About Us

Unplug. Get Outdoors. Get Closer to Christ.

Summer camp experience filled with new adventures, lifelong friendships, and lasting memories!

About Us

Who We Are

Our Story

Our Camp Director

Our Purpose

MAPLERIDGE Ranch is a Christ-centered summer camp tucked away on nearly 500 acres in upstate New York. For over 68 years, our mission has remained the same – to impact lives and lead young people to Jesus! Our focus is to create a positive learning experience while offering one of the most challenging and empowering programs available. Through outdoor activities like horseback riding, canoeing, hiking, and camping, we work hard to ensure each and every camper experiences new adventures in a safe environment, builds lifelong friendships, and discovers the love of Jesus Christ.

Our Vision

We desire that every camper:

Experiences new adventures
Builds life-long friendships
Discovers the love of Christ

What We Believe

The verbal, plenary inspiration and authority of the Scriptures.
The Holy Bible as the final authority on earth for all issues of doctrine and life.
God as a Trinity of three persons and one essence.
The Deity and Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ.
The Personality and Deity of God’s Holy Spirit.
The fall of man, the total depravity and subsequent guilt and universally lost condition of the human race.

Salvation as the free gift of God by grace through faith in the substitutionary blood atonement of Jesus Christ.
Permanency of salvation once received.
The physical, bodily resurrection of Christ from the dead.
The universal, invisible church composed of all believers.
The local church composed of immersed believers organized for the edification of the saints and spreading of the Gospel.
The local church as God’s primary instrument in accomplishing His work in this age.

MAPLERIDGE provides a nurturing and safe environment where children are able to openly express their faith and create a real and lasting relationship with Christ.

We are Mapleridge.

The average kid only spends 4 minutes a day outside. No wonder parents long for the world to be simpler. We’ve created a week-long summer camp experience with no technology, allowing kids to focus on adventure, friendships, and spending time with God on 500 acres of wilderness in upstate New York. At MAPLERIDGE, we strive to provide an environment where campers can gain confidence, accept responsibility, and grow spiritually.

MAPLERIDGE Ranch is a camp like you remember it – only better! With over 30 activities and skills to choose from, including horseback riding, paintball, kayaking, and archery, your child will get to try new things and make new friends. Your child’s safety is our top priority with staff background checks and a 24/7 nurse on site. Plus, we have 1 staff person for every 2 campers – far exceeding state standards! Our team loves seeing your child transform at camp. So this summer, let’s make some unforgettable memories together! Your child will fall in love with camp, and maybe fall in love with Jesus. Imagine a week with no stress, no homework, and no phone. Let the adventure begin!

Why Mapleridge?

For 70 years, our mission has remained the same – to impact lives and point people to Jesus. Our focus is to create a positive learning experience while offering one of the most challenging and empowering programs available. Through one-of-a-kind outdoor activities and engaging guest speakers, we work hard to ensure each and every camper has the best summer ever!

MAPLERIDGE, an oasis in a world of chaos…

You want your kid to have the camp experience you had? You’ve come to the right place! MAPLERIDGE is where the world is as it should be. Camp like you remember it – only better! Your child will fall in love with camp, and maybe fall in love with Jesus. Simply unplug from technology, and plug into God’s beauty. Why will your child have the best week of their year?

Our Counselors – They love being the Godly influence your child longs for. They come from all over the country to serve your child all week long. Most of our counselors are former campers, so they are uniquely equipped to understand our campers. Over the week, they will build trust with your child as they share adventures, share meals, share laughs and share struggles.You’ll see the change in your child after a week of Godly counselors pouring into them. And our counselors don’t have any other duties during the week. Their sole priority is your child. And our counselor to camper ratio is one of the lowest in the country (2.5:1). Of course, every counselor has been thoroughly vetted with background checks, face 2 face interviews and references.

Our Skills & Activities – You want skills & activities? We got ‘em! Over 30 options to experience. Ride a horse in the morning, kayak after lunch, and enjoy a pool party during FLEX time – just another day at camp. You’ve always wanted to take your child camping and fishing. We’ll take care of it for you. We even have paintball! After a week at camp, your child may never be the same, because it’s fun like it’s supposed to be. Culture wants your kid to grow up faster; we want them to just be a kid for a week. And the memories will stick for a lifetime.

Our Camp Setting – With 500 acres to explore in beautiful upstate New York, MAPLERIDGE is a special place. Some even call it holy ground. For over 65 years, campers have been coming from across the country to forget about life’s worries and feel God’s presence. At MAPLERIDGE, anxiety of life is replaced with anticipation of adventure. Your child can experience the world as it should be – filled with love, laughter, and life change. Slowing down is a lost art that your child will love. Our results – nothing gives us more joy than to see the transformation of your child from Opening Day to the last day. The shy kid you dropped off will greet you enthusiastically with “Mom, you’re not going to believe what I did this week!” Campers gain confidence, build character, and live out compassion. After a week at camp, your child may never be the same.

