What happened to long summer camps, and where can I find one?

June 5, 2017 1:03 PM

Trying to find a continuous-stay sleep-away camp for kids, I keep finding ones that only have one-week sessions and won't let you roll them together. Why? And where can I find one with long sessions (preferably in the PNW)?

Most of the ones I've seen are only six day camps - ie, they may offer three single-week camps, and will let you sign up for each week, but won't let the kids stay at camp for the entirety of the three weeks. I seem to remember this being really different both when I was a kid and when I lived on the East Coast. Am I crazy? Is this a shift in how people do camps? Specific to the PNW? What is going on, and how can I find a camp that will take a young teenager for two-three full weeks?

posted by corb to Society & Culture (25 answers total)

I know kids who still do it and adults who work there, but they're all East Coast or Canada and mostly Jewish. I think two-three weeks is likely an unusual length -- usually it is two almost four week sessions, and you can do one or both.
posted by jeather at 1:14 PM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]

I can't speak to the PNW, but the long-term summer camps that were around when I was that age in northern Wisconsin seem to still be around: Chippewa, Agawak, Nicolet, Birch Trail (all girls-only camps; there are comparable ones for boys, too.) I have things to say about the demographics and culture of some of these, but they definitely exist!
posted by restless_nomad at 1:15 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: To clarify - I don't need it to be /exactly/ 2-3 weeks - I just need it to encapsulate at least a specific two week period. Four weeks would be not ideal but fine.
posted by corb at 1:16 PM on June 5, 2017

Here are some YMCA camps in the Pacific Northwest; all of them are sleep away and some of them are as long as three continuous weeks.
posted by cooker girl at 1:18 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

The YMCA camp my kids go to in Western PA has one and two week sessions, so it's still a thing.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:20 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

Wisconsin represent: Add Camp Anokijig to that list.

It's not cheap, but you can do a full 9 weeks there.
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:22 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

Girl Scout Camps are still long
posted by bq at 1:34 PM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]

My former YMCA camp in Michigan does 2 and 4 week sessions. They do awesome adventure trips by bike, kayak, and horse!
posted by quadrilaterals at 1:41 PM on June 5, 2017

Trackers typically does a couple 'expeditions' that are 2 weeks long (ugh, sorry, there's no obvious way to filter those out specifically, that's just the whole list), each summer and are typically more geared toward middle-to-high schoolers.
posted by furnace.heart at 1:46 PM on June 5, 2017

Definitely still a thing but I think it may be regional and in my experience, very cultural. I worked at a full-summer(8-week) sleepaway camp one year that was not overtly religious in its programming, but the campers were basically all Jewish kids from Long Island. Note, it was also very, very expensive. I believe there are still many camps like this in the Catskills, Pennsylvania, etc.

When I was a kid in the Southeast this was much less common--we had sleepaway camps that were usually 1 week, occasionally 2 at the most.
posted by Jemstar at 1:48 PM on June 5, 2017

Not in the PNW, but 100% worth the trip to CA (near Sequoia National Park) for this life-changing camp which has 2-week long sessions: Jameson Ranch Camp
posted by oxisos at 1:50 PM on June 5, 2017

none of these are pnw, but sanborn western camps do two weeks sessions. waldemar is all girls in texas

kanakuk is a christian camp in missouri that has several campuses around table rock lake.

Jemstar may be right - it might be a regional thing. pretty popular in the metro areas of oklahoma and texas to send your kids to one. they are expensive though.
posted by domino at 1:51 PM on June 5, 2017

(As to why you can't link the weeks up- I bet they run the same program 4 times.)
posted by freethefeet at 2:27 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

The American Camping Association has a search tool on its website.
posted by oceano at 2:27 PM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]

IME the reason you cant link up is because they send the children all home between the sessions and reset. There's probably a period of time between pickup and drop off for next session where they can't accommodate supervision and care of kiddos.

