Santa Fe Baldy: Three-Day Backpacking Adventure!

July 28 – Aug 1 | Ages 10-13

Monday – Friday | $725 + tax 

Get ready to unplug, explore, and level up your outdoor game!

This action-packed week immerses campers in the fundamentals of wilderness survival and backcountry skills while building confidence, teamwork, and resilience. They’ll learn to build shelters, read maps and compasses, purify water, practice Leave No Trace ethics, and safely use tools like camp stoves and fire starters.

The highlight of the week? A three-day, two-night backpacking adventure where campers put their new skills to the test—pitching tents, cooking over the fire, stargazing, and hiking to Santa Fe’s highest peak, Santa Fe Baldy. With support from experienced staff, they’ll learn to thrive in the wild and create unforgettable memories with new friends.

Whether they’re first-time campers or budding adventurers, this program is the perfect mix of challenge, discovery, and fun!

Drop-off/Pick-up Times and Locations

We are now offering two drop-off/pick-up locations to choose from: Patrick Smith Park and Swan Park. Swan Park campers will meet at 8:30 and be shuttled to Patrick Smith, leaving at 8:45 to join with other campers. Pick up for all groups is at 3:30 pm at their respective locations.

Challenge Level:

Scholarship Application

Register

Para registrarse en español, haga clic en el botón Registrarse arriba y seleccione español en el menú superior derecho del sitio web de Active. Para obtener ayuda, envíe un correo electrónico a: hello@sfmountainkids.com.

Wilderness Skills

July 14 – 18 | Ages 5-7, 8-10 & 11-13

9:00 am – 3:30 pm

Monday – Friday $570 + tax

Have you ever wondered what it takes to survive in the wilderness? Come learn the essential skills for staying safe, building shelter, finding water, making fire, navigating, archery and more! You will not only have a fun time exploring the beautiful Santa Fe National Forest, but will leave feeling more confident and safe in the outdoors. Ready for adventure? Let’s go!

Drop-off/Pick-up Times and Locations
We are offering two drop-off/pick-up locations to choose from: Patrick Smith Park and Swan Park. Swan Park campers will meet at 8:30 and be shuttled to Patrick Smith, leaving at 8:45 to join with other campers. Pick up for all groups is between 3:30-3:45 at their respective locations.

Challenge Level:

Scholarship Application

Register

Para registrarse en español, haga clic en el botón Registrarse arriba y seleccione español en el menú superior derecho del sitio web de Active. Para obtener ayuda, envíe un correo electrónico a: hello@sfmountainkids.com.

Intro to Backpacking & Wilderness Skills

July 7-11 | Ages 10-13

9:00 am – 3:30 pm, with overnight campout Thursday

Monday-Friday, $695 + tax

Campers will learn about backpacking and challenge themselves on a two-day, one-night backpacking trip close to home. We will hike the Borrego Trail and camp next to the Tesuque Creek for an overnight adventure in the woods.  Campers will learn how to prepare and pack for a backpacking trip, learn about menu planning and what to carry, and what to leave at home. There will be plenty of time for good old-fashioned fun; games and shelter building.

Drop-off/Pick-up Times and Locations
We are now offering two drop-off/pick-up locations to choose from: Patrick Smith Park and Swan Park. Swan Park campers will meet at 8:30 and be shuttled to Patrick Smith, leaving at 8:45 to join with other campers.  Pick up for all groups is between 3:30-3:45 at their respective locations.

Challenge Level:

Scholarship Application

Register

Para registrarse en español, haga clic en el botón Registrarse arriba y seleccione español en el menú superior derecho del sitio web de Active. Para obtener ayuda, envíe un correo electrónico a: hello@sfmountainkids.com.

Wilderness Survival Shelters with Campout

Build shelters, make fire, gain confidence—survive the wild!

Learn everything you’ve ever wanted to know about survival shelters and sharpen your wilderness survival skills in this exciting week-long adventure! What exactly is a debris hut, and how is it different from a wicki-up? Why won’t a simple stick fort keep you warm and dry—and how can you build one that will?

As we explore the world of survival shelters, practice both primitive and modern fire-making techniques, and cook our own meals over an open fire during our overnight campout, campers will also build confidence in the outdoors—learning to trust their instincts, abilities, and teamwork.

Campers will need to bring their own camping gear.

June 23-27 | Ages 10-13

9 am – 3:30 pm | Overnight campout Thursday night 

Monday – Friday  $695 + tax

Challenge Level:

Scholarship Application

Register

Wilderness Skills

June 9-13 | Ages 5-7, 8-10, 11-13

9:00 am – 3:30 pm

Mon-Fri $570 + tax

Ever wondered what it takes to survive in the wild? Join us for an exciting adventure where you’ll learn essential outdoor skills like building shelters, finding water, navigating, archery, and more! Explore the beautiful Santa Fe National Forest, while gaining the confidence and knowledge to stay safe in the great outdoors. Ready to take on the wilderness? Let’s go!

