Summer Camp Welcome Packet!

On this page, you’ll find information about gear, locations, pick-up and drop-off, driving directions, parent orientation and more. Please note that this page will be updated as we communicate details for summer camp.

Summer Camp Orientation for New Families:

The orientation for families enrolled in all Summer Camp programs will be held virtually on Thursday, June 20th from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM. You can review last year’s recording below to learn more about Summer Camp, meet some of our team and ask questions. If this is your first summer at Wild Earth, we strongly recommend you review the recording. For all families, we warmly welcome every family at this meeting.

Here’s last year’s Zoom Recording (from 2023) if you’d like to review before camp this year. We’ll post this year’s recording after June 20th:
Summer Camp Family Orientation 2023
Please review this important info session, so you are fully prepared to attend camp!

Your detailed welcome letter will be sent within a month of the start of camp, but this will be the only orientation offered before camp.

Please Complete Your Summer Camp Medical & Emergency Contact Form

If you haven’t yet completed it, the form will only take you five minutes to complete. Log in to your Wild Earth Active account to complete your form online.

Your generosity makes Wild Earth camp possible for other children

Did you know Wild Earth is a 501(c)3 non-profit? Your tax-deductible donation makes Wild Earth possible for children whose families otherwise cannot afford camp. Every dollar counts, donate now.

Required & Recommended Gear for Day Camp

Wild Earth is a wilderness camp experience. Our camp is 100% outdoors – rain or shine. Please follow our gear list suggestions carefully to support a positive experience for your child.

Required Gear:

Comfortable, sturdy backpack. Your child will be carrying it periodically throughout the day. Please avoid packing unnecessary heavy items such as glass containers, large ice packs, books, etc.
Shoes that cover toes, should have sturdy soles. No crocs or flip-flops please!
Drinking water (at least 1 liter/32 oz.)
Nutritious lunch and snack. Whenever possible, please limit wrappers to help us avoid accidental littering.
Sun protection (please apply before camp)
On Rainy Days: Raincoat or poncho
On Rainy Days: 1-2 non-cotton insulating top layers such as synthetic fleece sweatshirt, or wool sweater, packed in ziplock or other waterproof bag.
On Rainy Days: Synthetic or wool hat packed in ziplock or other waterproof bag. No cotton please.
Small bottle of hand sanitizer (Wild Earth will also provide handwashing and sanitizing stations)
Not required to be worn at our outdoor programs, but please pack a mask with your camper in case of air quality alert or a spike in COVID or other virus transmission. Masks must be of a double-layer type cloth or a disposable 3-ply safety mask. (Please see CDC guidelines for types of acceptable masks.)

Recommended, but Optional Gear:

Water Shoes: ideally the shoes one wears to camp can also be worn in the water.
Bathing Suit
Towel
Sun Hat
On Rainy Days: Rain pants
On Rainy Days: Warm tea in thermos

Optional Gear:

Insect repellent (please apply before camp)
Long pants – some opt to keep legs covered to prevent scratches, poison ivy, etc.
Bite remedies
Natural crafts your child is working on

Please Do NOT Bring:

Electronics of any kind
Knife with non-locking blades. Examples of Wild Earth-approved knives are available on our online store.

Ticks are a very real hazard when spending time outside in the Hudson Valley.

At Wild Earth summer camps, we encounter moving and attached ticks daily.

This summer, we’re asking all of our camp families to have a clear plan for ticks.

Together, we can minimize encounters with ticks. What you do at home to protect your child from ticks is as important as what we do in the woods.

At Wild Earth, our instructors facilitate two tick checks at every program day. During these group tick checks participants check themselves in visible places: neck, arms, legs, and scalp. When they go to the bathroom, participants are further encouraged to check their bathing suit zone themselves.

1) At home, we ask every family to be responsible for the following:

Teach your child how to carefully and thoroughly check for ticks. Emphasize the importance of checking for ticks during/after spending time outdoors.
Practice thorough tick checks at home with children so they are familiar with doing them.
If you want your child to use a repellent, please make sure it is applied before you arrive at Wild Earth.
And most importantly: do an ultra-thorough tick check with your children when they arrive home from Wild Earth.

Consider wearing light-colored clothing and using a lint roller for easier tick detection.

