We’d surveyed our Restless Viking followers asking them to name Great Lakes islands which we should explore. Neebish was a popular selection. Honestly, I hadn’t heard about Neebish Island before. I also hadn’t realized that the Pine River Canoe Camp had been housed there. Join us as we connect with the owners and tour the grounds!
From our research 63- 89 people inhabit the island year round. There’s only one store, which is at the campground. Freighters travel northbound on the east side of the island and southbound on the west. I was looking forward to our upcoming trip. But first, we had the my Meade family reunion to attend.
Steve and Cliff Borbas
These two brothers have been well known for their adventurous spirits and unique escapades. They follow our Restless Viking antics. I was so excited to talk with them!
“Where are you going next?” My Uncle Steve and his brother, Cliff, asked at our Meade Family Reunion. “Neebish Island.” Chuck and I answered in unison. (Uncle Steve prefers to be called, “Steve.” He is married to my Dad’s sister, Genevieve)
at the Meade Reunion on July 31st, 2021.
“That’s where our Canoe Camp was.” Cliff nodded. (pictured in the center of the group) “I ran it for over 30 years!”
“I had always thought your camp was in Colorado.” I furrowed my brow in shock! Steve and Genevieve, had lived in Colorado ever since I could remember. I didn’t know that this famous camp was in Michigan! Wow!
Pine River Canoe Camp – How It Started
“Well, Steve and I started the camp, then he moved.” Cliff clarified tipping his head toward his brother, Steve. “I was left to run it on my own.”
Cliff, a social worker, and Steve, a teacher, had worked in Okemos, Michigan. The brothers bought land on Neebish Island and began hauling supplies and building cabins.
Steve smiled, “I put a pontoon boat together at home, completely on my own. Then I disassembled it and brought it up north. There I reassembled it. We used it to deliver all our supplies ourselves. I remember it being loaded with lumber and tools to build the cabins. They were all rustic, but they served the purpose.”
Steve met Genevieve while teaching in the Lansing area. The pair bought a motel in Salida, Colorado shortly after getting married and relocated. They have made a wonderful team running the motel while teaching in the mountainous state. Cliff continued to work in lower Michigan and oversee Pine River Canoe Camp on Neebish Island from the late 1960’s until 1993.
I marveled at their ingenuity! The brothers had built everything! With wide eyes of amazement at this connection, I couldn’t wait to travel to Neebish Island and see the Pine River Canoe Camp!
Cousins’ Canoe Camp Capers
Three of my Meade cousins had attended Cliff’s camp several years in a row. Each enjoyed it so much that they returned as counselors as soon as they were old enough! Raucous laughter accompanied these tales!
Shauna recalled the rustic camp as a home base for a canoe excursion in Canada. The group had boarded a Canadian boxcar with their canoes. Then, the train dropped the crew off alongside a river. Next, they paddled through the wilderness pitching tents at night.
Bill laughed remembering being positioned at the helm of the pontoon boat loaded with young kids. They needed to cross the remarkably rough St. Mary’s River. It had been a relief to reach the shore of Neebish Island.
This rustic experience suited my brave cousins well! They grew in confidence and have raised their kids with an appreciation for nature.
Cliff said he would be at his the camp the same weekend we’d be on Neebish! We couldn’t wait to see the wooded land where so many young lives had been influenced!
Pine River Canoe Camp
After arriving on Neebish Island by a tiny car ferry, we located the path to Pine River Canoe Camp. Cliff had emailed us directions. The mile long trail was just large enough for a four wheeler. We set off on our hike to see this famous site.
As we trekked down the desolate path we noticed some downed trees and low hanging power lines from a recent storm. After ten minutes mucky mud revealed itself as the trail became overgrown. “Cliff?” we called into the breeze. A few moments later, “Look! Here’s a building!” DaViking announced. Birds answered and fluttered skyward.
They LOVED this place!
We continued through the swampy land locating four other cabins and two outhouses. It was a rustic camp!
Finding Cliff
From a distance a sturdier cabin sat quietly in the dappled light. It appeared to have electricity with a glow peeking from cracks as well as from the windows. This structure was more stable than any of the other buildings on the property even with gaps between the layered logs. “Cliff?” Chuck called out. “Yeah?” an answer was soon accompanied by the creak of the door opening.
Cliff had modified the cabin to suite his current needs. He had electricity and a wood stove. His tent was pitched on a platform inside. “Bugs are rampant.” He explained. A water well sat ready nearby. I was impressed with how he and his brother, Steve, had built these structures on their own.
The Tour
We stopped by the well and Cliff dropped his containers to fill on our way back to his cabin. Nearby stood the dining hall and outdoor kitchen area.
