Activities
Art
Drawing – Colored pencils or graphite pencils are the tools campers will use to draw anything that they want. They are encouraged to interact with the surrounding natural environment as a source for inspiration or for replication.
Painting – Campers use brushes and acrylics on small canvas boards to paint what they choose. Natural inspiration comes from the surrounding outdoor environment.
Sculpting – Working with hand tools, campers create pinch pots or any shapes or objects of their choosing. These projects air dry.
*All art projects go home with the campers at the end of the camp week.*
Cooking Class
Learn about back country cooking in this activity by working in small groups to prepare a meal with dutch ovens and briquettes. Campers follow directions, chop, slice, measure, mix and bake. They learn about commercial kitchen safety and how to prepare meals that feed large amounts of people. Using fractions and unit conversions is necessary in this activity. Campers get to experience math hands on.
Garden
Planting/Picking/Eating all happen in the garden. Campers work with their hands to learn more about the interconnectedness between where our food comes from and how it is grown and brought to our plates.
Hikes
Mitchell Point Peak Hike: (2 mile round trip) – Campers climb to the top of Mitchell Point via private hiking trails through the forest connecting to national forest lands.
Gorge View Hike: (1 mile round trip) – Campers hike through the forest ending on the side of Mitchell Point with an expansive esterly view.
3 Springs Hike: (3/4 mile round trip) – Campers explore different fresh water spring locations in the forest and explore the waterways that flow from them.
Mountain Biking
Bring your own bike and helmet and ride with us! We have private mountain biking trails and easy access to the new Mitchell Point tunnel on the historic Columbia River Highway State Trail. Bike rides will happen towards the end of every camp week.
Pond & Water Sports
Located at the center of the property, the pond is an obvious place to spend quality time exploring, socializing, or relaxing. Campers love to catch newts, wade, swim, or dip ther toes off the dock on hot summer days. Surrounded by benches, the pond is also a great place to circle up to start and end each day.
Just above the pond a 50′ slip-n-slide is set up by campers wanting a more active water experience.
Sprinklers are constantly running on hot days and refreshing cold spring water is plentiful for drinking.
Waterballoon toss happens after lunch on the hottest day of the week.
Renewable Energy & Materials
Campers engage in discussions and hands on learning pertaining to renewable energy systems and materials. Wind, solar, and hydro projects provide opportunities for campers to engage physically with these systems. Renewable materials such as wood are also looked at during a tree ring project.
Reverse Engineering Project
Campers work in small teams and learn about how things are made and why they work the way they do through dissassembly and reassembly of house hold items such as: garbage disposal, light switch, printer, inverter, fan, washer, dryer, lawn mower, etc. Campers will draw schematics of internal components before and after the process.
Ropes Course & Zip Lines
Climbing, crawling, balancing, braving, and teamwork are all needed to complete the ropes course challenge. Campers either in small teams or on their own complete partions of or the entirety of the ropes course, which includes 4+ zip lines ranging from 30ft to 300ft.
Scavenger Hunt
To better understand the property boundaries and the plethora of possibilities for the camp week, campers participate in a scavenger hunt in small groups. Team work and positive effective communication are paramount to the success of every team.
Survival Skills
Survival skills training consists of learning and practicing knot tying, shelter building, fire starting, and orienteering with compass navigation.
Team Building
Campers spend time each day of the week working in teams to complete different group challenges such as: rope web pass, bucket pass, channels, and more. These activities encourage campers to work together and problem solve while developing life long friendships.
Trail Building
Campers learn about how trails are built and take hand tools into the forest to practice building and maintaining hiking and biking trails. This may include building switch backs, water bars, steps, jumps, or T-junctions. Biking trails can be used by campers excited to bring their mountain bikes on the final days of the camp week.
Tree Fort Design
Campers start the week learning about structural engineering as it pertains to tree fort longevity and stability. They work in small teams to build scale models with hot glue and popscicle sticks before taking nominal lumber out into the forest to either add onto previous structures or start their own creations.
Water Science Lab
Campers work together in small groups to practice hands on water quality testing of a few different water sources: pond water, spring water, and camper supplied alternatives. Campers take home a 4oz jar to collect a water sample from anywhere they choose at the start of the week. These sources can be: kitchen sink, pool, hot tub, stream, dog bowl, etc. Campers will test turbidity, PH, phosphate, nitrate, temperature, etc.
We look at micro/macro invertebrates through a microscope and discuss the water cycle at local and global scales.
Of all the summer camps I have worked at over the past decade, Mitchell Point Summer Camp has by far been the best camp experience ever! I can’t wait to work here again next summer and hopefully see some returning faces and meet a lot of new friends.
My wife and I started this camp out of the growing need in our community for summer programs for our youth. When we bought our home in 2017 we knew we wanted to share it with others and our passion for the outdoors and education created a perfect fit to begin hosting Mitchell Point Summer Camp in 2022.
I love how the ropes course and zip lines were built by middle schoolers for middle schoolers and, as each year passes, the camp grows. Campers continue to benefit from the hard work and creativity of previous visitors as more and more tree forts and other structures continue to pop up.