NYS Dept of Environmental Conservation Summer Environmental Education Camps
At DEC environmental education camps, campers experience a balance of environmental education, sportsman education and outdoor fun. Games, lessons and hands-on activities teach kids about forests, water quality and other aspects of nature. Swimming, hiking and canoeing are on the agenda, too, as campers learn new outdoor skills. Campers come away with a life-long passion for nature and a dedication to stewardship of our natural resources.
Campers participate in discovery groups, completing six lessons including group dynamics, explorations of different habitats, and human impacts on the environment. Campers learn science, solve challenges, play games, keep a journal, catch salamanders, net butterflies and discover the interconnectedness of life on earth. All of the camps offer Sportsman Education. The Pack Forest Camp also offers shooting sports for the 15 to 17 year-olds.
DEC runs four camps located across New York State. The camps are for boys and girls ages 12 to 17.
Camp Colby, (ages 12 -14) is situated on the western shore of Lake Colby, near the village of Saranac (Franklin County) on 100 acres adjoining the Adirondack Forest Preserve.
Camp DeBruce,(ages 12 -14) is in the southern Catskills, near the village of Livingston Manor (Sullivan County). The camp is located on 300 acres of land adjoining the Catskill Forest Preserve.
Camp Rushford, (ages 12 -14)is situated on the 4,500-acre Hanging Bog Wildlife Management Area in the Genesee River Valley (Allegany County).
Pack Forest (ages 115 - 17 weeks 1 - 3 and ages 12 -14 weeks 4 - 7) is located north of Warrensburg in the southern Adirondacks. Almost 2,500 acres in size, it includes an 85-acre lake and many streams and wetlands. Week-long Ecology Workshops are offered for 15 to 17 year-olds during three of the seven sessions of camp.
Campers may attend multiple times during the seven, week-long sessions. Camp starts on July 3, 2011 and goes until August 21, 2011. The camp week runs Sunday through Saturday.