Your summer office: Great Lakes islands, backcountry trails, and kids who lead the way.

Imagine spending your summer paddling Great Lakes shorelines, camping on wild islands, and watching a group of kids discover they can do far more than they thought. At Crystalaire Adventures, our participants plan their own route, pick their own campsites, and lead their own trip, and you’re the guide who helps them make it happen. Between trips, you’ll come home to a 600-acre lakefront base in northern Michigan, surrounded by a crew of fellow guides who love this work as much as you do.

Crystalaire Adventures is the wilderness trip program of Project Foxwood, a family of four summer programs in northern Michigan. Crystalaire runs its own trips, and its guides share training, a home base on Bass Lake, and a staff community with Foxwood’s other programs: Camp Lookout, Camp Carvela, and Windward Expeditions.

What: The Position
As a Wilderness Trip Guide, you’ll lead backcountry trips of 3 to 15 days, including backpacking, base camping, canoeing, biking, and sailing (no sailing experience required). Your job is to listen, coach, keep everyone safe, and help the group make its own decisions. Between trips, you’ll pack food and gear, brief and debrief trips, maintain equipment, help improve our curriculum, and pitch in at our sister camps, Camp Lookout and Camp Carvela, when needed.

Who: Participants and Staff
Our participants are ages 10–18. We’re looking for guides with a current WFA or WFR, experience leading trips or working with youth, solid outdoor skills like camp cooking and canoeing, and a real interest in experiential education. Flexible, team-oriented people with a good sense of fun thrive here. Bring a special skill, like photography? Tell us what sets you apart.

Where: Northern Michigan and Beyond
Home base is our 600-acre property on Bass Lake, minutes from Lake Michigan’s beaches and sand dunes. Trips travel throughout the Midwest, including the Manitou Islands, the McCormick Wilderness, and more.

When: The Season
The season runs about 11 weeks, from late May to mid/late August 2027, starting with a 10-day staff training that prepares you for the summer ahead.

Why: Culture and Perks
Crystalaire is part of Project Foxwood, a family of four northern Michigan programs with one team and one way of caring for kids: no tryouts, no benches. Our staff are a close-knit community that trains together, supports each other, and has room to grow from one summer to the next.

• Pay: about $600 per week, plus a completion bonus and a WFR pay bump

• Room and board: free all summer. Between trips, you’ll live in shared cabins with your fellow guides, and everyone shares cooking and cleaning.

• Days off: canoes, sailboats, beaches, and sand dunes, plus Lake Michigan beach access through our sister program

How: Apply
Fill out our application at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc-dHAKGfSeGW_5fL4GC5Vm4BE1G-xdW0vqlEpdbF0c1pYbiQ/viewform or send your resume to info@projectfoxwood.com. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so apply early!