Camp Greilick Updates

Blog and Real-Time Updates

December 9, 2025

The park is open! The very best way to stay up to date on all things Greilick is to sign up for our monthly newsletter by CLICKING HERE. 

September 29, 2025

We are taking a momentary hiatus from updating this blog because we'll soon be migrating to a newsletter format! Not to worry, the content and pictures you've come to know and love will continue, just straight to your inbox (with archives still available). More to come as soon as we get trained up on the new platform!

September 19, 2025

Saturday's event went very well- we filled two 30 yard dumpsters plus a metal dumpster with obsolete items. Cleanup at the waterfront was completed, along with organizing at some of our "behind the scenes" areas. We are already working on setting workbee dates for 2026, so stay tuned for that as well as a few more exciting opportunities for this fall.

Let's talk waterfront. The Camp Greilick property actually has frontage on three lakes: Spider, Bass, and Rennie. However, Rennie Lake is the only one with true access from within the park's trail system. County park rules prohibit launching of outside watercraft from county property into any of the three lakes. In the future, we hope to offer paddlecraft rentals on site. 

For now, when we open there will be two Rennie Lake access points: a fishing beach on the north side of the lagoon, and a swimming beach on the south side. 

On the south side, there is a trail past Besser Lodge down to the swimming beach. As mentioned above, this area was recently cleaned up and cleared of old decking. 

On the north side, we are in the final stages of trail development that includes the addition of stairs for erosion control. There is an additional component of this project which involves revegetating an old two track that runs parallel to the water and then up the hill closer to the main developed area. This will take some time and energy to ensure that we plant the right species for the environment and create notices to the public to avoid these areas being restored. The picture below is of this restoration area, looking out towards the main body of the lake. 

This week we also posted the Caretaker position. If you know a rock star multi-tasker who'd love to call Camp Greilick their home, pass the link along!

September 12, 2025

We're spooling up for our last large Saturday volunteer event of the season and it's not too late to sign up! Click here for more details. We're hard at work adding signage, continuing general site cleanup, and performing maintenance on the future Caretaker cabin (and the Caretaker job opening will be posted soon on the county's website). 

September 5, 2025

With the approval of Camp Greilick's site plan by the East Bay Township Planning Commission, we are in the final stages of preparing to open. We can't wait to see you at the park! In the meantime, here are some FAQs:

Q: When can I visit?

A: Soon, but an opening date is not set yet. We are still working on a few safety, signage, and infrastructure improvements.

Q: What will be available when I visit Camp Greilick?

A: When we open, we anticipate that there will be hiking, human foosball, a children’s play area, disc golf, a basketball hoop, and water access for swimming and fishing.

Q: Are there restrooms?

A: There are currently two porta-potties located in the main parking area. More restrooms will be available in the future when camps and programming begin. 

Q: My organization/school would like to hold an educational class, field trip, or camp at the park. How do I set that up?

A: Please CLICK HERE to complete the interest form to receive more information.

Q: I want to hold a wedding or party at Camp Greilick. How do I set that up?

A: We are currently only taking reservations for education and programming groups. As Camp Greilick’s main mission is to create a space for outdoor education and recreation, groups providing those services have early access to reserving spaces. We will announce when public reservations become available. Keep in mind that for private events, the following restrictions are in place: 50 person maximum, 7:30 end of amplified music/end of event, no open/cash bar or alcohol exchanged for money is permitted.

Q: Can I tent / RV camp at Camp Greilick?

A: Although historically Camp Greilick hosted Boy Scout Campers, we are not quite ready to tackle the logistics involved with this. In the future, we may offer group camping experiences.

Q: When the park has been opened, will my dog be welcome?

A: Yes, properly leashed dogs are welcome in all our parks.  We will also have dog waste bags available near the parking lot for your use.

Q: Will the archery, small arms and shotgun ranges be available for use?

A: We are not making those ranges available during our initial phase. The ranges will be fenced off when the park has opened and we ask that you do not enter those areas. In the future, those may be open as part of organized programming only. 

Q: How many people can stay overnight in the group cabins?

A: The group cabins each have three bunk beds and one full sized bed so there are beds for eight guests.  We are allowing up to 10 people per cabin for overnight stays and your group is welcome to bring cots or air mattresses to set up in the cabin.

What other questions can we answer? Email us at gtparks@gtcountymi.gov

August 29, 2025

The Site Plan Review for Camp Greilick will be reviewed by the East Bay Township Planning Commission on Tuesday September 2 at 6:30 PM at the East Bay Township Hall. The full packet is available on their website.

