Morning Program
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- Horseback
- Watersports
- Riflery
- Swimming Instruction
- Team Sports
- Fun and Games
- Wilderness Skills
- Arts & Crafts
AT CAMP MAC, WE DON’T DO “PONY RIDES.”
With over 40 horses, two open riding arenas, one covered arena, and ten miles of trails winding through the Talladega National Forest, our Western Riding Program is one of the largest in the South.
Campers who have ridden all their lives, and campers who have never been on the same side of the fence with a horse, learn new skills, face new challenges, and gain the confidence that comes with working hard to learn to do things they didn’t think possible.
Since our first summer in 1948, Horseback has been a vital part of our camp program. Camp Mac has always owned its horses – they aren’t leased. It costs more that way, but our horses are key members of our Horseback Crew, and we like to know our crew!
Our program and instructors are certified by the Dude Rancher’s Association (DRA), which certifies over 100 premiere Dude Ranches all across the West. In fact, Camp Mac’s riding program was the first program ever certified by the DRA.
We’ve been water skiing at Camp Mac since
Eisenhower was president, and Camp Mac was one of the first camps in the nation to offer the American Water Ski Association Camp Ski Program in the early 1960s.
Today, the Camp Mac Watersports Program offers a specialized program with 3rd Class through Expert levels in three different tracks – Skiing, Kneeboard and Wakeboard. Distinguished Expert is awarded to those campers who are able to pass Expert in each track. Campers must first pass a swimming test in the pool in order to take Watersports.
With 11 instructors and 3 ski boats on 2 private lakes, each boy and girl gets out on the water every other morning throughout the entire term. Over the course of the summer, over 100 campers learn to ski for the first time here “Among the Pines”!
Watersports are an exciting challenge for young and old campers alike! Who will ever forget that first ride on the kneeboard? That first time across the wake on the wakeboard? That first 360 on the trick skis? Or that first bust trying to dock-start on one?!
Riflery is one of the most popular activities
for both boys and girls. Consequently, our rifle range with nine firing stations and target returns sees more than its fair share of activity. In fact, over the course of a summer, Camp Mac campers fire more than 60,000 target rounds downrange.
Camp Mac is affiliated with the Civilian Marksmanship Program. Qualified Instructors teach the course with an overarching emphasis on the safe and proper handling of firearms. Campers must successfully complete qualification requirements with air rifles before moving up to .22 caliber target rifles. As they progress, campers earn certificates for each marksmanship level. And a free rifle is given to any camper who shoots a perfect score of 50!
Everybody likes to be cool in the pool,
so water safety is an important part of every camper’s training. Camp Mac swimming instruction is conducted in our large Junior Olympic 75’ x 35’ pool. Certified Lifeguards instruct campers in proper kick and stroke technique and breath control. For our older campers we also offer advanced courses in Basic Rescue and Survival Swimming.
It’s not all about instruction, though. There’s also time for fun. Underwater swimming with the “air buoy,” Sharks and Minnows, water basketball, our 52-foot-long waterslide, and preliminary competitions in diving and racing for the Camp Mac Swim Meet make for a summer full of swimming pool fun!
Need some work on your 3-pointer in basketball?
How about your set in volleyball? Or maybe you’d be set if you just had a few pointers on pitching a softball or catching a football!
These are a few of the things you might do in Team Sports, along with games like Team Handball or Ultimate Frisbee! You’ll experience the “Thrill of Victory” or the “Agony of Defeat” once you’ve experienced Bombardment and Capture The Flag at Camp Mac!
Hey, Camp Mac isn’t all fun and games… well… actually… maybe it is.
Fun and Games is exactly what it sounds like: having fun and playing games. You’ll have fun playing games like Beege Ball (GaGa Ball), Putt-Putt and Steal the Chicken! And you’ll have fun doing stuff like riding the Bucking Bull, going on a camp-wide scavenger hunt – and throwing the perfect pitch to dunk your friend (or your counselor) in the Dunk Tank! Our 60-foot-long, inflatable “Slip and Slide” always makes a big splash!
Here at camp, we live in the woods.
At Wilderness Skills, we learn about our home!
Rather than sitting at home with smart phones connecting them to the outside world, Camp Mac campers connect directly with the world outside!
Boys and girls learn to pitch a tent and tie the right knot for the job. They learn how to tell the difference between a Sourwood and a Dogwood (by it’s bark!) And how to tell a Coral Snake from a Scarlet King Snake (Red touches yellow, kill a fellow. Red touches black, friend of Camp Mac!)
Campers go on hikes to High Falls and Salt Creek Falls. They learn about the “bugs and the bees” (insect identification). And how to start a campfire – with or without a match!
You hear people talk about living in the “real world’. At Wilderness Skills, we take a break from the world that man made, and spend time learning how to live in and enjoy the real world. The world that was here long before we were!
Here at Camp Mac, everyone has an opportunity to nourish their inner Picasso.
Lucky Camp Mac Horseshoe Frames, carpenter bee catchers, stools, makeup boxes, tie-dyed T-shirts, lapboards, decorative flower pots, picture frames, and mug racks are just a few of the many things campers may create. With all this and more to choose from, each camper is sure to bring home an objet d’art that no home should be without!