Last I checked my local Girl Scout camp does some 12 day sessions.
posted by rubster at 3:13 PM on June 5, 2017

I used to work for this camp, which runs some longer sessions. I worked with the 12-16 yr olds in the field camp and it was pretty awesome.
posted by jrobin276 at 4:05 PM on June 5, 2017

Any particular reason you're stuck on PNW?

I went to a summer camp out in TN. And it was so much better than going to a local camp. The local camps (mostly Girl Scouts) had a tendency to have groups of girls who knew each other. The bullying and cliquish behavior was so much worse in these situations. Plus it had better weather than Texas & Louisiana, and discouraged parents from dropping in (which exacerbates home sickness).

Once you're already committed to a long camp session, the logistics of where become somewhat immaterial.
posted by politikitty at 4:11 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

Camp Celo in Western North Carolina!, just about an hour from Asheville.

Each session is 3 weeks. It's a fabulous experience - I went as a kid, and then worked for a couple summers. I'm sure it's changed, and it definitely has a hippie vibe, but it was so wonderful and pulls in some Quaker elements that are chill and laid-back. Hiking, swimming, low key vibe, singing, sleeping under the stars, fires, crafts, best friends, the works, healthy, veggie food, first loves >3. I still dream about going back for a spell.
posted by Rocket26 at 5:49 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

For a coed experience (though still not PNW), there's Mishawaka in Minnesota. And another addition to the Wisconsin list: Wehakee for girls.
posted by ThatSomething at 9:47 PM on June 5, 2017

Yeah, even the super-old school camps are right at three and a half or four weeks now. When I was a kid mine was more like five and a half. (Texas.)

My ten-year-old only child spends two weeks with her cousins at Lonehollow which is kinda fancy, but is for both genders and has an adventure element. WASPy suburban kids from all over the US but mostly the Texas/Louisiana/Arkansas, plus lots of $$ kids from Monterrey and Mexico City.

She then turns right around and goes to two weeks at a rough-hewn girls adventure/skill building camp called http://www.camplanterncreek.com/. Mostly girls from Texas or Louisiana, much more reflective of the diversity of the Gulf Coast.

So effectively, she's gone for a month, learning how to take care of herself and how to deal positively with other kids, but it's two very different experiences.
posted by pomegranate at 2:56 AM on June 6, 2017

Concordia Language Villages in northern Minnesota have many 2- and 4-week options. No experience in the language is required. They offer transportation from and back to the Minneapolis airport. Our experience is with the French unit - well-run, my kid loved it, worth the money.
posted by lakeroon at 3:07 AM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]

Four Winds * Westward Ho Camp, Orcas Island WA. I worked there for two summers. Really really great, well run, traditional camp. Four week sessions. Lots of trip opportunities for campers to go backpacking, sailing, canoeing. Huge garden, horses ( they can learn to drive a pony cart!) lots of singing and dancing and poetry and it is not dumb, even the boys get really into it because it is tradition.
posted by grinagog at 7:01 AM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]

Check out the American Camping Association's Find a camp tool. You can limit down an area (zip code and distance from that zip code), duration, activities, accommodations, affiliations, and many other options.

I ran a quick search for overnight camps, 2 or 3 weeks, within 200 miles of Portland, and turned up 17 camps, including the Y camps mentioned above (and Camp Kalsman, which I would recommend wholeheartedly, as I know the director and several former staff, but is for Jewish youth, which sounds like it might be out of your scope).
posted by BevosAngryGhost at 7:51 AM on June 6, 2017 [2 favorites]

I attended Santa Catalina summer school (not exactly camp) in Monterey for several years as an adolescent. They have five week and two - three week programs. It's only for girls though.
posted by GoldenEel at 9:54 AM on June 6, 2017

My best friend went to French camp on Canoe Island every summer. They have two and three week sessions (and at least used to let you link then up).
posted by Margalo Epps at 7:58 PM on June 8, 2017