We've been busy at Camp preparing for opening and working on "exciting" things like signage, information cards, restrooms, staff office area, and parking lot striping. It's certainly starting to feel a lot like fall out here but the leaves aren't in agreement with that just yet, so we'll save pictures for another day. 

August 21, 2025

If you haven't tried the Merlin app yet, you should! The screenshots on the left hand side show nine species identified by the app during a four minute period at Camp Greilick! While not 100% accurate, it's pretty close, and quite interesting to learn about the species nearby. 

At the bottom of this page in the document center, two items have been added: a redlined version of the Draft Operations and Management plan that reflects changes made after the 8/14 meeting, and a clean copy that incorporates the redlined changes. 

August 15, 2025

The Grand Traverse County Parks and Recreation Commission met yesterday and voted to formally name the park "Camp Greilick." Additionally, they voted to support the Camp Greilick Operations and Management Plan. Key points of the plan are listed below. The plan will go through several more administrative steps and legal review before being finalized. 

• Private rentals are limited to 50 guests with no alcohol sales or open/cash bars permitted, amplified music to end at 7:30 PM and event venue to be vacated by 8:30 PM.
• During year one at a minimum, multiple venues will not be rented out at the same time to ensure staff has the opportunity to understand and successfully manage usage patterns for benefit of the park and surrounding community.
• All rentals are submitted on a request basis rather than self serve so that there are staff touchpoints to review park-wide usage at any given time.
• No amplified music will be permitted in the pavilion.
• Park activities that occur for educational purposes or public benefitted will be vetted by staff prior to approval.
• Any planned park activities or events must still preserve a significant portion of parking for public access and use.

Another successful workbee was held yesterday with the primary focus on removing old "foot golf" baskets that could present a hazard to wildlife. The next workbee, led by Scout alumni, will be held on Saturday September 13 with a number of projects planned!

August 7, 2025

Operations and Management Plan Update- If you scroll to the bottom of this page you will find the latest draft (8-4-25) of the Camp Greilick Operations and Management Plan. This draft will be discussed at the Grand Traverse County Parks and Recreation Commission’s regular meeting on August 14 at 5:30 PM in the Commission Chambers at 400 Boardman Ave.  

Parks Commission Members and Staff have worked hard to operationalize a vision for the park that considers all 96,000 residents in the county while still taking into account preserving quiet and the character of the neighborhood. Here are some key things to know about the plan: 

• Public parks are a use by right in the Lakes Area; the park plan is consistent with both historic uses of Camp Greilick and primary/accessory uses of a public park
•  Private rentals will need to end amplified music by 7:30 PM and vacate their venue by 8:30 PM
•  Private rentals are capped at 50 people, regardless of which venue is rented 
• Private rental customers are not permitted to sell alcohol 
• Legal alcohol consumption is permitted as per state law and current park rules
•  Quiet hours begin at 9:00 PM throughout the park 
• Camp Greilick has 103 parking spaces, with no plans to expand parking 
• As a public park, Camp Greilick will support programming for public benefit and educational purposes. There are no “caps” on this, however, staff will complete a vetting process to ensure that public events still meet the mission while not causing negative effects
• Archery and shooting sports, while both historic uses of the property, will be implemented in a future phase, and only as part of structured programming offered by a qualified provider

Merriam-Webster offers the following definition of recreation:  

refreshment of strength and spirits after work; also: a means of refreshment or diversion 

The plan presented allows for many different individual expressions of recreation without being overly prescriptive on how recreation activities should be carried out, so long as they are safe, legal, and respect the intent and character of the park and surrounding community.  

August 1, 2025

Disc Golf Course- All tee pads are now in, next steps include installing signage and complete the cleanup along fairways.

Volunteering- We have two upcoming volunteer workdays: August 14 and September 13. To sign up CLICK HERE

Chapel- Just to the south of the Fire Bowl lies this unique structure which historically was a home for services (not always on Sunday since arrival was typically on Mondays and Departures on Saturdays!). We met a couple at the June volunteer workbee who had been married at the Chapel years ago! As you can see in the picture, the volunteers did a fantastic job clearing the area of leaves and debris. Next steps for this space include a good pressure washing and repair of the steps leading to this area (outside of the frame of this picture, to the right). 

July 25, 2025

Site Plan Review and Operations Planning- The Parks and Recreation Commission met yesterday for a Study Session and held continued conversation about the draft Operations and Management Plan. That discussion will be picked up next at the Commission's regular meeting on August 14 at 5:30 PM in the Commission Chambers. 

