YMCA Camp Torch Hayo-Went-Ha on Torch Lake

There is something increasingly important about giving boys the opportunity to step away from screens, spend meaningful time outdoors, and experience real adventure alongside other boys their age. For more than 120 years, YMCA Torch Camp Hayo-Went-Ha has provided that opportunity.

Located on the shores of beautiful Torch Lake in Northern Michigan, Torch Hayo-Went-Ha is a historic, single-gender residential camp for boys where generations of campers have experienced the traditions, friendships, challenges, and wilderness adventures that make Camp unforgettable.

While much has changed since Torch Hayo-Went-Ha was founded in 1904, the heart of the experience remains remarkably traditional. Boys live together in cabins, eat meals together, gather around campfires, spend their days outdoors, hike and canoe into the wilderness, and learn how to be part of a community. Camp gives kids the time and space to simply be kids.

A Summer Unplugged

At Torch Hayo-Went-Ha, campers have the increasingly rare opportunity to disconnect from technology and reconnect with each other and the outdoors. There are no phones competing for their attention. Instead, days are filled with face-to-face friendships, time out in nature, campfires, laughter, challenges, and adventures.

The cabin group is at the heart of this traditional Camp experience. Boys live and learn together, developing responsibility, independence, communication skills, and an appreciation for what each person contributes to the group.

Our historic motto, Each for All, All for Each, continues to guide Camp today. Boys learn to support one another, contribute to their cabin community, and discover what it means to be part of something bigger than themselves.

Wilderness Adventure Sets Torch Hayo-Went-Ha Apart

For more than a century, wilderness adventure has been central to Torch Hayo-Went-Ha.

Beginning at Camp and extending into some of the most beautiful wilderness areas in Michigan and Southern Canada, campers progress through increasingly challenging outdoor experiences. Canoeing, backpacking, biking, sailing, camping, and extended wilderness trips give boys opportunities to test themselves, solve problems, work as a team, and experience the satisfaction of accomplishing something difficult.

Before heading into the wilderness, campers learn the skills they need to travel safely and responsibly. They learn how to use and care for equipment, prepare for their wilderness destination, understand wilderness safety, and recognize the responsibility each person has to the success of the group.

These are traditional Camp experiences with lasting value. Campers learn by doing.

The Best of Traditional Camp on Torch Lake

Back at Camp, boys experience the activities that have defined summers at Torch Hayo-Went-Ha for generations. Campers can choose from sailing, swimming, canoeing, kayaking, archery, arts and crafts, nature, soccer, ultimate frisbee, tennis, basketball, and more.

Our extraordinary location on Torch Lake makes the waterfront a centerpiece of daily life. Campers learn new skills, challenge themselves, and spend their summer outside in one of Northern Michigan’s most beautiful settings.

Campers can even experience Discover SCUBA, learning the fundamentals before having the opportunity for an open-water experience in Torch Lake.

Positive Role Models and a Strong Cabin Community

Our staff are mature, dedicated young men who serve as positive role models for our campers, and many grew up at Hayo-Went-Ha as campers themselves. Campers live in small cabin groups of 6–8 boys with two leaders, including international staff who bring additional perspectives and experiences to the Camp community. This strong staff-to-camper ratio allows our counselors to truly get to know each camper, provide individual attention and encouragement, and create a supportive environment where boys can grow in confidence and independence.

A Place Where Traditions Still Matter

There is something powerful about knowing that boys today are paddling the same waters, gathering around campfires, singing many of the same songs, traveling through the wilderness, and living the same Each for All, All for Each philosophy as generations before them.

Camp provides something that can be difficult for boys to find today: time away from screens, meaningful independence, genuine friendships, positive role models, outdoor challenge, and a connection to the natural world.

They get dirty. They paddle across lakes. They sleep under the stars. They laugh with their cabinmates. They sit around campfires. They discover they can do hard things in a safe place. And they return home with greater confidence, independence, and stories they will tell for years.

Historic. Traditional. Unplugged. Single-gender. Wilderness-based.

Some experiences are too important to miss. A summer at Torch Hayo-Went-Ha is one of them.