The End-of-Winter Survival Playlist

By Camp Manitowa | March 4, 2026

Winter has a way of lingering longer than anyone wants.

The lake is quiet. The campfire circle is waiting. Spring feels close, but not quite here yet.

At Camp Manitowa, we believe music helps bridge the seasons.

So while we wait for warm evenings, canoe paddles, and the first real sunset of camp season, here’s a playlist to carry us through the last stretch of winter and into spring.

These are the kinds of songs that feel right for:

  • Sunday morning drives
  • the first open-window day
  • planning summer adventures
  • or just imagining the lake again

Press play and picture the trees turning green around Rend Lake.

The Camp Manitowa End-of-Winter Playlist

Some songs that made the list:

  • Road Outside Columbus – O.A.R.
  • The General – Dispatch
  • Budding Trees – Nahko And Medicine For The People
  • Home – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
  • Dance, Dance, Dance – Steve Miller Band

A little folk. A little classic rock. A few songs that feel like warm weather even when it’s still cold outside.

Waiting for the Lake

Spring at Camp Manitowa always arrives quietly at first.

The trees start to wake up.
The evenings stretch a little longer.
The lake gets that glass-calm look again.

Before long, campfires return, guitars come out, and the sound of summer drifts through the trees.

Until then, this playlist should help get us there.

Got a song that belongs on the Camp Manitowa playlist?
Send it our way and we might add it to the next edition.

Posted in Manitowa News Network