Camp Spring Lake Story

Welcome to YMCA Day Camp Spring Lake, where adventure, community, nature, and well-being come together in harmony. Nestled amidst the serene natural beauty of prairies, dense woods, a forest hike right to the Mississippi & next to Dakota County’s the Mississippi greenway trail. We use the outdoors, adventure and exploration as a tool to experience nature, personal growth, and connection. 

YMCA Camp Spring Lake is the legacy site of YMCA Day Camp Sacagawea, which was located on McAndrews Rd in Apple Valley, MN.  Day Camp Sacagawea provided excellent day camp experiences for youth at Dakota County’s Camp Sacajawea Retreat Center through 2011 and had a strong community connection to the Hastings & Eagan YMCAs.  

Between the summers of 2011 and 2012, this Day Camp site needed to relocate due to growth and different needs and availability of spaces within the County parks system. Each summer from 2012 through today, the YMCA works with our invaluable community partner, Dakota County Parks to rent the Camp Spring Lake retreat center space & surrounding campsites to serve our community as YMCA DAy Camp Spring Lake each summer.   

In October of 2022 Dakota County received a small herd of bison as part of their plan to reintroduce American plains bison to the prairie. A grand opening of the bison to the public was celebrated on June 7th of 2023, right next to Camp Spring Lake just before our summer 2023 season began.  We look forward to continuing to grow our partnership with Dakota County parks, and all the learnings our campers and staff will be able to deepen through this partnership & opportunities to view the bison & learn more about the natural space we inhabit each summer.  

Land Acknowledgement 

YMCA of the North Camps respectfully acknowledge that we are on the appropriated homelands of Indigenous peoples. We recognize the perseverance and survival of Indigenous communities, who continue to live throughout this region. Each camp is working to build sustainable relationships with our Indigenous communities and endeavor to be responsible stewards of the sacred nature of their homelands. This land acknowledgement is one of the ways in which we work to educate our camp communities about this land and our relationships with it and each other.