Portland, Oregon
Camp Trackers Overnight Summer Camp Ages 10-14
More overnight & day summer camps >
Camp Trackers is the ultimate summer overnight camp. Students are immersed in a village of rustic and rugged living, ancient skills, friendship and adventure.
Campers stay in tipis, help create meals in our wood fired kitchen, tend to the gardens that grow part of our food and each day choose to participate in activities from the four Trackers Guild...
Rangers Guild Outdoor Survival, Animal Tracking and The Curriculum of Shadows
Wilders Guild Wild Plants, Homesteading and The
Way of the Wilder: Regenerative Ecological Relationships
Mariners Guild Fishing, Canoeing and Water Ecology
Artisans Guild Theater & Storytelling, Fine Craft Work and Leadership
Every day feels like a page from an ancient storybook. Each night we gather around the campfire to regale our adventures with our fellow campers. At Camp Trackers your child becomes a legend in summer of life changing adventure.
My ten-year-old daughter had her first overnight camp experience at Trackers. She came home with songs about milking goats, hand-forged iron, and memories for a lifetime. She loved the wildness of camp and her own sense of self-sufficiency. -Katy Luers, Parent
In the Village: Freedom to Grow
Campers Ages 10-14 Each day campers freely choose to join in different Guild activities lead by expert instructors. Our curriculum of nature skills provide the most well rounded experience of any outdoor program. Most of these activities are free choice with campers deciding where they go for morning and afternoon sessions.
Trackers Guilds: The Ultimate Outdoor Camp
Under the safe guidance of Trackers instructors the campers learn skills that help create the village. Through the tutelage of the Rangers Guild they may carve a fire by friction set to light our community campfire. With the Wilders Guild they could milk a goat to make cheese for dinner. Or they could join the Mariners Guild for a fishing trip to local lakes, bringing their catch back to feed the village. Below is a list of potential activities...
Rangers Guild The Rangers Guild are scouts of the forest. Campers train stealth, tracking and wilderness survival skills. If you ever loved the books My Side of the Mountain or Lord of the Rings the Rangers Guild is where you want to be.
Rangers may build a shelter, learn to carve wood, safely make fire with no matches, craft simple bows or train outdoor fitness arts through fun stealth games. Rangers are also master naturalists, they know the language and sign of all birds, beasts and plants that live in wild.
Wilders Guild Named in honor of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the Wilders Guild offers homesteading activities. Campers could make cheese from farm fresh goats milk or fashion wild medicines and tinctures. Plus, dance to old time fiddle music.
You may find a Wilder starting seedlings for planting in family gardens or even working on fiber arts projects. They may make pickles and preserves, help cook nourishing meals, weave baskets, visit local farms and farmers markets, knit, use plant and other natural materials for coloring fabric and sew their own clothing.
Mariners Guild The Mariners Guild trains the skills of the water and sea. Mariners may research aquatic life of our Marmot Valley and beyond. They might even partake in artistic knot work.
Most importantly, the Mariners Guild goes fishing and canoeing! While they may not guarantee a catch, campers always have a good time sitting by the shore and casting. With the Mariners Guild you can always count on them to come home with a safe adventure on the water and a tall tale about the "big one that got away."
Artisans Guild The Artisans Guild encompasses a diverse range of craft and skills. They are storytellers and crafts people. Instructors trained in the dramatic arts teach theater improv games that build confidence, creativity and teamwork.
Artisans also offer incredible craft activities: from safe and successful metal working projects for younger kids to more challenging blacksmithing techniques for older students. Every week we offer free choice woodworking projects, plus campers have the opportunity to express their own story through crafting as well as performances around the campfire.
Overnight Camp Schedule
On Sunday campers check-in and our staff welcomes the to the village of Camp Trackers. Monday through Thursday we play, learn and work together, doing activities lead by the various Trackers Guilds. On Friday, we wrap of the week with our closing ceremony.
