Our little town of Brethren is will known for camping, hunting, fishing and snowmobiling. Fish for the Great lakes salmon, steelhead, skamania, walleye, perch and trout at Bear creek or Tippy Dam on big Manistee River, little Manistee, the Great lakes pier or the Betsy River near by. Catch fish in local lakes or the backwaters of Tippy Dam for bass, walleye, northern pike, perch, channel catfish and pan fish or Jet Ski the backwaters above the dam. Rent a boat for $5.00 an outing on private Dickson Lake in Brethren, where you may catch bass or lots of pan fish. Pine creek and Pine River are both well known designated trout steams. Canoe, kayak or float down Pine River, big or little Manistee River. The trip from Hodenpyl Dam to Red bridge is approximately 4 hours with a lot of wildlife; see eagles and other birds in flight, albino deer, turkeys, rabbits, quails, pheasants, wildflowers and much more coming to drink by rivers edge . While the trip from Tippy Dam down to high bridge is approximately 2 hours or little Manistee River is a fun shorter run? But if you want a skilled workout try the Pine River run. Winter enthuses can enjoy snowboard, down hill or cross-county Ski, snowshoe, Ice fishing or open water for winter steelhead at Tippy Dam it never freezes over and Snowmobile right from door to trails. R & J Resort is on trail # 3 at the south end of trailhead # 368 Benzie Manistee snowbirds trails. Snowbirds trail is about 140 miles that will go thru wooded trails traveling north towards Traverse City. We are only 3 miles up north of trailhead going south on #36 & #6 to Wellston Winter trails that is about 64 miles, trail #6 #37& # 637 to Cadillac, trail #3 #35 to Irons, trail #344 & #362 to Baldwin and trail #606 & #615 to Udell Hills. These last 4-trail systems total approximately 300 miles traveling south, east and west from us. R & J Resort has a Playground for kids of all age’s enjoy volleyball, tetherball, basketball, horseshoes, 3-tier tower w/tube slide, tire swing and jungle gum, 2-play houses, sandboxes, slides, swings for adults down to babies and more things for little tot’s. I'm Wishing I had a merry-go-round or a teeter-totter. Enjoy a weekend family reunion, a class reunion or wedding party without having them all over at your house. Visit Brethren historic museum, play baseball, horseshoes, playground thing and festivals in central park or go to the lake Eleanor beach and picnic. Hunt our area of the 481,000 acres of Manistee National Forest for mushrooms, whitetail deer, turkeys, grouses, raccoons, rabbits, quail, squirrels, pheasants or other small game. Mushroom hunters can enjoy finding edible moral and beefsteaks in spring, puffers in mid-summer, stumper and corals in the fall. We at R & J Resort also have a private nature foot trail on our 20 acre campground for you to walk alone, with your loved ones or with your pet. Pick wild berries, look for summer or fall fungi’s and see our wildlife on your walk. Hike or bike our many area long or short trail systems. Bike the North Country trails, trailhead from Marilla to Dilling Rd. 29.1 miles long, only 3 more miles to us or Big M Loop 11.75 miles. Hike thru The Nordhouse Dunes 2.4 miles or my favorite is The Manistee River trail 10 miles long only 5 miles from us with a waterfall, a arch timber bridge crossing the Slagle Creek and a unique suspension bridge over the Manistee River valley and boardwalks across the delicate wetland area with plenty of woodland life, see birds and eagles in flight, whitetail and albino deer, turkeys, grouse, quail, pheasants, rabbits, wildflowers and much more or North Country trail 875 miles making it’s way thru the Manistee National Forest only 4 miles from us. Try Geo/cashing for our area GPS treasures. Lots of other sights to see and do near by this area. Or just kick back; enjoy camping in our relaxing quiet peaceful atmosphere reminiscing by your campfire while roasting marshmallows under a star filled sky. You may even get luck enough to experience an aurora borealis also called the northern lights. What a breathtaking sight they can be, especially when in full color. Thu they are still a spectacular sight with rays of white floating waves and flashes thru the blue star filled skies!