Canyon Ranch is hosting their first ever Family Week this summer, from July 28-August 4, 2024. The week is like a unique luxury wellness summer camp experience for the whole family, full of activities for kids (think: TikTok dance classes, friendship bracelet making scavenger hunts) while adults can enjoy some of the signature Canyon Ranch classes and amenities. Along with experiences that will be tailored to the entire family, like cooking classes, a backyard BBQ, and even a campfire!
Canyon Ranch invited us to come check out the property and try out some of their amazing programming in advance of the family summer camp week, and I jumped at the chance to visit the stunning Lenox location with my sister for a girls getaway weekend. The property is breathtaking – nestled in the Berkshires and built on the grounds of the historic Bellefontaine Mansion, it blends classic New England charm with a serene modern wellness escape.
One of the unique aspects of Canyon Ranch Lenox is that all the buildings are interconnected, so if you’re visiting in the middle of winter, or on a rainy spring day, you can access all the facilities through interior connected hallways without going outside. It has a bit of a college campus feel! I loved exploring the historic library in the old mansion (I imagine it’s the best place in the world to read a book during a snow-stormy winters night), and all the wellness facilities were in contrast to the original mansion incredibly modern and up to date.
We had unseasonably warm spring weather on the first afternoon we arrived and enjoyed sitting outside on the Adirondack chairs you can find around the property. I imagine the grounds are awe-inspiring in the autumn with colorful foliage, and the wide open manicured green lawn is begging for kids to play games on it during the summer camp Family Week later this summer!
I think when people first hear Canyon Ranch, they think of a spa getaway (and I’m confident that’s what my sister thought she was getting into when I invited her!). The number and variety of fitness, wellness, and creative classes that are offered over the course of the week at Canyon Ranch is vast and I was determined to fit in as many as I could while we were there for the weekend, so there was minimal time budgeted for relaxing (apologies to my sister, ha!).
Since we were previewing some of the experiences offered at the Family Week this summer, we started off with a quintessential summer camp activity: archery! My sister and I had so much fun at this activity, we hadn’t done it since we were teens in gym class and quickly jumped into the rhythm after a safety, gear, and skills lesson from our coaches. After just a few rounds of practice were focusing in on our target and I even got a bullseye!
Another activity that we were both excited to try out was a small group intro to pickleball lesson. We had an awesome instructor with a great sense of humor who was extremely patient with our limited skill sets! It was a great primer on the basics and rules of the game, and we got practice our serves and participate in a full game with the other pair in our pickleball group. This would be such a fun activity to do as a family (I’m already hunting for more pickleball courts back at home, it was so fun!).
Of course, I couldn’t pass up the cooking classes on the activities agenda and was delighted to see a bread baking class on the schedule while we were at Canyon Ranch! I love to cook, but baking tends to be an area where I always find room for improvement in my skills repertoire, and after trying some of the amazing breads in the Canyon Ranch restaurant I was even more eager to learn what this class had to offer. We entered the class and found several friends from our morning archery class waiting for us around the test kitchen demo counter – one of the things I really enjoyed about my experience in Lenox was the great energy of the people we met, everyone was positive and friendly and open to the experience of learning new things which made for a great crowd in each of the activities!
The focus of the class was all about the science of wild yeast and gluten, and the varieties of heirloom grains. We made a few different kinds of bread, learned about interesting new heirloom grains, and even got to see some be fresh milled before incorporating them into a bread recipe. And the chef taught everyone how to feed the Canyon Ranch sourdough starter, which we go to take home so we can make our own sourdough bread using their recipe! 
One thing I’d love to mention about the experience at Canyon Ranch: every single coach and teacher that facilitated our activities was amazing. They all had such a deep level of skill and knowledge in their area of expertise and brought palpable passion and positive energy to the sessions. You could tell that they attract some of the best talent in their fields at this facility!
While our day was packed full of these summer camp themed activities, we also had a few relaxing moments too. I took two yoga classes, one was an early morning sun salutations class that got the blood flowing, and one was more meditative to close the end of the day. We enjoyed some quiet moments reading on the property and took some time to enjoy the hot tub in the gorgeous spa facilities that overlook the lush, wooded Lenox landscape.
I can’t forget to mention the food and drink: my favorite topic! There is a main dining room where you can order breakfast, lunch, and dinner on the property, along with casual dining spot for snacks and quicker meal options. Across both dining locations through, the food is incredibly thoughtfully designed to be wholesome, healthy, and seasonal. We ate a lot of very local, artfully plated, veggie-forward dishes with a stunning array of colors, textures, and flavors. Our favorite meal of the day was breakfast, they had some delicious and beautiful options to start the day. And don’t skip the desserts!
One thing to know is that alcohol is only served at special, pre-arranged events. Guests may bring it and enjoy it responsibly in the privacy of their rooms, but you won’t find it on the menu or around the property. Another thing to know is that the attire on the property is very relaxed, you’re welcome to eat in the dining room in your workout clothes, and you’ll find most people stay in casual clothing even through dinner. We brought a few cute sundresses to wear for our evenings but ended up opting for more casual looks after seeing the vibe after our first night!
We ended our stay on the last night with a really fun activity: after dinner on most evenings there was some sort of performance or event going on, and we jumped in on a game of music bingo. I thought at first it was going to be a little bit cheesy, but after the first round almost everyone in the room was singing along to the musical clues. I think it was all those good vibes from earlier in the day, people were relaxed and in a great mood and there is some bonding that comes from learning how to play pickleball and bake bread together. It almost felt a little bit like an evening at summer sleepaway camp.
Visit Lenox Family Summer Camp to learn more about the Canyon Ranch family week experience happening this summer, from July 28-August 4, 2024!
Please Note: Canyon Ranch Lenox hosted my stay at the property over the course of this weekend. All opinions, images and content are my own.