Disc Golf Course- We can't thank Aloft Disc Golf enough for their continued volunteer time as we prepare our first county-owned disc golf course. Today was a very exciting day as we have begun pouring the new tee pads! All work to design and prepare the course was done as a partnership between the county, Aloft, and the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy with respect to the conservation easement. 

July 17, 2025

Volunteer work- This past weekend's volunteer day saw safety improvements made to the rifle and archery ranges as fencing and signage around the perimeters of both. These ranges are not scheduled to open anytime soon, and when they do open they will only be available as part of structured programming requiring pre-registration. Possible uses include youth firearm safety or competitive archery. 

Upcoming study session- The Parks and Recreation Commission will hold a study session on July 24 at 5:30 PM. This is a public meeting, and all stakeholders are invited to attend. Details can be accessed by clicking here. 

July 11, 2025

Check out this sweet little one who greeted our team at the cabins yesterday!

Last night the Grand Traverse County Parks and Recreation Commission held their regular monthly meeting and reviewed the draft Operations and Management Plan for Camp Greilick. This document holds important information about how the park will operate and provides greater detail as our team has thought through the opportunities and challenges at Greilick. If you scroll to the bottom of this page you will find a link to this document. The Parks and Recreation Commission will be holding a study session for further discussion within the next month. The date for this will be announced once the meeting space is confirmed. Information on meeting time, date, and location will be posted on the county's agenda page as well as on this page. This will be an open meeting and include public comment opportunities. As it is a study session, no formal action will be taken by the Commission at this meeting.  

The Operations and Management Plan will then become part of the Site Plan Review Application that will be made to East Bay Township. This is tentatively planned for September but may change depending on submission deadlines. 

June 27, 2025

This past Saturday's volunteer event saw about 60 folks out at Greilick- cleaning up the waterfront, leafblowing, mowing, scraping benches, making roadways safe for emergency vehicle access, and more! 

June 20, 2025

Tomorrow is our first scheduled volunteer workday and we have a variety of projects planned. If you can't make it tomorrow, there will be another opportunity on July 12, details below!

June 13, 2025

This week Camp Greilick hosted a SEEDS crew to work on trailbuilding of the Land Conservancy designed "Lagoon Loop." They also replaced rotted steps leading to Chipmunk, Great Owl, and Raccoon cabins. 

June 6, 2025

On Monday we hosted a volunteer group that brought much needed TLC to the human foosball court that is located on site. A little googling revealed that very few parks can say that they have a human foosball court- we feel very lucky to have one and can't wait to share it with the public! 🌞

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER! ✨✨✨✨✨

May 30, 2025

Exciting news! We have officially launched our Camp Greilick volunteer signup. After going through the property with a fine-toothed comb we have identified a number of volunteer projects that can help us get the park open sooner rather than later. Click here or scan the QR code below to sign up, we hope to see you soon!

May 23 2025

June is sneaking up on us quickly, although the weather today has us thinking otherwise. Here's what June is shaping up to look like at Camp Greilick:

• Two volunteer groups are coming in to do targeted cleanup and restoration
• Sketch Plan Review is at East Bay Township Planning Commission on June 3
• A SEEDS crew is coming to work on rebuilding stairs and trails for two weeks 

May 16, 2025

This week the trails workgroup reconvened on site to map out the mountain biking, hiking, and disc golf trails. The team is about 90% done planning and will be finalizing maps soon. We have participation from the Land Conservancy, Conservation District, TART, Northern Michigan Mountain Bike Association, Aloft Disc Golf, North Country Trails Association who all work together to create a cohesive plan. 

May 9, 2025

It was a busy planning week over at the Camp! We met with half a dozen groups this week alone about scheduling volunteer or partner workdays. Parts of the disc golf course have now been flagged and will be reviewed by the Land Conservancy next week to ensure compliance with the conservation easement that is in place on property. We are also drafting a management plan for the course that will be submitted to the Land Conservancy for approval. The plan addresses things like how the fairway will be maintained, any planned seasonal cleanups, and more. 

We submitted a Sketch Plan Review presentation to the East Bay Township Planning Commission. This will be presented on June 3. The presentation can be found at the bottom of the page. If you have questions that we can help answer about what this process is or any elements of the presentation, please contact us at (231) 922-4803 or ceule@gtcountymi.gov. Have a great weekend and enjoy this beautiful sunshine! 🌞

May 2, 2025

We've got a quick fun fact for you this week. Did you know that the County owned portion of Camp Greilick alone is home to about 36 keyed buildings? As you can imagine, a camp can accumulate many many keys over the years. Below are just a few that we've found. 