The food prep and cooking was done outside. There had been a tarp over the outdoor area. Campers participated in preparing their own meals.
“What did you like best about running the camp?” Chuck asked. “When everything came together.” Cliff explained the demanding job of organizing adventures, the campers, the gear and the food.
Cliff gestured to the shoreline, “We had devised a sauna, so campers could warm up after their swim.” This was so clever!
As a social worker in the Lansing area, it had been Cliff’s passion to build confidence in youngsters. I marveled at the effort it took to create such an entity as Pine River Canoe Camp. Cliff said he’d just sold the property to a man who had once been a camper. The gentleman now lives across the river in the upper peninsula. He doesn’t plan to build on the property and will allow Cliff to visit anytime.
Cliff Borbas had dedicated decades of making a difference in so many lives. Touring his Pine River Canoe Camp was an honor!
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14 thoughts on “The Secrets of Neebish Island: Part One – Pine River Canoe Camp”
Martha, thank you so much for creating this piece and sharing your experience on Neebish with readers. I LOVED seeing the photos. Such amazing memories of being a trip leader for the camp. I made lifelong friends from my time at PRC and have endless stories from my summers there. Cliff also used that camp as the base for training about 24 college students to spend 3 months canoeing down the Mississippi River in 1975. A profound life-altering experience for me, and what provided the foundation for my return for many summers after that. Cliff was always understated in his presence, unassuming, and his confidence in people was unwavering. He allowed people to grow in a supportive, yet challenging environment. I can’t thank him enough for his vision and his endurance in keeping that camp going for so many years. I will never forget.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I sense that Cliff has had an impact on so many lives! 😊
Absolutely!
Wonderful to read about Pine River Canoe Camp. I was fortunate to be a camper back in the late 70’s. It was such a unique experience. I never met anyone else that attended a camp like this. It taught me how to really work with all kinds of people, solve my own problems and have so much fun doing it.. thanks
I went to this camp! Can hardly believe that I found this blog!
I was a camper, did the Missinaibi River trip, the Colorado hiking trip twice, assorted canoe and biking trips… Too many amazing, freaking hilarious and soul enriching memories to share. In short- this camp changed and majorly elevated my life. Thank you Cliff, Barabara, fellow campers and Steve!!
Julie
@iggyandbo
Julie,
It’s amazing to hear your life empowering connection! I will share your comment with Cliff and Steve!
Martha
I was 10/11 when I went to this camp (late 80s’)… a bit to young for a 3 week camp experience, with such primitive accommodations. From the outhouse, hand pump for water, and the no wall mess hall for dinner each night. The summer I was there, there was an English cook, and all meals were made over an open fire/ stone fireplace. Needless to say, I had a lot of PB&J (we had to fish bees out of the Jelly). The last week I was there we did do a 4/5 night canoe trip, where we hard to portage over a lot of log dams, that would’ve be easy for older kids, but seeing how most of us were sub 13/14 years old, the counselors ended up carrying our canoes for us over each section. We ended the trip at Lake Superior, before busing back.
Capture the flag was the big game we played several nights, and there was a zip line… probably not the safest that kids went screaming across the open open field.
Roger,
Thank you for “painting this picture” of your time at the Adventurous Canoe Camp! What an incredible survival, confidence building experience!
I too went to Pine River Canoe Camp. I believe the first time I went it was their first year. I lived in Okemos, MI, and Cliff and Steve’s mother was my mother’s very best friend. I was sent to the camp when I was 12 while my family moved to Lexington, KY in 1967. That year the trip was actually on the Pine River and we would be met at each night’s campsite with a van holding tents, food, sleeping beds, etc. I went two or three more times, this time on wilderness trips, taking a train into Canada on one, and a van with a canoe tree trailer on another to who knows where. Much to our surprise we somehow always made it back to civilization after a few weeks of canoeing from one lake to another, crossing many portages along the way. And although we were legitimately lost on one trip, those were some of the most amazing times of my life.
Carey,
It’s amazing to know about your experiences! Thank you for sharing!
Martha
How do I contact Cliff Borbas? I’m a former camper who wants to thank him for the amazing experience(1974, 1975).
Henry,
I can forward your email and email address to Cliff.
Martha
First girlfriend (Rachel), first cigarette, first weed (stolen from counselor) and also learned great wilderness survival skills. Attended Pine River Canoe Camp 1974 and 1975 when I was 12 and 13 years old. That place was boy heaven!
Very cool. Thank you for these pictures. I was there in the late 70’s; took long canoe trips on the Missinaibi and the Albany rivers that Cliff organized. I also worked there as a quartermaster in 1980 or thereabout, same time as your cousins Shauna and Bill. Next time you see Cliff, tell him I said to thank him. The camp was a wonderful place.