Please refer to the online registration system to determine if there is space available in a specific camp.
NOTE: Many camps filled super fast this year…but please sign up on the wait list if a camp you are interested in is full. Plans change and spaces often open up as the summer progress. We will use our wait lists to fill available spaces.
List of Camps by Week also available.
Minnows (ages 3-4)
SNEAK & SOAR: June 20-24, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Learn all about how wild animals move and groove. Play animal action games and sing wiggly wild songs. Dance with our costumed Kinder Critter Rico Raccoon and play music in the Sound Garden!
DOWN IN THE DIRT: July 11-15, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Investigate the hidden world below your feet. Dig in the dirt, build sandcastles, and create with clay. Plant seeds in garden soil and make mud pies in our River Run play area!
SPLASH & SPLATTER: July 25-29, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Explore the wonderful world of water. Meet aquatic bugs, make splatter art, and dance in the Learnscape sprinklers. Play Poohsticks and create watercolor art!
STONE SOUP: August 15-19, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Discover a rainbow of flavors in our Learnscape as we collect ingredients for our very own colorful Stone Soup. Sing harvest songs and play garden games. Make sand cakes for extra pretend food fun!
Dragonflies (ages 4-5)
PUPPETS, PAINTS & PAWPRINTS: June 20-24, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Enjoy animal face painting, make footprint art, create puppets, and explore in the park. Play in the Nature’s Builders Playspace and pretend to be wild animals with our costumed Kinder Critter Rico Raccoon!
MAGIC FOREST: June 27-July 1, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Wander woodland trails, build forts in the Magic Forest, and get to know the trees in our Learnscape. Tell tall tree tales, build fairy houses, and make wood gnomes from forest finds.
ANIMAL ADVENTURES: July 5-8 (no camp July 4th), 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Beavers and squirrels and moles, oh my! Learn about park mammals as you hunt for hidden homes, search for tracks and traces, and check out real animal pelt and bone specimens. Tell critter tales and create creature art!
BUSY BUILDERS: July 11-15, 1-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Make nests, weave webs, and build beaver dams in this fun camp all about creative critters. Play with giant blocks in our Nature’s Builders Playspace, learn about earth-friendly human homes, and build your own mini shelters using lessons learned from animals!
BUDS & BERRIES: July 18-22, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Spring your way into summer with fun in our Learnscape Garden. Make flower salads, go on berry hunts, and make mud pies. Create garden chimes, sing sunshine songs, and crawl through tunnels in the Cave of Wonders!
BIRDING BUDDIES: July 25-29, 1-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: Get to know the birds that fly in the sky nearby. Check out real feathers and nests, explore bird habitats, learn beak techniques, and hear fine-feathered stories. Sing like a bird, build nests, and visit with our Kinder Critter, Ollie Owl!
EARTHLINGS: August 1-5, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Bake with sunlight, build recycled art, and play Poohsticks at the park canal! Forage for garden goodies in the Learnscape, tell tales in Hazelnut Hollow, and make tunes from trash. *Combine this camp with Pond Nymphs in the afternoon for an all-day experience!
POND NYMPHS: August 1-5, 1-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: Meet the cool critters in the water web of life. Go pond dipping, play in the Learnscape’s River Run, and watch for herons and osprey along the canoe canal. Do the Frog Hop with Frannie the costumed Kinder Critter! *Combine this camp with Earthlings in the morning for an all-day experience!
WHO’S HIDING?: August 8-12, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Explore our Learnscape and the park in search of hiding creatures – from birds to bugs. Play hide and seek games, go on an unnatural hike, and create camouflage costumes.
EARTH MOVERS: August 15-19, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Move your body like the rocking and rolling Earth as we explore in the park and Learnscape! Whirl like the wind, grow tall like trees, and roll like the river as we learn kid-friendly yoga moves. Make music on our Star Stage and create instruments with gifts from the earth – stone, wood, water, and more!
BOUNTY OF BUGS: August 22-26, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Explore ponds, look under logs, and swing nets through grass as you hunt for bugs of all shapes, sizes, and colors! Learn all about insects, play creepy-crawly games, and do the Dragonfly Dance. *Combine this camp with Make a Splash in the afternoon for an all-day experience!
