Our core camp programs are designed to follow three learning paths as students move from introductory to more advanced skills. Woodscraft Skills, Naturalist Skills, and Primitive Skills each have unique ways of demonstrating and reinforcing our connection to the natural world. We also offer a number of Special Interest camp programs, and have created some new programs for this season.

You will need these: Registration form (Word or pdf), Required Medical Form (Word or pdf), and What To Bring Lists.

The weekly routine for most programs includes cooling swims and paddling at our beautiful waterfront, hiking, arts and woodcraft, team-building on our ropes course, survival and camping skills. Everyone looks forward to Thursday night campfire, a fun-filled evening of skits, songs, stories and laughs. Unless otherwise noted, programs are 1 week (Sunday through Friday). With a few exceptions, all campers are welcome to enter any age appropriate program without prior experience.

The Naturalist Skills Path combines high energy outdoor fun, with focused observation and study of the natural world. A typical day may include a morning hike up Mt. Christopher, observing signs of wildlife and identifying trees and birds along the trail, followed by a challenging team-building session at the ropes course. The afternoon canoe lesson combines paddling games and skill development with a water quality test that students perform themselves. Later, on a computer in the Natural History Classroom, students record data from this test, and add it to a statewide database, or may experience an art and nature creative lesson. At an evening campfire by the lake, the group reflects on the day, while Field Teachers help distinguish between the calls of a barred owl, and a great horned owl amid the songs of Bryant Pond’s loons.

At our Coveside campsite, Woodscraft campers learn the skills of the traditional Maine Guide, as well as modern backcountry travel and camping. Long summer days at Coveside are filled with personal and group challenges and skill-building in axemanship, backcountry cooking, canoe skills and safety, hiking and backpacking, map and compass, survival, tree and wildlife identification, fishing, and much more! The program is led by Registered Maine Guides and outdoor professionals who are dedicated to passing along the skills and wisdom of the Maine Woods to a new generation. It takes dedication and practice to become a Junior Maine Guide, the highest outdoor skills award available to a young person in Maine. Begin working toward this prestigious award this summer by enrolling in Woodscraft!

Our Primitive Skills campsite is set in a stand of beeches and maples overlooking the hills to the east of Bryant Pond. Life for our primitive skills students is far removed from the bustle of the modern world. Imagine the thrill of waking up to the sound of birdsong in a comfortable, dry shelter you built from natural materials the previous day! Working together, your small band of companions and two instructors gather wood for the fire while someone starts a “friction fire” with a bow drill. Become attuned to the cycles of nature by practicing the skills and earth-based wisdom of native peoples. Come prepared to be physically active all week, and to immerse yourself in the experience of living closely with the earth.

Special Interest Camps for 2009

4-H Shooting Sports Archery Camp
1 week archery intensive, ages 12 - 15

Fishing Camp
1 week including off campus guided trip, ages 12 - 15

Paddling Adventures
1 week canoeing/kayaking skills, ages 12 - 15

Survivor Camp
1 week on-site adventure camp, ages 12 – 14

Maine Woods Discovery
1 week intro to backpacking, ages 12 - 14

Rangeley Lakes Canoe
1 week canoe expedition, ages 14 - 17

Appalachian Challenge
1 week backpacking expedition, ages 14 - 17

New Camps for 2009

Outdoor Adventure Day Camp
for ages 10-13

Treasure Camp
2 sessions, 1 week each, ages 9 – 12 or 11 - 14

Bushcraft
2 week program, cross between Primitive and Woodscraft, ages 12 - 15

4-H Shooting Sports Shotgun & Rifle
1 week, intensive firearms safety and marksmanship program, ages 12-15

4-H Shooting Sports Apprentice Hunter
1 week, hunting instruction and skill building, ages 12-15

Conservation Leadership Basic
2 week Teen Leadership program, ages 13 - 15

Conservation Leadership Advanced
3 week Field Teacher Training, ages 16 - 18

Introducing our first full summer (6-week) program:
Maine Outdoor Adventure Camp for ages 12 - 14