By:
Submission
A Swell Oasis in the desert of the San Rafael Swell: Swell Retreat. A great place to stay with your family reunion, youth group, corporate group with lots of fun on site and all around the area.
A pine tree farm was active prior to us purchasing the land, so lots of beautiful trees. A couple ponds stocked with large mouth bass. A Zipline, WIBIT, water slide, a field of hay, and continued improvements to make it into a Swell Retreat!!!
We are a great spot to stay and have onsite a zip line into Lake Elevate, water slide into the pond, adventure island, zipline, kayaking, paddle boarding,
catch and release fishing, and close to all fun in the San Rafael Swell.
20 min or so from three reservoirs for additional fishing, swimming and motor boating, 30 minutes from the Little Grand Canyon for breathtaking views, hiking and mountain biking, petroglyphs and the San Rafael Swell river to float on, 60 minutes from Goblin Valley, within 60 minutes to multiple slot canyons: Little Wild Horse Canyon, Muddy Creek, The Chute (similar to Zion National Park), Baptist Draw, to name a few.
Mountain fun for rock climbing just up the road in Joe's Valley, hiking, biking, fishing, etc. We would love to have you stay on our little farm while you enjoy the fun of the San Rafael Swell adventures.
Google maps seems to work the best so far: google Swell Retreat. Follow those instructions.
**Turn onto the county road 415, travel down till you see our sign on the left and turn into that driveway. Be sure to lock the gate behind you and travel up the road till you find the Little Lake Elevate on your left.
Camped here with some friends and stayed in the pond view site. The pictures on the site were deceiving for this camp spot, no trees or shade, or really a flat area for a tent. The only trees we had were around the fire ring. So it was hot and dusty, they have put a shade sail over a picnic table however the hot west sun doesn’t get shade with it. The directions were incorrect when they texted us and it sent us up a very muddy steep dirt road. The pond was fun and the activities kept the kids happy. The pond does not have any big trees to provide shade, there are two pavilions. The additional lawn games and trampoline were fun once the sun went down otherwise they are in full sun most of the day. The owner was pleasant to talk to and once he finally knew we were there was accommodating. I had really high hopes for this place but the lack of trees, shade, and being in mud really made it just an ok all around experience.
I went here with my family and cousins. We camped for two nights. It was a really, really awesome place! I don't usually write reviews, hardly ever, but this place was just so amazing I had to. I kept saying I would to my family because of how fun it was.
For starters, the lake itself was HUGE, it was much bigger than I had personally thought. There was plenty of room to have fun and play and it was not even close to overcrowded. There was even an hour or two our family had the lake to ourselves. (Even though all the camp sites were in use, I think.) I never had to wait forever for anything and had so much time to do my favorite stuff over and over. The lake isn't freezing, it was the perfect temperature, still very refreshing for the hot days we were there.
I loved the floating island! It was way more fun then I was expecting. There is a slide off of the high part into the water, a balance beam (And if you lose your balance then your just in the water, so its all good!) a fun climbing area, it was a blast! There was also a place to jump off from. I could spend all day just on that island it was so entertaining!
The zipline was so cool! It was long, fast, and you got to jump into the water from it, (If you wanted to) and it was soooooo scary but soooooo cool! And if your worried, there is a safety harness just in case if you want to use it. I didn't, but my mom did.
The slide was my favorite part. It was WAY bigger than I thought it would be, and it starts off kind of slow but then picks up so much speed and its really fun! You can go on it normally or use a blow up and if you use the blow up you can glide across the water many feet out! I was worried the slide would be overcrowded, but it wasn't! I rode it around 45 times for both days!
They also had many different types of boats and a really fun floating giant pad that I thought was just so fun to play on!
The person in charge is REALLY nice and welcoming, and the campsites themselves are so nice. I loved the swings at ours, (I don't think every campsite has those but ours did) and the lights around the campsite were fun as well. I also liked the trampoline and field to play in. (Those were for everyone)
I was also loving the hand washing stations by the porta potties. That way, you don't have to worry about sanitizer running out, you could just always wash your hands. It was very helpful for someone like me who is afraid of germs.
Overall, it was such a cool place! If your thinking about going, just go, its the greatest, and everyone had so much fun. My whole family agrees this was a super cool place. It FAR exceeded my expectations!
I scheduled a Young Men's camp at the Swell Retreat because of its proximity to Huntington Reservoir. However, the boys decided they'd rather spend the full time at the retreat we never made it to the reservoir. When the word got out that we were going to the retreat, we had boys changing plans and cancelling other activities so they could go. We ended up with a 100% attendance plus some extras and they were not disappointed.
We were there for two full days and the boys were never bored, and almost never slept. They caught over 200 fish between the 10 boys and a few leaders but spent most of the time in the water, on the Wibit, zip-line and slide. We got a nice campsite with room for tents and parking and a good fire ring, and it was not too close to other camper (always good if you are with young men).
Ben, the camp host, is pretty cool and seems to enjoy being a part of the action at the retreat. He met us and when over some basic rules and let us enjoy the place but always seemed to be accessible when we had questions.
Had a family reunion here. It was great!!!
Loved the grove of trees with all the lights that came on at night. The pond with all the water activities was a huge hit with the whole family.
The owners were great and checked in on us and made sure we had everything we needed. They picked up the trash daily and we never had to worry about it. They had porta-potties that were well maintained with a water station for hand washing.
Overall it was a great location- great amenities for camping- awesome water play- great place for family reunions, camps, get togethers.
Recommend it. 👍🏼
A great place for girls camp! Hosts were amazing, they offered great activities such as a fireside and goat yoga for our group.
The pond/lake was amazing. Paddle boards, zip line, slide, hours of fun!
The campground had plenty of flat ground for bigger tents.
The black stones and campchefs offered worked well and it was easy to make big meals for our group.
It was close to town but well hidden for lots of privacy.
I would come back in a heartbeat!