MAKE A SPLASH: August 22-26, 1-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Discover the wonders of water! Make drip sandcastles in our sandbox and mud pies in our Dig–Inn Dirt Box. Experiment with our model watershed, play Poohsticks, and dance in the Learnscape sprinklers. *Combine this camp with Bounty of Bugs in the morning for an all-day experience!
EARTHY ARTISTS: August 29-September 2, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Dig into nature’s treasure chest as we create finger paints from flowers, Earth Art from our stones and cones collection, and critters from cool stuff we find in the forest. Enjoy edible art created from Learnscape Garden goodies! *Combine this camp with Positively Pollinators in the afternoon for an all-day experience!
POSITIVELY POLLINATORS: August 29-September 2, 1-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Discover how plants and animals communicate and cooperate in nature. Catch butterflies in the meadow, taste goodies from our Learnscape gardens, and learn how bees make honey. Meet our Kinder Critter Bella Butterfly! *Combine this camp with Earthy Artists in the morning for an all-day experience!
Tree Frogs (Ages 6-8)
HAZELNUT HOLLOW: June 20-24, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: All the (outdoor) world is a stage in this fun nature theater camp! Spend the week acting like animals and creating mini-shows inspired by our favorite nature tales. Make masks from recycled and natural materials and present your productions in the Hazelnut Hollow Theater and on the Star Stage! *Combine this camp with Big on Bugs in the afternoon for an all-day experience!
BIG ON BUGS: June 20-24, 1-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Crickets and beetles and flies, oh my! Get to know insects as we catch bugs in the grass, forests, meadows, and ponds. Use nets, screens, and magnifiers to find and identify hidden creatures in the compost, soil, and gardens. Make your own cool insect out of recycled materials. *Combine this camp with Hazelnut Hollow in the morning for an all-day experience!
UP IN THE AIR: June 27-July 1, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Discover what’s up in the air as you explore the park to find things that fly, glide, float, and fall. Use binoculars to scan the sky for birds, catch bugs in the grass, create mini-parachutes out of recycled materials, and make toys that fly. *Combine this camp with Camp Talking Stones in the afternoon for an all-day experience!
CAMP TALKING STONES: June 27-July 1, 1-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Learn about the life and lore of our area’s native people, the Kalapuya, in this fun park exploration camp. Hike to the Talking Stones and float the canal, which leads to the water highway of the Kalapuya people, the Willamette River. Learn Kalapuya words, play Kalapuya games, and hear Kalapuya stories. *Combine this camp with Up in the Air in the morning for an all-day experience!
NEW CAMP! LET’S GO Session #1 (Tree Frogs), July 5-8 (no camp July 4th), 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Get up and GO! Bike, hike, and float your way to all corners of the park in this fun camp for kids who like to move. Bike, hike, and float on the canoe canal. Blend smoothies by bike and make mini-boats to launch on the water! You must be able to cycle without training wheels for up to four miles a day (with breaks) for this camp, and have or borrow a helmet that fits, a bike lock, and a working bike (with hand brakes) for this camp. Bike/lock/helmet loans may be possible on advance request.
WEB WEAVERS AT HENDRICKS: July 5-8 (no camp July 4th), 9am-4pm, Hendricks Park: Diversity is woven into the web of life! Wander park trails and discover the amazing variety of living things that make a forest strong, from the tallest trees to the tiniest fungi. Weave your own collaborative community as you build together with everything from sticks to stones, clay to cones. Enjoy creative exploration and expression through cooperative games and kid-friendly yoga.
AVENTURA DE JARDIN EN ESPAÑOL Session #1: July 11-15, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Explore and play in our Learnscape Garden and learn the Spanish words for what you discover. Hunt for garden goodies, bake with our solar oven, and create forts in the Nature’s Builder’s Playspace. Listen to bilingual stories in Hazelnut Hollow and make human-powered smoothies! *Combine this camp with Aventura de Parque en Español in the afternoon for an all-day experience!
AVENTURA DE PARQUE EN ESPAÑOL Session #1: July 11-15, 1-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Explore the park and learn the Spanish words for what you discover. Go pond dipping, find secret park trails, and cool off in the Willamette. *Combine this camp with Aventura de Jardin en Español in the morning for an all-day experience!
