Wilderness adventure programs worldwide, ages 12-22
USA and some international locations
Established in 1962
Outward Bound continues to be the premier provider of experience-based outdoor leadership programs. With over 300 adventure-based courses year-round, all across the US, to choose from serving youth, starting at age 12, teens and adults. Course activities include rock climbing, sea kayaking, backpacking, mountaineering, canyoneering, sailing, dog sledding, canoeing and whitewater rafting, and more, in some of the most beautiful and inspiring wilderness ...read moreareas across the nation. No matter the activity, courses focus on learning through experience, compassion, leadership, outdoor skills and responsibility to both your community and the environment. Courses range in length from Classic week-long courses to Gap Year Semester courses. Some scholarships and financial aid may be available.
Challenge, adventure and teamwork combine to create an ideal platform for building character and teaching leadership. Simply put, Outward Bound courses change lives.
Residential coed summer camp, ages 6-15
Minong, Wisconsin
Established in 1964
Swift Nature Camp is an overnight nature camp for boys and girls ages 6-15. Our focus is to blend traditional summer camp activities while increasing a child's appreciation for nature, science and the environment.
Our special Discovery Camp is a nurturing program for first-time overnight campers, offering additional staff to provide support and encouragement to overcome homesickness and build confidence. The program welcomes ...read moreno more than 50 first-time campers, and the special attention that this intimate group receives is the reason that more than 92% of them wish to return.
Swift Nature Camp offers traditional summer camp activities along with an environmental focus. Campers enjoy an active Nature Center, Pet Zoo, and Department of Natural Resources sponsored programs, plus recreational activities that include canoe and backpack trips, horseback riding, swimming, arts & crafts, team courses, archery, sailing, water skiing, tubing and sports.
In addition to these traditional activities, Swift Nature Camp is so much more. We are a child-centered program located away from technology, celebrity culture and academic pressures. Through fun activities and positive staff role models, we help children develop lifelong skills such as confidence, teamwork, leadership, compassion and communication.
Residential Coed Summer Camp, ages 6-17
N. Springfield, Pennsylvania
Established in 1914
Camp Fitch's century-old, classic sleep-away summer camp provides boys and girls aged 6-16 with a holistically safe, values-driven community where they discover friendship and achievement. Kids feel like they belong here among our carefully vetted, highly committed, and caring staff who create transformative experiences on a gorgeous and well-maintained site on the shore of Lake Erie.
Most of our staff are college students: ...read moretomorrow's teachers and child-care experts who are selected for a proven track record of leadership and positive role-modeling. We require an intensive, on-site week long orientation and skill-building session for all of our staff who learn to listen to each child and create a nurturing environment.
While Camp Fitch offers an impressive array of activities at our Lake Erie waterfront; equestrian center; climbing tower; swimming pool; inland lake; and visual arts center; we recognize that these activities are a means to an end. The Fitch experience is designed to forge strong friendships that last a lifetime and solidify kids' growing sense that they can reach goals for which they have passion and apply persistence.
Parents rave about the value of the Fitch experience, often sharing with us that their children return home a more compassionate and communicative person.