Camp Trackers: Overnight Summer Camp
Drop-off/Pick-up Time
We leave on our our Trackers Buses from 5040 SE Milwaukie Avenue, Portland, Oregon at 1pm-1:45pm on Sunday and return at 2:30-3pm every Friday. We offer free pick-up from PDX Airport. To connect with the bus service, students' flights to have limited arrival and departure times. If you want your flight to arrive Saturday than Contact us about host families.
Overnight Camp Location
Sandy, Oregon at Aschoff Ranch in the Marmot Valley. This beautiful 40-acre woodland site includes the Trackers Homestead where your will find free-range chickens, milking goats, abundant wildlife and one of the most epic forests this side of Middle Earth. It is adjacent to the Audubon Society of Portland's 60-acre nature sanctuary and miles of national forest.
Register
Ages 10-14
June 17-22, 2012
Tuition $495
|
Ages 10-14
June 24-29, 2012
Tuition $495
|
Ages 10-14
July 8-13, 2012
Tuition $495
|
Ages 10-14
July 15-20, 2012
Tuition $495
|
Ages 10-14
July 22-27, 2012
Tuition $495
|
Ages 10-14
August 5-10, 2012
Tuition $495
|
Prepping Your Camper
This program is meant to be taken with regard and respect. We insist on focus, determination and intelligent accountability, especially while working with tools and training challenging skills. Every aspect of training in this program is considered a privilege. We insist that students treat it as such for their benefit and to the value of their learning community. This now said, our camps have and always will be infused with the most vital traits of good humor, celebration and appreciation for each participant.
Payment Plans
For families who need it, we can offer flexible payment plans. Contact Molly to learn more. A non-refundable deposit is always required to reserve your space.
Coming from Out of State?
Are you coming for out of state and staying for more than one week? We may be able to set you up with a host family. Contact Us to let us know your interest. There is an established administration fee for making these arrangements.
Airport Shuttle
The airport shuttle to Camp Trackers is free to any camper flying into Portland International Aiport.
More Camp Details...
Summer Camp Schedule >
Our BestCamp Guarantee
Is Trackers A Good Fit?
Safety Policies
More Information
Overnight Camp Schedule
On Sunday campers check-in and our staff welcomes the to the village of Camp Trackers. Monday through Thursday we play, learn and work together, doing activities lead by the various Trackers Guilds. On Friday, we wrap of the week with our closing ceremony.
A Village of Friends
At Camp Trackers you find friendships that last a lifetime. We forge family care by the responsibilities of our Training Houses. Each camper is sorted into a Training House when they arrive. At Camp Trackers we rely one another to make the village successful and thrive.
About Safety
Since 2004 Trackers has lead the way in standards of safety for outdoor camps and programs. All camp staff are CPR/First AID certified and have passed a thorough background check. We are very selective in our hiring process, choosing mature and competent individuals with profound experience in both education and skills instruction. Trackers is at the forefront of blending "old school" outdoor education with new and leading standards of safety, responsibility and personalized learning. We seek to bring environmental education back to true adventure in the out of doors. Learn more about our safety policies and values from our blog.
Homesick Policy
Many camps utilize a policy where they engage in great efforts to encourage homesick campers to remain at camp. Because our camps are different, because they are purposely more rugged than cabin based programs, we will immediately respect and honor a camper's choice to return home and "try again" another time.
We expect the full cooperation of parents with this policy as cultivating a students full collaboration and emotional presence is important to us as educators and the program we are running. Parents need not worry about this policy being a financial concern. It is covered under our BestCamp Guarantee, a prorated refund for any amount time your child did not attend camp.
Our Teachers and Counselors
All Camp Trackers staff are of the most highly trained and experienced educators in the field, well versed in the industry leading Trackers Code of Safety. These are not your typical camp counselors that simply sing songs and run canned curriculum. While acting goofy is an essential part of camp, we keep it even more real. Our counselors are experts at traditional crafts, cultural skills such as theater impov, wood fired cooking and most importantly, they posses a deft understanding of true and epic adventure.
About Meals and Diets
Provided meals are all omnivore. They include an array of vegetables, grains, dairy and meat; all often mixed together. As we cook most of our meals over a wood fired kitchen we are unable to make accommodations and distinctions for specialized or specific diets.
