Bay Area, CA
Camp Trackers Overnight Summer Camp Ages 9-13 & 14-18
More 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 yurts, help cook nourishing meals, explore nature and every day can participate in activities from the Trackers Guilds...
Rangers Guild Outdoor Survival, Animal Tracking and The Curriculum of Shadows
Wilders Guild Wild Plants, Homesteading and The Wilders Garden
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.
In the Village: The Freedom to Grow
Campers Ages 9-13 In the morning campers rotate through our guild activities led by our expert instructors, giving them an introduction to a wide variety of experiences and outdoor skills. In the afternoons, campers are offered free choice of guild activities our guilds to pursue their interests more deeply. Our curriculum of nature skills provide the most well rounded experience of any outdoor program.
Trackers Guilds: The Ultimate Outdoor Camp
Under the safe guidance of Trackers instructors the skills campers learn directly affect 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 visit a local farm or make cheese. Under the guidance of Artisan guild instructors they might perform a campfire play about their adventures during the day, or create a leather quiver for their arrows. Below is a list of potential activities...
Rangers Guild The Rangers Guild are scouts of the forest. Campers train in 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 to bring home or dip candles to bring home at the end of the week.
You may find a Wilder starting seedlings for planting in family gardens or even working on fiber arts projects. They make pickles and preserves, help cook nourishing meals, weave baskets, spin, knit, and use plant dyes and other natural materials for coloring fabric.
Artisans Guild The Artisans Guild encompasses a diverse range of craft and skills, and the spirit of the artisans is woven into all we do at Camp Trackers. Artisans are storytellers and crafts people.
Instructors trained in the dramatic arts teach theater improv games that build confidence, creativity and teamwork, and campers have the opportunity to share their own songs and performances around our campfire each evening.
Overnight Camp Schedule
On Sunday campers check-in and our staff welcomes the to the village of Camp Trackers. Throughout the week we play, learn and work together, doing activities lead by the various Trackers Guilds and culminating in our Epic Thursday all-day adventure. On Friday, we wrap of the week with our closing ceremony and bid farewell to new friends.
Location
Napa, California Camp Trackers is located in a shady forest near the summit of Mount Veeder above the Napa Valley. Undeveloped forest surrounds the camp and provides excellent habitat for the abundant wildlife. Campers who make the hike to the top will be rewarded with a stunning view of Napa as well as the entire Bay Area - even the San Francisco skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge on a sunny day!
Register for Camp Trackers: Rangers, Wilders, Artisans & Mariners
| CIT Program Learn more |
Ages 15-18 $649
CIT Leadership Week June 17-22, 2012 Overnight |
| Add to cart |
| Add to cart |
| Add to cart |
| CIT Program Learn more |
| Add to cart |
| Add to cart |
| Add to cart |
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.
Scholarships
We have scholarship awards available of up to 5%-25% of tuition for families in need. Due to limited funds of awards we recommend you apply early to increase your family's chances of acceptance. Submit a scholarship application
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.
Transportation to Camp
Transportation from the East Bay is included in your registration! We make getting to camp easy with our round-trip bus service.
Not from the Bay Area? Check out Camp Trackers in Portland, OR >
More Information
Dinner Even Plays a Character
In this camp we cook by a complete wood fired outdoor kitchen. It all has a real "Cowboy" Ranger flair to it. We also harvest certain wild edible plants with a focus on caretaking for the land.
Campfire is High End Theater
Campfire is high art and worthy of theater you could sell tickets for. This does not preclude the campers from participating, in fact, under the tutelage and positive encouragement of our fantastic theater impov teachers they feel highly motivated, accomplished and successful to step out on stage. This caliber of instruction will build confidence as they find their voice through village theater and campfire participation.
A Village of Friends
At Camp Trackers you find friendships that last a lifetime. We forge family care by the responsibilities of our Houses. Each camper is sorted into a House when they arrive. That House then works together on the afternoon Guild Duties and participates in morning Guild Rotations together. 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.
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 improv, campfire cooking and most importantly, they posses a deft understanding of true and epic adventure.
About Camps 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 woodfired kitchen we are unable to make accommodations and distinctions for specialized or specific diets.
Systemic Food Allergies To the best of our ability we work to exclude items that typically result inserver 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 LEARNINGexperience 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
The Week...
SUNDAY
Morning-Noon Teen Campers and CIT Check-in and orientation
3pm-5pm 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
Noon Kids campers check-out and optional shuttles
Afternoon Staff, Teen Caper and CIT clean-up/prep for next week. Teen check-out.
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. TrackersNW 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
