 or less and is heated by an old pot-belly stove. Campers not housed in the lodge are housed in four Conestoga covered wagons (seasonal use only), four log cabins (heated and used year-round) ideal for small groups and four rustic cabins (seasonal use only). Each cabin sleeps 10-12. Our most recent summer housing addition is a yurt. Other facilities include a camp snack shop, an office building and a maintenance barn. With the exception of the four newer log cabins and a newly re-modeled gymnasium, the other facilities are dated but in good repair.
The 60-acre camp is situated on Bass Lake just 15 minutes west of the center of South Bend, Indiana. The site features a half mile of lake frontage with a large swimming beach, a water trampoline (summer camp use only), and a water slide. Our water related activities include swimming, canoeing, fishing and pontoon boating. The camp building complex is situated on the edge of a large, mature hardwood forest with rolling hills and ravines. This forest with adjoining wildlife habitat provide outstanding opportunities for hiking and nature study outings. The balance of the property is made up of rolling meadowland and marshland. Our athletic field, petting farm and an archery range are located on the meadowland. We are also stewards of a 4-acre wet prairie marsh, one of just a few left in Northern Indiana. A careful walk on its spongy surface provides one a glimpse of a living study laboratory, ideal for school groups and nature lovers who appreciate the beauty of the indigenous plants and wildlife. All of this is a vivid contrast to the urban neighborhoods where our guests live out their everyday lives.
Other activities include go carts (summer camp use only), cross-country skiing and an hill for sledding and tubing.