Complete with trees, brush and plant life, Inspiration Hills provides an intimate experience with both nature and God at its location on 4819 West Easton Road in Burbank. Its purpose is to provide reclusiveness and solace, but that doesn’t mean the adventurous and exciting activities get lost in the foliage.

“We have 212 acres; most of it is wooded, so we have a lot of hiking, lots of nature exploration because of our ecosystems here. We have five different ecosystems on the camp property, along with several ravines for doing rock studies and that type of thing. That’s always a fun thing for people to do here,” explained Shannon Kahler, executive director for Inspiration Hills. “We also have a toboggan hill that is quite interesting to go down during the winter because it’s right off of our beach, but it’s down one of our large ravines. It’s a lot of fun for kids and adults.”

The campus boasts cabins and lodges for guests, tucked in the middle of the wilderness, but not too far from civilization, should any visitor require a latte in the midst of the outdoor submergence.

“We’re a year-round facility and we have different programs that come here, from preschool kids all the way through high school. Then, during the winter season, we have retreats for anybody who wants to be here. That’s usually adult groups; sometimes we host school groups during the week. We have outdoor education for the local schools here. Right now Northwestern schools is using us as their primary site for outdoor education and we’re trying to find a couple more local schools to use us as well,” Kahler continued.

Inspiration Hills features opportunities for conferences at the Maple Conference Center, and the Beechwood Dining Hall can serve groups of up to 175 with family style meals. The Dogwood Dormitory can also sleep 70 people among eight rooms. Cherry Lodge boasts overnight accommodations for 42 people and Pine Lodge can hold 24, both with meeting rooms.

“You can spend the night, you can spend the week, it just depends on what kind of program you have going on. Sometimes we do just family reunions, sometimes churches bring their youth here, sometimes they bring special groups here to do overnight stays and conferences,” Kahler said.

Unfortunately, the camp and retreat center is a pretty well kept secret, something Kahler is hoping to change.

“I think what makes it unique is just its place in this county with the different nature activities that we have to offer here. A lot of camps don’t have this much variety, as far as outdoor education is concerned. It’s also just a nice place to get away from everything,” she added.

A small lake and pond round out the campus, but they intend to revamp and continue improving.

“We are looking to replace a couple of our long term buildings, and also, we just started an athletic field last fall, that’s over on the other side of the ravine. And we’re hoping to add a recreation complex to the other side so that it’s attached to the athletic field. And we just built a new low ropes course,” Kahler said.

Further, the camp is owned by the Northern Ohio District of the Brethren, which guides their practice and informs the educational component of their camps.

“How that ties in is usually during the summer, for our own summer camps, we sponsor the Church of the Brethren summer camps, and this summer our theme is “got spirit,” so we’re tying that into how do kids show that they have the spirit of God living in them, even when you don’t tell anybody. So that’s a part of the denomination’s teachings,” Kahler explained with a smile. “I think just being away from everything, that’s the best part of this camp. It gives you time to reflect and time to think without all the business and pressure.”

For more information, or to schedule a visit, go to the website at http://www.inspirationhillscamp.org or call their office at 419-846-3010.