Camp Treetops: A No Screens, No Clocks Kind of Summer

Nestled in the heart of the Adirondack Park, Camp Treetops sits on a private lake, surrounded by the high peaks. It is an unbelievably beautiful, secluded place.

From Summer's Children: A Photographic Cycle of Life at Camp, by Barbara Morgan. Taken at Camp Treetops circa 1950s. 

Life at camp is intentionally simple. There are no screens, no clocks or watches, no candy, no makeup, no electronics. What there is, in abundance, is time outside. Campers spend their days barefoot and choose their own activities from options like pottery, woodworking, horseback riding, crafting, orienteering, and sports. Camp has no religious aspect, and sports are non-competitive and fun.

Treetops is also a working farm. Every camper and counselor take part in daily work jobs: caring for animals, tending gardens, and helping in the kitchen in the mornings and evenings.

Camp fosters independence, resilience, and confidence. Kids go on extended hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, and boating trips, sometimes for a week at a time. The lake is cold, and a daily swim is non-negotiable, rain or shine. At night, campers sleep in their own sleeping quarters while counselors are in lean-tos nearby in the woods, close enough to feel safe, far enough to feel independent.

It's a summer that looks nothing like the rest of the year, or the rest of the world, and that is becoming more and more rare and beautiful as our society shifts towards more screen-time and competition, and less nature, in school, and at home.

A typical day at camp looks something like this: 

A counselor gently wakes you at 6am to tell you it’s barn chore time. You head to the wash house, change into barn clothes, and walk with friends to the barn. Once there, you greet the horse you’ve been assigned to for the week, brush him, clean his hooves, muck his stall and feed him grain. On your walk back to the dining hall, you pick some sour rhubarb from the garden to snack on along the way. At breakfast, you go to your table for the week, made up of 5 campers and one counselor, for a family-style meal. After breakfast, you head to your living space, make your bed, clean your tent and go lounge on a big rock to sing camp songs and choose your activities for the morning. You jump in the lake for your swim lesson, then make a pot in the ceramics shop. When you hear the bell for lunch, you’re excited to dig into a meal made with fresh veggies from the farm. After lunch, you go outside, sing more songs, choose your afternoon activities, then head to your tent for rest hour. When you hear the bell, it's time to get up and head to the waterfront for an afternoon of sailing on the lake. You have an apple juice and crackers snack before running off to your last afternoon activity, working on your weaving on the belt loom in the craft shop. After dinner you choose to play card games by the fire as your evening activity, then you go to your tent to listen to a chapter in the book your counselor is reading to you. When you hear the quiet bell, it's time to go to sleep in your little a-frame tent overlooking the lake and the mountains. You are so excited because tomorrow you’re going for a hike up a 46er.

Young Emma at Camp Treetops :)

Young Rosie, Emma's niece, at Camp Treetops :)

Until recently, all campers attended for the full seven-week session, but now a four-week option is available for first-time campers. While 7 weeks is a very long time, I credit it with providing an incredible depth to the experience,  and the relationships I built there. To me, being at camp for the entire summer is an integral part of the magic.

I feel like the people who love Everyday Oil and the people who would love Treetops are one in the same. A trust in slow, simple and natural things. A belief that less, done well, is much much more.

If you want to learn more: camptreetops.org/learn-more

Camp Treetops is a nonprofit committed to offering this experience to as many families as possible and offers financial aid based on need. To apply: complete the online camper enrollment form, then log into your Treetops account and submit the Scholarship Application under "Forms and Documents". Send a copy of your most recent Federal Income Tax Return to hannah@camptreetops.org. Children of staff members used to be welcomed to camp at no cost, but are offered 50% off of tuition with the additional option of financial aid. Please don’t let the cost of camp deter you from exploring it, there are generous financial aid packages available.

If you are moved to sponsor a child's summer at camp, please visit camptreetops.org/give-back/