By Carol Fisher-Linn
“Find Your Wild” in Franklinville. Newly opened Bear Creek Lake Resort is accepting new RV campers/owners.
My young children spent many summers sleeping in a tent, picking wild berries for summer breakfast pancakes I made on the open-fire grill, spotting birds and wildlife including a bear or two, bathing in the pond, skipping stones on water, repeatedly rescuing our run-away beagle, Hilda, and making daily “WOW” discoveries revealed only by Mother Nature who knows best how to teach kids. These were idyllic times and linger long and strong in their now-adult memories, including campfires and s’mores. Those kind of memories, those reunions with nature, are part of the living, breathing DNA of Bear Creek, having been, in its first life, a camp for the Jewish Community Center of Buffalo since 1909. For ninety-eight summers, Camp Lakeland was home for that community, eight weeks of every year. A few came back and visited this summer and wistfully shared the indelible positive mark this land, this lake, this very spot in Franklinville, this communing with Mother Nature left upon each of them.
fi shing (bass, trout, perch, sunnies),
canoeing, kayaking, paddle boards with accessories
available in the welcome center.
In speaking with Jessica Raymond, Sales and Marketing Manager at Bear Creek, this writer discovered that she knows full well the importance of having a camping family or community, having raised her own brood with her spouse at camps for more than twenty years while working in the camping industry.
Naturally, a property that covers 750 acres and a 15-20 acre lake with “some on the best, secret fishing in the area” and awesome further-planned amenities requires main financial players who invest in the property and make the BIG things happen. But it also requires someone who understands the magic of unplugging, reconnecting with family, and of creating the generational legacy of an even larger family community. Everyone at Bear Creek understands that strong connection to nature through camping so they know what is needed to make your heart at home at Bear Creek Lake Resort.
Keith Turner, a Canadian investor and RV park owner, along with two local partners, Ryan Holland and Kyle Fisher, are bringing back the beauty of this hidden gem in Franklinville. The trio bought the former Woods at Bear Creek Glamping Resort property in June renaming it Bear Creek Lake Resort and dropped the glamping part (www.bearcreeklake.com). With a host of improvements on the drawing board, the most currently completed are the sports courts complex renovations. These include a basketball court, pickleball court, and roller hockey. The large recreation center building offers a large stage, and a fireplace to cozy up to. It is envisioned that by the 2026 season it will be in full swing with food trucks and farmers markets coming onsite, while inside bands will perform, a ping pong or maybe foozeball table and place for kids, adults or families to meet to play cornhole, bingo and board games or cards, watch movies and enjoy group gatherings.
The lake offers outstanding fishing (bass, trout, perch, sunnies), canoeing, kayaking, paddle boards with accessories available in the welcome center. If you are an owner and wish to kayak, you are welcome to bring your own. The Resort offers resort cabins, seasonal sites, transient RV campsites and cabin rentals (coming soon) designed to offer traditional family fun. Vacation at your pace, either lazy days by the pool or 40 miles of heart pumping ATV and Mountain bike trails, open only to those registered in the park. Ms. Raymond says with a wink and a smile, “The park is dog and cat friendly (leashed) as long as the pets are friendly.”
Come August 1, (season ends Oct. 31) RV rental site fees are reduced. Early sign-on for 2026 is also at a lower rate allowing RV campers their pick of the 80 sites being readied for next year. Fully furnished, airconditioned cabins will be up and running by next year as well. If you are thinking of retiring, or finding a second home for a quick getaway, look no further. There are deals for early comers who wish to purchase their own fully equipped “second home” without all the hassle and upkeep of one. Ultimately there will be sites for several hundred of these beautifully appointed lodgings which can be accessed year-round. Special provisions are being made for the first forty (The Founding Forty), giving them first pick for the ultimate lake front spots as they become available. Check online or at the camp for more information. Truly, this is a friendly facility that offers it all.