Let Your Wild Side Show

With all of the holiday craziness fast approaching, we find it important to take some time for silly fun.


Take a couple minutes to create your own wacky, wild thing to share with your family and friends to spread some lighthearted joy!


Happy Holidays from your Friends at Foley!

The Bear-Necessities

We all know about the squirrels, woodpeckers, and turtles who inhabit the woods around camp, but
today let us discuss a larger furry friend who also occasionally calls camp home- the black bear.

Found throughout most of the state, Minnesota is the proud home to nearly 20,000 of these big critters! Every couple of years or so we have the privilege of seeing a black bear near Camp’s grounds. Most often, the bear is just passing through, looking for tasty garbage to devour.

Speaking of “tasty” garbage, bears are as far as you can get from being fussy eaters. Aside from scavenging through dumpsters, black bears are herbivores - eating mostly fruitful berries and grasses, but also known to enjoy ants, grubs, and the occasional deer. Bears are attracted to areas with any available food source. This is why bear sightings happen in populated areas- they are simply searching for that next delicious meal. If bears continue to appear in an area you wish they did not, the best way to get rid of the bears is by removing whatever is attracting them. For example, if the bear is frequently knocking over your bird feeder, take the bird feeder away for a period and the bear will likely take your stop off his food route.

The terrain around Foley provides for an ideal natural habitat for black bears, complete with heavily wooded areas for cover and open fields for foraging. With adequate food supplies out in the woods, bears tend to stay clear of our view. Although relatively infrequent, bears do wander close to camp. One summer, a little fella would spend his days high up in the large tree at the top of the marina! Now that is neat! This particular bear never attempted to harm anyone, but remember- black bears are large, wild animals and should not be approached or intentionally aggravated!

If you have a desire to view wild black bears in close proximity, the Foley staff would suggest looking into the Vince Shute WildlifeSanctuary. During late summer/early fall, the black bears are bulking up in preparation for the winter season. Hundreds of black bears come to fill up in a single night, and if you listen closely, you may even here a cub calling out for her mama bear. The cubs hang out up in the trees in the woods and wait for the massive adults to finish feeding before they risk venturing in for a meal of their own.  Visiting this is definitely a memorable experience!

If you are not able to plan a physical trip to northern Minnesota, check out this wildlife webcam of a black bear and her cub at the North American Bear Center in Ely, Minnesota! 

Camper Blogs! Part 3

We have our third, and final, camper blogs! We hope you enjoyed last week's blogs by Cecelia and Esperanza. This week Sam and Celina share with us about trying new things and Treehouses! Here's what they had to say... 

Treehouses at Camp Foley.

Having Fun at Treehouses by Celina M. 

At Treehouses, you always have fun because you cook your own food, and you bond with your cabin. You go with your cabin and counselors. It's not an actual house on a tree. When I first went there, I actually thought that it was a house on a tree, and I thought, "Where do we go to the bathroom?" and all those other questions. When I got there I realized I was wrong. You sleep at the Treehouses for one night, and if you need to go to the bathroom you use the wilderness latrine. It's really fun, so come to Camp Foley. When I went there, I had a lot of fun because I played games with my cabin, and you talk about camp at night. It's completely safe. I recommend you bring a flashlight, sleeping bag, bug spray and more.  

Will you ring the cowbell?

Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone by Sam D. 

The reason why I think camp was created is because people wanted to have kids try new things and get out of their comfort zone. Not a lot of kids get to shoot a rifle at clay pigeons or have snakes slither around their arms.  Most kids never get to do this at their home. At least I don't. I love to go waterskiing and climb the climbing wall. I am usually afraid of heights, but I still tried anyway. Camp Foley does a very good job at making kids try new things, and nine times out of ten, the kids love the activity. Whether it's getting a bulls-eye in Archery or making as much noise as you can on a drum kit, the kids love the activities and come back next year. 

We hope you've enjoyed the camper blog posts! If you're a camper (or alumni) and would like to be a guest blogger just send an email to Fun@CampFoley.com! We'd love to share your stories with the Foley community!