Camp Foster YMCA is a traditional coed day and overnight camp on the Iowa Great Lakes near Spirit Lake, operating since 1912 and ACA-accredited. It serves ages 6-16 overall, with a half-day Explorers program for ages 4-7 and multi-day resident sessions for older campers. Activities include horseback riding, a climbing wall, canoeing, and sailing.
The practical details
We list only what the camp itself publishes, and programs change — dates, prices, ages and availability can all move after we check. Confirm the details on the camp’s own website and contact Camp Foster YMCA directly before you register or pay. Last checked August 2026.
Camps nearby
Accreditations & licensing
As stated by the camp or listed in the accrediting organization's directory — confirm current status with the accreditor.
Google Reviews
Powered by Google
★★★★★Tara KonradiI attended this camp as a child (1995-1998), and it was truly life-changing. The friendships, the adventures, the counselors — everything shaped some of my happiest memories growing up. Now, decades later, I send my own kids here… we even travel all the way from Europe to Iowa so they can have the same experience! Every summer they come home more confident, independent, and full of joy. The staff is caring and fun, the activities are varied and exciting, and the values they learn here stay with them for life. This isn’t just a camp — it’s a community and a family. I’m so grateful this place exists, and I can’t recommend it enough.
★★★★★Katie TreesDid clean up as a part of KW Red Day. Keller Williams Okoboji doing clean up at the camp.
★★★★★Emily cI just finished my 10th year here with a TL year. This place has shaped my personality for the better. It will impact your kids so positively. I definitely plan to come back as staff.
★★★★★ElanBetter than any parent or child could ever hope for. My dad was a resident camper in the 1970s and 80s. I was a camper in the 2010s. Now I am a counselor. What is amazing is that the Camp Foster Spirit has been maintained from generation to generation. Grade school to high school age youth have that ideal experience of being in a beautiful and safe place where they can explore a variety of fun outdoor, adventure, craft, and performing activities at their own level. The most important part of this is the friendship bonding that develops under the guidance of director and cabin counselors who love their job. - If everyone had a chance to step away from the stresses of the world and to partake in a retreat of well-guided feeling free and fun, we would all be singing songs and laughing together a lot more. I strongly encourage parents to send their kids to overnight camp for one to two weeks each summer, and repeating the same weeks if possible each year- so campers can bond reuniting with friends. I strongly encourage campers to become counselors when they grow up. Memories for a lifetime.
★★★★★Peter JohnsonCamp Foster was the best! I loved going there each year. Think I went for a week or every summer from 3rd grade to age 16, where if I remember correctly, you have to become a dish dog until you're 18, and then become a camp counselor. They have specialized camps too, like a horse training camp at their stable, or the sailing camp on the lake. They've got cool facilites: expansive woods, archery/firing range, obstacle courses, pool, beach, and tons of normal camp games and bonfires and songs, and teach a lot about nature. They reached out to me about being a counselor but I was in college by that point. I always looked up to the counselors there...so energetic, positive, accommodating, confident young adults, challenging us to get out of our comfort zone. I made some great friends, and met my first love there, helped me grow a lot. Wish them the best.