Our Pricing – Parents consistently use 3 words to describe MAPLERIDGE: adventure, awesome, and affordable! Your child will experience priceless memories; at a price you can afford. We’re able to keep our pricing affordable because of our incredible donor family. Whether sponsoring a camper, donating to our expansion efforts, or making sure our operating budget is met, this group of outrageously generous people never cease to amaze us. If you would like to become a member of our donor family, click here.

Our Savior – MAPLERIDGE is a Christ-centered camp. No phones and 500 acres of God’s creation means deeper conversations and spiritual growth. It’s hard not to feel closer to God at camp. Our speakers are some of the best youth pastors in the country who will help your child grow more confident in their identity in Christ. A week at MAPLERIDGE may be the best gift you ever give your child. Stepping on our campus at MAPLERIDGE is like stepping back in time: good old summertime fun and adventure. We all wish we could turn back time. Now for one week, you can. What are you waiting for?

How It All Began

The conversation that began in 1955 between Dale Linebaugh and Bob Monell was only the beginning of what is now MAPLERIDGE Ranch today. They never could have fathomed how almost 60 years of ministry would change the lives of thousands of campers.

Bob had a burden to reach the young people of Owego, NY for Christ and Dale had a vision that a Christian camp could meet that need. These two men and their wives committed to the vision that would eventually become a reality.

“HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED A CHRISTIAN YOUTH RANCH?” DALE ASKED. “NO, WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ONE?” REPLIED BOB.

El Rancho de Paz

Dale was earning his doctorate at the time and desired a good western name for the Ranch. After some input from his Spanish professor, the two decided on the name El Rancho de Paz, meaning “the ranch of peace.” The Ranch would operate under the corporate name “The Haven of Peace.”

The work to create El Rancho de Paz was long and hard and came with much sacrifice. Dale’s wife, Opal, and Helen not only gave their time and skills, but also their dishes and silverware. That first summer, all the camp meals were prepared and served in the kitchen and dining room at Bob and Helen’s farmhouse on the property. Dale and Opal took out a loan on their car to obtain cash to meet camp needs. An immense amount of work and sacrifice went into that first year of El Rancho de Paz.

Bob had been a farmer for many years and had put up his farmland for sale to become an evangelist. When plans for the Ranch evolved, his wife, Helen, and he decided to not sell the property, but rather use it for the Ranch.

Renovations

One of the chicken coops became the outhouse. Another chicken coop, two stories high, became the girls’ bunkhouse. The second story of the barn (the red chapel building of today) became the boys’ bunkhouse. A cement addition was put on the barn large enough to make separate washrooms for the boys and girls.

The main floor of the barn was the chapel and the game room. The basement of the barn had previously been used as a calf pen and was full of manure. A local teenager named Phil Card volunteered to clear the two feet of “fertilizer” out of the basement. He went on to have a successful business, “Phil’s Chicken House.” That basement was renovated and became the dining room, Hitching Post (snack and game room) and craft shop.

All information adapted from Dr. Dale Linebaugh’s autobiography, Come Ride With Me. To purchase a copy of this book, click here.

MAPLERIDGE RANCH

The Ranch has come a long way since that first summer in 1955. It has endured times of abundance and times of need, sustained changes in leadership, and now even has a new name, MAPLERIDGE Ranch. There have been highs and lows in its almost 60 years, but the Ranch has consistently remained true to its original vision of reaching teenagers for Jesus Christ. With only 17% of the Northeast U.S. population attending an evangelical church, the “harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Luke 10:2).

Today, the Ranch has the same needs it did back then: men and women to be willing partners in the ministry. The hundreds of volunteers and workers sacrificing their time and providing their skills are what have kept the Ranch going and thriving.

Meet Chief

Duane R. Blasdel (AKA “CHIEF”) is the full-time Camp Director for MAPLERIDGE Ranch. He has been involved in Student Ministry and working with kids for over 15 years and is a proud graduate of Liberty University. He is married to his Camp Sweet Heart, Tiana, who he met here at the Ranch in 1996. They have four beautiful daughters. Prior to becoming the Camp Director in 2012, he served as Student Pastor in Tampa and Nashville.

Duane is no stranger to the Ranch; his father, Mr. Pat, faithfully served here as Camp Director for over 34 years! Duane loves students, loves camp, loves the outdoors, and loves seeing God work in the lives of others. Oh… and he loves his Chacos and Starbucks Coffee!