Drop-off/Pick-up Times and Locations
We are offering two drop-off/pick-up locations to choose from: Patrick Smith Park and Swan Park. Swan Park campers will meet at 8:30 and be shuttled to Patrick Smith, leaving at 8:45 to join with other campers.  Pick up for all groups is between 3:30-3:45 at their respective locations.

Challenge Level:

Scholarship Application

Register

Para registrarse en español, haga clic en el botón Registrarse arriba y seleccione español en el menú superior derecho del sitio web de Active. Para obtener ayuda, envíe un correo electrónico a: hello@sfmountainkids.com.

Awesome Animals of NM!

Summer Camp Week 1: May 28-31, 2024

Summer Camp 2024 launched by exploring the mountains of Santa Fe and the awesome animals that live here. While exploring the Santa Fe Canyon Preserve, we learned about awareness of being in nature, listening for sounds all around and looking for animal signs. We saw many signs of the beaver that used to inhabit this area, and learned about the characteristics of beavers that enable them to live in a watery, cold environment, while chewing trees to make their homes and fill their bellies.

We played many animal themed games including Animal Charades, Pig, Tail Tag, and Park Ranger to think more about the characteristics of animals that help them thrive in the wild.

A visit to the Wildlife Center brought us up close and personal with real animals of New Mexico including owls, raptors, raccoons and snakes.

Of course, a week of Mountain Kids! wouldn’t be complete without imaginative play including boat-making, bridge-making and fort building. It was a wonderful week to kick off summer 2024, and we had a great time imagining the life of an animal and becoming one with the wild!

Wilderness Skills

Have you ever wondered what it takes to survive in the wilderness? Come learn the essential skills for staying safe, building shelter, finding water, navigating and much more! You will not only have a fun time exploring the beautiful Santa Fe National Forest, but will leave feeling more confident and safe in the outdoors. Ready for adventure? Let’s go!

June 10 – 14 | Ages 5-7, 8-12

9 – 4 | Early Care Available 

Mon-Fri, $475 + tax

Challenge Level:

Scholarship Application

Register

August 19: Cooking Adventures in Nature

Monday morning greeted the Mountain Kids with the chance to harvest apples at the beaver ponds, which of course included some tree climbing for those who felt called to do so!

The Eagles were very successful in the apple hunt, picking more than 200 apples in a short amount of time! They did most of the coring and slicing of apples to make apple sauce for everyone to take home. (The Hummers would have their turn on Thursday with the peaches!)

On Tuesday morning we sliced and strung apples to dry them for a lovely dried fruit snack.

The remainder of the day was spent hiking at Tsankawi,
part of Bandelier National Monument. The children learned about how the Ancestral Pueblo people once lived. While enjoying lunch in a wonderfully cool cave dwelling. Mountain Kids learned of the many different types of food and animals in the local area and the ways in which the Native peoples would have gone about harvesting and hunting them for food.

 

On Wednesday, we headed out to Rio en Medio, where we were able to gather fallen acorns and experience the sweet taste of freshly plucked red currant berries and a few raspberries along the trail.

The heat of the afternoon was spent splashing about the crisp river water, creating dams and building boats from nature to sail down the river. On our travels back to Santa Fe, the Mountain Kids spotted a couple of beautiful fruit trees full of apricots and apples, which they harvested for a juicy afternoon snack! Foraging sure is fun, and tasty. 🙂

The Eagles hiked to the Rio en Medio waterfall, crossing the river many times, an adventure in itself. It was a challenge if you wanted to keep your feet dry!  We and had a blast getting wet and exploring the frigid waterfall at the end of the hike.

That afternoon the Eagles headed to Chupadero for our Cooking Adventure Campout. We roasted our dinner in the ground (Chicken, sweet potatoes, and corn), learned how to use a handdrill and bowdrill to start a fire, and pitched a large shade structure to provide respite from the hot sun.

We enjoyed time around the campfire roasting apples, apricots and telling stories. A quick rainstorm didn’t deter us from a fun evening under the stars.

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday morning started with an early trip to the Tesuque Pueblo, where the Hummingbirds and the Eagles joined together to pick peaches for the Pueblo people.

In return for the hard work gathering the fruit, we were able to pick our own peaches to enjoy and take home. Soon after we found our way to Chupadero where we spent the afternoon slicing peaches for a fruit compote and practicing archery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone got to take home fresh peaches that afternoon. YUM!!

With our bellies full of sweet fruit, it was nice to spend Friday playing in the woods and exploring our creative side. The Mountain Kids headed up and into the mountains where we spent the afternoon building shelters at Aspen Vista, creating hand made bows, arrows, and spears (from sticks, rocks, and yarn). It was a ‘sweet’ end to a super sweet and tasty week of foraging, eating, camping and archery! What an awesome end to an amazing summer 2019! Thank you families for being a part of it! 🙂