We cannot stress how important a thorough full body tick check is when participants get home. Minimizing the risk associated with tick bites requires quick detection!

2) Consider taking preventative measures:

In addition to quick detection, many families are adopting preventative tactics such as:

Treat clothing with natural or synthetic repellents
Shower soon after being outdoors (ideally within two hours)
Wear enclosed shoes, socks, pants, long sleeved shirts
Place all clothing into a hot dryer for 10+ minutes after potential tick exposure

3) Consider how your family will treat tick bites should they occur:

Keep magnifying glass, fine tipped tweezers and a hand-mirror handy
Clean tick bites and apply natural (clove essential oil) or conventional antibiotics
Monitor the tick bite location and look for potential symptoms
Take an immune system booster, Anti-Lyme Herbal Formula, and other remedies
Consult with your healthcare provider about other recommendations

Please be sure your family has a clear tick plan in place before Wild Earth starts.

Visit our Tick Resources page for more information about tick bite prevention, removal, and bite treatments: https://wildearth.org/ticks

If your child has an attached tick during a program, our instructors will remove the tick and clean the site of the bite. When a tick is removed from a participant, our staff is committed to notifying parents at the end of the program day. Our instructors will have a written record of the bite location, species (if known), and notes about the removal process itself. When possible, we will save removed ticks for presentation.

Camp Locations, Dates & Times

Wild Earth offers 4 summer camps on 2 different and beautiful pieces of land. For those families with children at multiple locations, we provide a 30 minute window (9am-9:30am, 3pm-3:30pm) to accommodate expected travel times. Without feeling stressed, please do your best to drop off and pick up on time.

Carpools are strongly encouraged

Carpooling with other camp families is the best! It’s a chance to hang with other families and to reduce our greenhouse emissions.

This year we’re sending a contact sheet to help camp families to connect.

Before the start of camp we will be sending out a roster with contact and location information for the families in your session(s). We’re hoping this will make it easier for Wild Earth families to carpool and to connect outside of camp.

Late Arrivals & Early Departures

If you anticipate the need for an early pick-up or late arrival, please contact us as soon as you can so we can discuss and see what might be possible. Please keep in mind that late arrivals and early pick-ups require one of our instructors step away from camp to attend to the late arrival or early pick up. While we will do our best, we can not promise that our staff will be able to accommodate all late arrivals and early departures, especially recurring requests.

RAVEN & RED TAILED HAWK CAMP

Fink/Pardini Land, Clove Valley Road, High Falls, NY
*Bus Drop off location: 22 Main Street (behind the fire dept) in Accord, NY, 12404

Bus departs right at 9:00AM*
Bus returns at 3:15PM

*If you miss the bus drop-off, please drop off at the camp location at:
600 Clove Valley Road, High Falls, NY 12440:
This is a private residence, please do NOT pull into or park in any of the driveways. You’ll know you’re in the right place when you see a Wild Earth sign. If you’re among the first to arrive look for the redwood root sculptures, camp is close by!

Drop-off and pick-up traffic must be heading southwest on Clove Valley (towards Split-Rock). If the route you’ve planned requires you to turn around, there is a safe place to do so about 1/3 of a mile past our Raven Camp drop-off and pick-up site. Please do NOT turn around in the driveway of the house, on on the lawn, or near the Raven Camp traffic – this can be a very real safety hazard.

KESTREL & SCREECH OWL CAMP

310 River Rd Ext, New Paltz, NY 12561 (Stone Mountain Farm)

9:15AM – 3:15PM

Please plan to stay in your car in our drop-off queue. Your camper will simply hop out when our staff directs them to. Thank you, this helps us greatly in reducing your wait time. If your camper needs extra time, please remain in your car and let a staff member know. You will be directed to a parking space.

Information About Wild Earth Summer Camp and Your Rights

Wild Earth camps are inspected and permitted to operate by the NYSDOH. As a participant in our camps, parents and guardians have the following rights:

To be informed by the camp director, or his or her designee, of any incident involving your child, including serious injury, illness or abuse.
To review inspection and investigation reports for a camp, which are maintained by the local health department issuing the camp a permit to operate (present and past reports are available).
To review the required written camp plans. These are on file at both the camp and the health department issuing the permit to operate.

Call or Email Us If You Have More Questions

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact hello@wildearth.org or call (845) 256-9830.