What is Camp Like?
Camp Program
Raquette Lake’s camp program is 7 weeks long — long enough for a child to truly immerse themselves in the Raquette Lake experience. Days begin at 7:30am and end around 9pm. The hours in-between are broken up into a familiar rhythm of meals, activities, periods of rest, more activities, more food, and then something special and unexpected. Every day is full and memorable in its own right.
Daily Life
Weeks are typically made up of 6 days of activities in camp and one trip day. This changes as campers grow older and progress to longer out-of-camp adventures.
At camp, children spend most of their days running around with their bunk, participating in 5 of their daily activities together. The 6th activity is a weekly elective chosen by your child. At night we offer a variety of special activities, including campfires, socials, western night, all-camp capture the flag for boys, song and cheer competitions for the girls, and theatrical productions.
Special Events, Saturdays, & Sundays
The summer calendar is punctuated by special days. Saturdays at camp are when we hold some of our biggest events. Returning campers look forward to the 4th of July Extravaganza, Carnival, DJ parties, and other RLBC/RLGC socials. New campers may not know what to expect from Hobby Night, Family Night, or a Luau, but they catch on quickly!
Our goal is striking the right balance between the high energy fun and the down time everyone needs. Sundays at camp are “lazy” days when we all recharge.
Trips
There are two kinds of trips we take the kids on. Everyone gets to visit local theme parks and museums while wilderness experiences vary based on a child’s age. Our youngest campers stay on our property for their first overnight. As children grow they progress from day-hiking trips, to off-site overnight camping at Blue Mountain Lake and Old Forge, to the never-to-be-forgotten multi-day Saranac canoe trip for senior campers.
Bunk Life
We have a 2-to-1 camper-to-staff ratio; each bunk has an average of 8 campers and 4 counselors. Bunks are led by mature college-age counselors whose role is to guide and support the campers. Counselors help campers make friends, resolve issues, and encourage them on a day-to-day basis. Group Leaders oversee bunk counselors and stay in touch with parents through the summer.
Cabin clean up, with daily inspections, is the responsibility of the entire bunk. Bunks have private bathrooms. A professional cleaning staff takes care of the bathrooms every day. Bunks, and bunk groups, are supervised by their counselors 24 hours a day.
Food at Camp
There are three things almost every camper remembers: the kids in their bunk, their favorite activities, and the food.
There’s no need to go hungry at Raquette Lake. Our menus are planned so that every child always has some option that will appeal to them. Food allergies, picky eaters, vegetarians — we’ve planned for just about everyone! We’re nut free. We have a dedicated food service director. We take food seriously!
Here are some of the things your child might eat this summer.
Orange juice, cereal, pancakes, waffles, eggs, made-to-order omelets, fresh berries, bananas, yogurt, bagels, hot chocolate with mini marshmallows… pizza, chicken tenders, hamburgers, tacos, fajitas, quesadillas, spaghetti and meat balls, lasagna, baked ziti, macaroni and cheese, subs, a complete salad bar, protein bar… grilled steak, fried chicken, roast chicken, BBQ hamburger, veggie burgers, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, assorted home baked deserts…
There is a fruit and cereal bar for breakfast, and salad bars for lunch and dinner. Once a week we host a beach BBQ that all of the campers love.
Safety
Your child’s safety is our top priority. Safety begins with our staff. Half of our staff arrive a month before camp because our training is so rigorous. All Raquette Lake staff members go through general safety training as well as safety protocols specific to their roles at camp. Staff are also trained in first aid and to respond to allergic reactions. We have 5 full-time nurses on each camp property, a full-time doctor on site, and a Medical Director overseeing both of our infirmaries.
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Accreditation
Raquette Lake Camps are accredited by the American Camp Association.