Vegetarian Option Week July 15-20, 2012 This week we will cook BOTH omnivore and vegetarian meals. We do this to provide a Camp Trackers options for those families that are vegetarian. Again, our choice to provide only omnivore meals for the remaining weeks is based on the complexity of a wood fired kitchen. We will likely hire an additional staff member to oversee the cooking this week. Also check out Coast, Kayaks, Dunes and Tidepools or Ways of the Ancients for two other Trackers camps that provide vegetarian option.
Systemic Food Allergies To the best of our ability we work to exclude items that typically result in severe systemic reactions leading to anaphylaxis. Working with your medical doctor, if have a severe food allergy (such as peanut butter) please Contact Us and we will investigate if it is possible to adjust our meal plans.
Please Note Trackers is a Peanut Butter Free camp to accommodate this quickly growing severe systemic reaction (we rely on parents to respect this by not packing lunches or snacks that include peanut butter)
Skinning & Butchering
Full Disclosure In the spirit of learning about local foods, off-site we may even offer the opportunity for students to learn about and partake in butchering and processing local livestock. This will not necessarily happen every week and it will be done with great tact, council and sensitivity. This is purely a LEARNING experience and is fully OPTIONAL. It's goal is to foster respect for the origins of our food.
Please read this blog to better understand how this community need helps support our goals of conservation and respect for the natural world.
Week Schedule and Sample day
The Week...
SUNDAY
1pm-1:30pm Parent drop-off for Shuttle Bus* at 5040 SE Milwaukie Ave, Portland OR
1:45pm Shuttle Bus promptly leaves for Camp Trackers in Sandy, Oregon
Morning-Noon Teen Campers and CIT Check-in and orientation
3pm Youth campers and optional shuttles from the Trackers Scout Pit (SE Portland) or the PDX Airport
Afternoon Camp orientation, dinner, first campfire
MONDAY-THURSDAY
Breakfast, Guild Activities, Lunch and House Duties, Dinner and Campfire
FRIDAY
Morning Camp Cleanup and Closing Ceremony
2:30pm-3pm Parent pick-up form Bus Shuttle at 5040 SE Milwaukie Ave, Portland OR
Afternoon Staff, CIT clean-up/prep for next week. Teen check-out.
*If Parent's want to visit our site, Camp Trackers Open House is Sunday, June 3rd from 4-6pm. You will receive directions to the Camp Trackers Open House in your registration confirmation email.
A Good Fit?
Before you register PLEASE READ the critical information below to help you decide if your program is the right match for you or you child. Trackers Earth invests in families and students dedicated to maturity and accountability as a team. The experience of your child is heightened as these filters insure a safe, supportive and competent collaboration with both our instructors and all other team members (including students).
This program is a good fit for the child and parent who...
• can handle a rugged and rustic camp with common sense
• will follow directions, especially regarding safety and care for camp
• trust one another
• are interested in and empathetic to the natural world
• crave a different way of experiencing and seeing both natural and modern world
• want to have fun
• possess a sense of adventure
• make intelligent choices
• display competent autonomy when needed
• can make and keep clear agreements concerning safety
• can help insure the safety of their peers and collaborators
• works diligently toward adult accountability, consequences and responsibility
• will come dressed appropriately to stay warm, dry and healthy
• is okay with being muddy, cold and wet at times
• can be a real kid
• shares well with others
• can keep their tent area and gear impeccably clean
This program is NOT a good fit for children who...
• are not interested in nature awareness
• are not empathetic for the natural world
• are being forced to come to camp
• cannot display competent autonomy when needed
• cannot make and keep clear agreements and choices concerning safety
• is kept inside all the time so may be uncomfortable
• will not dress appropriately to stay warm, dry and healthy
• is not okay with being muddy, cold and wet at times
• has trouble working with others and respecting the needs of other participants
• leaves their gear a mess
Please note that if your child is positively working on behavior, we are willing to work with them and you with clear agreements
