What’s Drop-off Like? - Farm & Wilderness

We know many of you are thinking, pondering, and preparing for the day you drop-off your child at Farm & Wilderness. You may be asking,

How long should I plan to stay?
Is it okay if I have to go pretty quickly?
Can I stay and make my child’s bed with them?
What are the other families doing?

We recommend heading into drop-off with the mindset of not having a long, lingering good-bye. There’s certainly time for settling in, making your child’s bed together, meeting some cabin mates and certainly your child’s cabin counselors. But the bottom line is the transition is easiest for all involved when it’s akin to ripping off a band-aid and taking a full leap into a great summer experience! Having an idea of what the day will be like can help set you all up for success.

If your camper is arriving by one of our charter buses, you will be greeted at the meeting location by the bus chaperone, who will be in contact with camp throughout the trip. We will also let you know that your camper has arrived at camp. It’s best for your camper to leave their cell phone or other electronics with you, as they won’t need or use them on the bus or at camp.

Campers who are traveling via flights or other commercial means on their own should have a cell phone for the trip to stay in communication, and the phone (along with other items such as passport/ID/return tickets) will be stored for them while at camp. We will of course, also let you know that your camper has arrived safely at camp.

Arriving by Car

We ask that you do not plan to arrive before 11:00, and you may not be permitted entry into parking locations before this time.

11:00: Staff will greet you as you pull in at 401 Farm and Wilderness Road, Plymouth, VT. New this year, we will park you by camp.

• Indian Brook/Red Spruce Grove families will park at the blockade near the main office, then a section for Tamarack Farm families, and behind them, Timberlake families.
• You don’t have to memorize this, there will be signage and plenty of people around to help.
• Saltash Mountain & Flying Cloud families will have a special (easy in/easy out) parking spot.

11:00am-12:30 pm: Park your car and join us for a reception on the Soccer Field (where the fair fire happens).You’ll notice the large tent with refreshments and other families gathering, rain or shine!

When the reception wraps up, take a leisurely walk back to your car, as we won’t be opening the road until 1. Saltash Mountain and Flying Cloud families can begin the drive from the Woodward camps up to Lake Ninevah, but do note that those camps will not begin move in until 1 pm as well. Also, while it is your camper’s first day of camp, the Barn Day Camp will have begun on Monday, so we ask that you do not enter their camp, no matter how alluring their farm animals and shade trees may be!

1 pm to 4 pm: Check In! This is a time range when you are able to check into camp, not indicative of how long we anticipate it will take to check in.

Once you pull into your camps parking area, you’ll be greeted by your camp’s director and counselors. You’ll be shown to your camper’s cabin. There’s time for a quick “move-n moment.” Many families like to start off the summer by helping their child make their bed for the first time! This is not quite the time to ensure every photo and decoration and article of clothing is in the exact right spot. There’s still more to do!

You will be instructed to check in with the camp nurse, where you’ll hand over any medications your camper may have and every camper will go through a lice check. From there, our goal is to get your camper right into an activity with other campers! There will also be a presentation by the camp director for families. This is optional, so don’t worry if you must leave before this begins.

Bus Arrivals

If your camper is coming to us via one of our charter buses or a shuttle from commercial travel, the experience is very similar once they arrive at camp. A representative from every camp is waiting to greet them as they disembark from the bus. They’ll help bring their stuff to camp and move them into their cabin, bring them through the health check-in and everything else with their fellow campers.

More information about the charter bus travel as well as directions to any of our camp locations can be found here and click to expand the appropriate subsection

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to give us a call at 802-422-3761.