At Farm & Wilderness summer camps, we focus on community, homegrown fun and living closely in the natural world. We offer seven overnight camps for children ages nine through seventeen, a day camp and a family camp. Three generations of campers have learned a lifelong love of nature and the joy of a simple, participatory life here in the Vermont woods. We invite you to join us.
At Farm & Wilderness, campers have the woods, lakes, and fields of central Vermont as their playground, classroom, and home. Our camps use more than 4,800 secluded acres.
Three camps and a teen program encircle Woodward Reservoir, a lake perfect for swimming, canoeing, and exploring. One camp and a teen program are based on the shore of beautiful Lake Ninevah. In a nearby woodland clearing, there is a wilderness camp, with a second wilderness program based on a scenic plateau in the area. In these amazing settings, campers and teens spend an unforgettable summer close to nature.
We live together in simple, wooden cabins and canvas structures tucked in the woods or along the lakes. There is no electricity or running water in the cabins; there are no movies, televisions, computers, or recorded music. Instead, we create our own entertainment, grow some of our own food, and build our cabins. In choosing to live simply, we build a participatory community that works, plays and sings together.
We explore by hiking, canoeing and rock climbing on trips, sometimes starting right from our back door. We also travel throughout New England, the Adirondacks, and Canada. Even our youngest day campers will experience an overnight trip. Living and playing in this beautiful place, teens and campers become grounded in the natural world.
At Farm & Wilderness, activities grow out of our closeness to the land and each other. Campers and teens dive into the farm and garden, the woods and lake, and are living within a close-knit community. The strength of the F&W programs are that we use daily activities and the simple work of daily life as a path to the intangible skills of living respectfully and happily together.
Activity areas vary, depending on the emphasis of each individual camp, and include farm projects, arts & crafts, swimming, outdoor living skills, canoeing, carpentry, rock climbing, cooking, and music. Each place offers structured activity periods along with free choice. Campers and teens have opportunities to learn basic skills in a variety of activities and gain proficiency in those that interest them.
Trips are an integral part of the F&W experience, including community service trips, rock climbing, and wilderness travel by foot and canoe. On trips, campers and teens build confidence and competence. They return to camp filled with pride in their accomplishments and feeling close to their group.
We believe that campers and teens are participants, not spectators, and opportunities to learn skills and increase self-confidence occur every day. We have fun working together at the tasks that keep the community going. We share in morning chores, harvesting and cooking food from the garden, constructing a cabin or washing dishes after a meal. Every day we sit quietly together at Silent Meeting, a time to reflect. Campers and teens experience the feeling of having a purpose, working on meaningful projects with friends, and knowing that everyone has something to contribute.
Cider in the Park, Harvest Weekend, Ice Cutting, Nationwide Potlucks, Spring Planting & More!! There's something for everyone at an F&W event - Join us!
Learn More
Registered 501(c)3. EIN 03-0228965.
