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!
August 7-11 | Ages 5-7, 8-12
9 – 4 | Early Care Available
Mon-Fri, $475 + tax
Challenge Level: 
Learn everything you have ever wanted to know about survival shelters and gain wilderness survival skills in this week long adventure. What is a debris hut and how it is different than a wicki-up? Why won’t a stick fort keep me warm and dry, and how can I make it so it will? We will learn about survival shelters and about primitive and modern fire-making techniques, and make our own food over the fire on our overnight campout. Campers will need a sleeping bag and sleeping pad at a minimum. If you need gear, please contact us and we will do our best to provide it.
July 17 – 21 | Ages 8 – 12
9 am – 4pm | Overnight campout Thursday night
Monday – Friday $595 + tax
Challenge Level:
Learn everything you have ever wanted to know about survival shelters and gain wilderness survival skills in this week long adventure. What is a debris hut and how it is different than a wicki-up? Why won’t a stick fort keep me warm and dry, and how can I make it so it will? We will learn about survival shelters and about primitive and modern fire-making techniques, and make our own food over the fire on our overnight campout. Campers will need camping gear.
June 19 – 23 | Ages 8 – 12
9 am – 4pm | Overnight camp out Wednesday night
Monday – Friday $595 + tax
Challenge Level:
In this week, we will explore all things connected to the earth! You will learn about many of the trees and plants in our high mountain ecosystem, build shelters with downed trees, play in the mud(dy earth!) and learn how to camouflage in the woods! Our plant expert will show you many wonderful uses for local plants, such as using yucca to weave rope and which plants can be used for food or medicine. This will be a fun and learning filled week of mud, clay and skills. See you in the woods!
Did you know? Trees communicate and share nutrients with one another through an underground network of fungi in the soil!
June 19 – 23 | Ages 5 – 7
9 – 4 | Early Care Available
Mon-Fri $475 + tax
Challenge Level:
July 5 – 9 | Ages 5-7 & 8-12
8:30–3:30 | Early & After Care Available
Mon-Thu $347 | Mon-Fri $425 | Mon-Fri (8:00-5:30) $550 + tax
Challenge Level:
This is where the fun begins for our campers. Learn how to prepare for a hike and stay safe in the wilderness. Campers will learn the four cardinal directions, how to find north without a compass, signaling for help, and the importance of attitude in a survival situation. Survival shelters (and forts!) will be a key activity this week. Older campers will explore wilderness skills in more depth while planting the seeds of exploration and adventure in a safe, fun, and engaging environment.
Scholarship Application
June 21-25 | Ages 5-7
8:30–3:30 pm | Early & After Care Available
Mon-Thu $347 | Mon-Fri $425 | Mon-Fri (8-5:30) $475 + tax
Challenge Level:
Learn everything you have ever wanted to know about forts, survival shelters, forests and trees in this week long adventure of building forts and fairy houses. What is a debris hut and how it is different than a wicki-up? Why won’t a stick fort keep me warm and dry, and how can I make it so it will? We will learn about trees and use them for crafts, to make fairy houses, play Tree Tag, Meet-a-Tree and other favorite activities as part of this awesome week of tree loving fun!
Scholarship Application
The Hummingbirds (Mountain Kids’ younger group) started their week exploring the trails and waterways of the Beaver Ponds, while learning what to do should we encounter a bear and mountain lion.
The fun continued with an introduction to building survival shelters and a lesson on their importance. As the week continued, the Hummingbirds discussed the essential 6W’s (who, what, when, where, why, & weather) and why they’re important even before entering the wilderness. The children also learned seven new hand gestures in order to help them better understand the seven Leave-No-Trace Principles (ways in which we can respect and take care of our wild lands and parks with low impact practices). We also explored ways of staying S.A.F.E.R. (a mnemonic for how to stay safe while spending time in the outdoors), with one of the key elements being to STOP AND STAY PUT if you get lost.
During our week of acquiring new wilderness skills, the Mountain Kids roamed through areas such as the Rio en Medio, Aspen Vista, and the Ski Basin, all of which are beautifully wooded locations and provided us with a wonderful setting for each camper to use their imagination while becoming animals such as deer, mountain lions, bats, and moths.
Our week ended with the Eagles (older campers) and Hummingbirds gathering together for a day filled with fun and games at the meadow of the lower Big Tesuque trail. What a fun and adventure-filled week!
What a busy and fun week we had! On our first day we made mini-survival kits and headed out to the Beaver Ponds where we hiked, played Eagle Eye (a sneaking and hiding camouflage game), climbing the perfect climbing tree, learning how to use a compass and a topographic map, and found fossils on the walk back to the van. Phew!
Day Two started with a discussion of Leave No Trace principles by Annie, our very own LNT Trainer! After snack and games we headed up to the Norski Trails where we learned how to build survival shelters and then made our own in small groups. As we hiked, we had fun playing many types of games, shared by counselors and campers alike. (Thank you, Ella for bringing your repertoire:). We enjoyed singing The Bear Song and Bats Eat Bugs on the trail and in the van.
Day Three was our big camping day. With storms on the horizon there was a question about whether we would be able to sleep in our shelters. We prepared for the storm by setting up tents, a group tarp, and gathering firewood and putting it under a tarp. Once we were ready for the evening and prepared for the storm, we worked on our shelters, made survival bracelets and enjoyed many rounds of Meet-A-Tree.
Back at the camp, we learned about fire-making and made a warming fire for us to gather around. Then the rain came for a short time during dinner, when we retreated to the group tarp for Nacho-making, and a short stint in our tents. After the rain, we were able to emerge for a perfect evening around the fire of stories, songs and laughter.
Our last full day together we made water filters and talked about a variety of ways to purify water in the wilderness, an important skill! We practiced filtering water with a gravity filter on our hike down the Winsor Trail to the Rio en Medio. The campers were eager for more Meet-a-Tree so we partnered up for this fun sensory game again before we gathered to share our appreciations of the week. We then brainstormed the many uses for a bandana and each camper was gifted a bandana to take home.
What a wonderful week and a great group of campers! Thank you all for making this such fun!
