Wilderness activities teach the art of camping. Kids learn how to set up tents, tie knots, stay dry and warm, plan trip routes, read maps and plan menus plus learn to cook outdoors.

Since one of our main goals at Birchwood is to teach life skills, we feel it is important to teach kids how to plan a canoe or hiking trip from start to finish. We use detailed maps to teach basic orienteering using compass triangulations and “dead reckoning.” In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating one's current position by using a previously determined position, or fix, and advancing that position based upon known or estimated speeds over elapsed time and course.

Campers learn how to prepare several different meals over a campfire or wilderness camp stove. They learn how to set up camp and to strike camp and practice LNT (leave no trace) camping.

Every camper learns the most important part of building a campfire, putting it out...stone cold out. We only have campfires when the danger of forest fire is at its lowest level according to the NFS.

Our goal with Wilderness Activities is to provide campers with the skills and knowledge to plan and execute outdoor adventures on their own throughout their entire lives.

Some camps take kids on canoe trips. We prepare kids to take their own trips.

Campers can earn awards in this activity.

Wilderness Activities