April 25, 2025

We spent a good portion of this week internally brainstorming and recalibrating plans for Camp Greilick that will allow us to open the park to the public this year without AmeriCorps NCCC assistance. The AmeriCorps model would have allowed us to knock out a number of large and daunting tasks. We are now focused in on how to break those large tasks into chunks that can be tackled by fewer people over longer periods of time. This is the part where we tell you how you can help and get involved! We are now actively seeking volunteers. Based on your availability, skill set, and number of volunteers you can provide, we will plug you in with projects that are a best fit for you. We will be the first to admit that we're figuring this out as we go and don't have all of the answers yet, but what we CAN promise is a rewarding experience in what we think is a pretty magical place. Details below on how to get in touch with us to volunteer at Camp Greilick!

April 18, 2025

This week we welcomed Travis, the newest member of our Parks team. Second day on the job, we had to find his name on the Indian Drum Lodge Chiefs list at Camp Greilick! We are thrilled to have Travis' knowledge and skill set as we bring Camp Greilick online.

Unfortunately, we also received some difficult news this week as well: We are disappointed to hear that the AmeriCorps NCCC program has been demobilized. As a result, their upcoming deployment to Camp Greilick has been cancelled. Please bear with us as we work on alternate ways to structure the volunteer training, time, and labor needed to reopen the camp. We will be coming back to you soon with more information on how you can get involved.

April 11, 2025

Happy Sunny Friday! It's finally starting to feel a little bit like springtime, and it was a glorious day to be on-site at Camp Greilick. We have been regularly meeting with representatives from hiking, mountain biking, conservation, and disc golfing. Each week, we walk the property from the perspective of one of those user groups so that we can gain insight and create a space that mutually respects user groups' needs, while still providing a quality recreation experience AND being good environmental stewards- YES, you can have all of those if you work at it! Here is the planning team, mapping things out before hitting the trails:

And hey, we found another surprise out on the trail that we are absolutely STOKED to bring back to life: a pump track! Here, John is showing Steve which way it was designed to ride. This pump track was actually built by former Caretaker Cliff Wagner. It's tough to make it out under all of the leaves currently, but we're excited to spruce it up. 

April 4, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Grand Traverse County Parks and Recreation to Host AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps Team in May and June

(Traverse City, Michigan – Grand Traverse County) – 

AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) has partnered with Grand Traverse County to prepare to re-open the former Camp Greilick property to the public. The county has capacity to manage the property on an ongoing basis, and is engaging AmeriCorps to support the work needed to prepare the site for safe and enjoyable use. The team members will provide an estimated 2,800 hours of service during their time here. This project will include clearing and reconstructing approximately 2.25 miles of multi-use trails, as well as restoring 1.75 miles and 18 holes of disc golf course. Included in this project is preparing the property to increase ADA accessibility, adding fifty signs for wayfinding, improving the interiors and usability of six cabins, and revamping the historic Besser Lodge. Members will gain skills in trail work, sustainable design, project management, and more while serving on this project. Additionally, Camp Greilick is a phenomenal location for value-added service learning experiences related to partnerships, community engagement, and program development. The team will document their progress throughout the project and present to community groups during their time in Grand Traverse County. 

“This crew will be the catalyst that allows us accomplish the significant work needed to open Camp Greilick for public trail and disc golf use in 2025,” said Cara Eule, Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation. Grand Traverse County Parks and Recreation is holding a food and supply drive to help stock the cabins for the AmeriCorps members- information is attached to this press release. 

The Camp Greilick property has a storied history as a Boy Scout camp and was acquired by the county in August 2024 after sitting vacant for years. It will eventually provide unique park amenities including multi-use trails, a site for community partners to host outdoor and environmental education opportunities, on-site lodging, and pavilion/lodge rental. The phased opening of the property is guided by a Park Master Plan that was developed with extensive community feedback and many months of work by the Parks and Recreation Commission. “We are honored to bring this special piece of property into our parks system and make it available for the public to create lifelong memories and enjoy outdoor recreation and education, just as it has for many decades,” said John Chase, Director of Parks and Facilities for Grand Traverse County. 

The overarching park vision is to protect and preserve the conservation value of the property and dedicate it as a public space where county residents and visitors can experience passive and active outdoor recreation, learn to be better stewards of the environment, and develop skills to improve their outdoor experience. The valuable work of this AmeriCorps NCCC team will give Camp Greilick new life as a safe and enjoyable park for all residents to enjoy.

Want to get involved?