The History of Young’s Wilderness Camp

Our Start

Young’s Wilderness Camp started in 1936 and is believed to be the second camp to be established in what is now Nestor Falls.

In 1932, Clyde Young and his wife Emma left Chicago to come to Canada and start a fishing business. Clyde, known as “Cy”, had been on a couple of fishing trips with friends and decided to locate on Crow Lake. At that time, the highway ended at the falls (in Nestor Falls), so from there, they went by boat on Lake of the Woods to Sabaskong Village, then known as Crow Portage. They walked across the mile portage to Crow Lake, where they arranged to have a boat take them 5 miles north and picked a spot that looked ideal for a fishing resort. 

2 years later, a prospector for the Ventures Mining Company found a vein of gold that ran right under Young’s Camp. They purchased the land from Young and allowed them to purchase a better location on Stevens Bay, on the Lake of the Woods.

Young’s also operated a restaurant and kept staff year round. Their camps operated on the American Plan, and their staff included a cook, chore boy, waitresses, cabin girls and guides.

By this time, construction of the Fort Frances-Kenora Highway was well underway. Young built another resort five miles south on Crow Lake, near the new highway. This way, he could easily access the Lake of the Woods camp, where they kept a boat to transport guests to their island camp.

When Youngs first opened the Lake of the Woods camp, the guests would leave their cars at Crow Lake, walk the one-mile portage to Lake of the Woods, and then travel one mile by boat to the camp. All supplies and luggage were taken across the portage by horse and wagon for the first few years. Once a better road was constructed, they used a tractor and trailer, and as time went on, the road was developed enough for cars so the guests would drive right to the landing.

Growing in Notoriety 

Over the years that followed, Lake of the Woods became known by leading sportsmen as one of the best destinations for fishing. Several of the world’s largest muskies have been caught in Stevens Bay, and Walleye, Smallmouth Bass and great Northern Pike are in abundance. Most of the camp’s clientele were, and still are, from the Mid-Western and Southern states.

In 1936, the Youngs brought their nephew Jimmy Gleason into the business as a manager. This left Clyde and Emma free to travel to the United States in the winter to solicit business and oversee the building of additional cabins in their camps. The highway into Kenora was also completed, and the Youngs built another camp at Sioux Narrows, 23 miles north of the Crow Lake Camp. This camp was operated for about five years and then sold to Dr. Motlong. It is still operated by the Motlong family as the Rod and Reel Camp.

Year by year, Nestor Falls was expanding - other camps were built, and other businesses were opening. A school was built, two churches, a community hall and private residences for people employed by the expansion. It was an exciting time!

 

 

A Slow Down
and Change of Business

Things were really booming until the Second World War broke out and slowed down the activity. Most of the guides joined the Armed Forces and the girls who had been employed left for the cities to do factory work for the Government. Jimmy left to serve the US Army, so Cy took over as Special Constable for the community along with the operating of his camps. The camp business had slowed down considerably, but most of the camps were able to keep going until the war ended. The First Nations people were their only salvation so far as guiding and camp work were concerned.

In 1945, the Youngs sold their Crow Lake Camp and bought the property just across the highway - at the entrance to their portage road to the Lake of the Woods landing. They constructed a winter home, an office and later a small motel to be used for the overflow from their Lake of the Woods Camp.

New Ownership

When the War ended, there was a huge influx of American fishermen and hunters, along with other tourists, to Canada. Jimmy returned from the war where he and his wife Hilda took over the management of the Lake of the Woods Camp. They purchased the camp in 1961, and Jimmy passed away 2 years later, so Hilda sold the camp in 1965 to Don and Millie Schmidt. 

The Youngs were instrumental in building up the communities of Nestor Falls, Sioux Narrows and Morson.

In 1976, Clyde passed away, and Emma sold the highway property to Don and Millie Schmidt, who had previously bought the Stevens Bay Camp. Emma has since passed away.

Young’s Lake of the Woods Camp was owned by Don and Millie Schmidt until the mid 1980’s and sold to Pat and Joe McCarthy from Chicago. The McCarthys owned it until November of 1991 and sold it to Perry and Carol Anniuk from Manitoba. Perry & Carol successfully operated the camp as Young’s Wilderness Camp for the next 32 years while living at the camp’s landing. Perry, an avid musky fisherman and workaholic, attracted anglers from the US and built the camp up with renovations, added buildings, dockage and boats, while Carol built a strong reputation for the camp’s cooking, service, organization and cleanliness. 

They sold the business in 2023 to Ross Whelan and his wife Lily and continue to live at the camp’s landing as Ross & Lily live in Alberta. 

Ross grew up on family-owned fishing resorts in northern Ontario before moving west to take up an international career in the oilfield. Lily built a massage therapy business but had a dream to open a restaurant. So, the purchase was a win for both.

Lily became the Camp Chef, and Scott Lundy, a lifelong friend of Perry & Carol’s, became the Camp Manager after spending the previous 14 years working on the camp and guiding on the lake. Ross and Scott continued to market the camp to guests throughout the Midwest US; upgrades began at the island, and guests continued to come.

Young’s Wilderness Camp remains a paradise in the unspoiled wilderness, and its history builds every day.