Teen Adventure
Teen Adventure (TA) is an innovative and physically challenging two week experience with a focus on community service, affirming individual strengths, teaching compassion and bringing forth environmental stewardship. Service learning has long been a deeply integral part of Nature Camps philosophy. Teens feel the power of tradition, community and service during their engaging time with their peers. Teens eagerly participate in "service" projects, both on site at Nature Camps and while away on the Spoutwood Farm TA trip. Teens begin to see themselves not only as autonomous individuals, but also as members of an intentional community - the Nature Camps Family, working side by side with staff, sharing the physical labor and learning leadership skills by working so closely with staff members. Teens spend one week at camp filling a counselor in training role and spend the next week adventuring on one of our three trips. TA enrollment is limited to eight teens per two-week session with two TA Leaders. Early enrollment is recommended. See the Calendar.
Trips
Spoutwood Farm Trip
(Gear List)
Teen Adventure teens bike from camp to the North Central Railroad (NCR) to Spoutwood Organic Farm, CSA. Spoutwood Farm is a 26 acre farm 35 miles north of Baltimore, MD., in southern York County. Spoutwood has been the home of Rob and Lucy Wood for twenty nine years, however it benefits from a wide variety of volunteers, interns, animals, and friends of the farm. Spoutwood Farm is a CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture, a co-op with 100 members who pay or work for a weekly supply of fresh vegetables grown naturally without any chemicals. The farm is also an educational, non-profit organization devoted to teaching sustainable living on the land and reconnecting people with nature. Spoutwood Farm also sponsors a May Day Fairy Festival. Teens camp on the farm and shower outside in a man made shower in the woods. Visit Spoutwood website to find out more at www.spoutwood.org.
Appalachian Trail Trip
(Gear List)
Teens Backpack approximately 30 miles from to Harpers' Ferry. During this trip the group stops at 3 different shelters along the trail to set up camp and cook meals in the woods. On the last day of the trip, teens whitewater raft down the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers!
C & O Canal Towpath Bike Trip
(Gear List)
The C&O Canal Towpath runs 185 miles from Cumberland, MD along the Potomac River Valley into Washington, D.C. The Teen Adventure teens and Counselors will bike ~85 miles over 5 days from Williamsport, MD to Great Falls outside of Washington, D.C. The route gives the group the opportunity to take short side trails to the Antietam National Battlefield, Harpers Ferry, and Great Falls and much more. Along the way there are plenty of places to stop by the river for a swim or sit at a picnic table by the river for lunch, or maybe even a deli just off the trail. Also there are campsites along the path about every 5 miles which allows for a flexible schedule for the group to decide their own pace. Everyone carries all of their own personal gear (clothes, sleeping bag and pad, snacks, etc.) strapped to racks on their bikes. There will also be two pull-behind trailer carts for everyone’s group gear (tents, dinner and breakfast, pots, etc.).