The first Muskegon Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Camp was conducted at Duck Lake in 1923. The next year in 1924, camp was moved to a site on Big Blue Lake, now known as Hiawatha Beach. The camp had adopted the name “Camp Williams” in honor of Sir George Williams, the founder of the YMCA in London, England. It was then renamed “Camp Pendalouan” in the 1930s. Since then Camp Pendalouan continued to show steady growth in enrollment, equipment, leadership, and program.
With 100 years of camping experience, Pendalouan provides quality programming dedicated to safety, fun, healthy living, and character development. Our programming focuses on instilling our values of honesty, caring, respect, and responsibility that help provide benefits of community and belonging for all. The Pendalouan community has a wide range of campers from all over West Michigan, the Chicago area, and from across the country. Camping at Pendalouan has been impacted by thousands of volunteers, staff, alumni, campers, families, and friends in the past century. We look forward to creating more memories and serving more campers in the years to come.