Lake Norman Family Branch YMCA - Cornelius, North Carolina

Bill J.

The staff is great. HOWEVER it's one of the worst YMCA's in North Carolina, and I have been to many many Y's. It's also in one of the richest towns in the state but has the worst and smallest Y makes no sense. All the equipment you want to use is full of people all over the place and the gym area is very tight and the equipment is dated. & if you think you're going to get to play basketball think AGAIN, courts are often taken from PICKLE BALL, VOLLEY BALL, KIDS CAMP during the summer, which creates dust and food all over the courts, rarely ever available for people who actually want to play basketball. YMCA here is crazy idea, BUILD another court and expand the gym!!! Has that ever been thought about? Get the funds together, talk to the city, talk to board of Lake Norman or Davison, someone has the money if the Y does not, get a government grant if all else fails I don't know, but something needs to change there. The brand YMCA can sponsor the ALT hawks NBA team? But we don't have a modern and upgraded YMCA, Gym and court in LAKE NORMAN? Insane. They could consider just tearing it down and start over, rebuild it, OR just start building more / adding on to it with a upgraded gym section and more courts, they have TONS of land and real estate there. you might as well workout at home or so you don't have to deal with the headaches or people all over the gym stuff, locker rooms FILLED with people all over the place. Corporate needs to step in, this place needs assistance and funding or something

Alvaro S.

** Frustrating Experience with Membership Service **

I visited this YMCA multiple times, hoping to gather information about becoming a member, but unfortunately, I encountered a lot of confusion along the way. I understand things can sometimes be complicated, but the information I received was often inconsistent, which led to a lot of wasted time.

While the front desk staff at the YMCA at Lake Norman were ALL very friendly and polite, my experience was marred by poor communication from management.

The most frustrating part of my visit, however, was the director of membership. Their cold demeanor and condescending laugh when I gently shared my frustration made an already stressful situation worse. I was simply trying to express my experience politely, but their response only added to the tension.

Despite this, I’ve decided to join due to the lack of gym options in the area, though I hope management works to improve communication and ensure they don’t make their members feel dismissed.

Marcin B.

Great scenic view area in rear with stationary bikes to ride while enjoying the view. Outdoor pool has lots of room on the outside for events and seating.
Staff is great and friendly.

Aaron T.

Small weight lifting section. Bathroom full of dudes walking around completely naked without reason… pricing compared to nearby competitors is uncompetitive.

Lenge P.

I’ve been trying to call this ymca for years for various reasons and they’ve never answered the phone. Encounter with childcare supervisor about a year ago also very rude and with an attitude. Someone not quite understanding of her role. Such a shame. We visit many of the YMCAs in Charlotte and this one is the most unpleasant staff wise I can think of.

Raquel S.

My review is only for the lake access, not for the gym or workout facility.

I saw on Instagram they have lake access on Saturdays from 11am-4pm so I came today to check it out. My membership is at the Dowd YMCA in Charlotte but I had no problem visiting this location!

If you drive to the left past the main building, you'll see the lake access area and there is a small parking lot where you can park. There is a covered pavilion with picnic tables so you can bring a picnic lunch. There are also bathrooms and dressing rooms available for changing. Nothing fancy but it's nice that they are there!

There is a small cove area where you can kayak, canoe, stand up paddle, or play on two inflatable climbing things in the water. They require everyone to wear a life vest which they can supply if you don't have your own. There was no cost to use any of the equipment!

On a crowded day they ask you to limit the time you have the equipment to an hour, but on a slow day they don't care how long you use it. For the swimmers and kids, every hour they call everyone out of the water for 15 minutes, but kayakers can stay in the water.

There are also plenty of lifeguards on duty. I counted at least 7. They station 2 lifeguards in kayaks at each of the inflatable things to watch the kids from both sides. One lifeguard stands on the dock and watches the kayakers in the cove. They even have a lifeguard ski boat that they send out to watch the kayakers who paddle outside of the cove. I felt very safe when I was there!

This is definitely an activity place and not a beach for laying out and tanning.

(Lake access is during the summer months, first day was mid-June 2020, Saturdays 11am-4pm)

Patricia M.

My kids have been going to this camp for 4 years and they love it so much! Every day, when they come home, they talk about how great the counselors are and how much fun they had that day. Shout out to the counselors: Ziggy, Splash and Ocean, who are their favorite counselors!!! “They should get a raise” ❤️

Johanna E.

This YMCA is unique, the lake on the back is just amazing. The basketball courts and the volleyball courts are very well maintained. The place is quiet and the employees are great. My daughters enjoy playing at that location.