NATURE DETECTIVES AT MOUNT PISGAH: July 11-15, 9am-4pm, Mount Pisgah Arboretum: Go on a scavenger hunt each day as you hike in the park – and create a treasure map of natural wonders to share with your family! Use magnifiers to see nature mysteries up close and binoculars to check out what’s happening in the distance. Visit Mount Pisgah’s fascinating wetland, forest, and oak savanna exhibits and cool off in the Willamette River’s Coast Fork.
WATER WORKS: July 18-22, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Wade into the world of water in this wet and wild camp! Make drip sandcastles and experiment with watershed models. Go on a critter quest to discover who lives in and near the park’s waterways. Hike by the Willamette River, play Mountain Melt, and float down the canoe canal.
FOREST FORTS: July 25-29, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Hunt for animal homes in the park and get inspired to build your own special shelters. Create giant block towers in the Nature’s Builder’s Playspace and build forts in the Magic Forest. Design crazy castles from recycled cardboard boxes and mini build gnome homes in the Learnscape.
TRAILS & TALES AT HENDRICKS: August 1-5, 9am-4pm, Hendricks Park: Explore this park from bottom to top and discover how tracks and traces, stories in stones, and layers in land tell nature’s tales! Create treasure hunts, discover new park trails, and enjoy stories at the Oak Knoll.
New Camp! AVENTURA DE JARDIN EN ESPAÑOL Session #2: August 1-5, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Explore and play in our Learnscape Garden and learn the Spanish words for what you discover. Hunt for garden goodies, bake with our solar oven, and create forts in the Nature’s Builder’s Playspace. Listen to bilingual stories in Hazelnut Hollow and make human-powered smoothies! *Combine this camp with Aventura de Parque en Español in the afternoon for an all-day experience!
New Camp! AVENTURA DE PARQUE EN ESPAÑOL Session #2: August 1-5, 1-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Explore the park and learn the Spanish words for what you discover. Go pond dipping, find secret park trails, and cool off in the Willamette. *Combine this camp with Aventura de Jardin en Español in the morning for an all-day experience!
WILDLIFE CYCLERS: August 8-12, 9am-12pm, Alton Baker Park: Explore the park and beyond in search of wildlife tracks and traces in this beginning biking camp. Roll through the phases of the sun and moon as we learn about diurnal, crepuscular, and nocturnal creatures and their habitats. Check out real pelts and bones! You must be able to cycle without training wheels for up to three miles a day (with breaks) for this camp, and have or borrow a helmet that fits, a bike lock, and a working bike (with hand brakes) for this camp. Bike/lock/helmet loans may be possible on advance request. *Combine this camp with Scales, Tails & Sails in the afternoon for an all-day experience!
SCALES, TAILS & SAILS: August 8-12, 1-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Discover how aquatic critters make waves in the water. Learn how boats float and build creations that sail in the water and soar on the wind. Search for live reptiles and amphibians in the park and explore the canoe canal on our floating fleet! *Combine this camp with Wildlife Cyclers in the morning for an all-day experience!
LET’S GO: August 15-19, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Get up and GO! Bike, hike, and float your way to all corners of the park in this fun camp for kids who like to move. Spend two days biking, two hiking, and one floating on the canoe canal. Blend smoothies by bike and make mini-boats to launch on the water! You must be able to cycle without training wheels for up to four miles a day (with breaks) for this camp, and have or borrow a helmet that fits, a bike lock, and a working bike (with hand brakes) for this camp. Bike/lock/helmet loans may be possible on advance request.
GO WITH THE FLOW AT MOUNT PISGAH: August 15-19, 9am-4pm, Mount Pisgah Arboretum: Explore the hiking trails and waterways of Mount Pisgah while practicing mindfulness, trying out yoga moves, and creating poetry. Get to know one of the river’s inhabitants as you act out the salmon’s lifecycle. Catch bugs in the water – salmon’s dinner – and wade at special Willamette River Coast Fork splashing spots!
ROCK IT: August 22-26, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Visit Fossil Beach, do the Rock Cycle Rap, and learn the story of your own special stone. Create volcanoes, splash in the Willamette, and play Mountain Melt!
CAMP COOK OFF: August 29-September 2, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: End the summer with a bunch of munchin’! Bake in a solar oven, create yummy garden recipes, and blend smoothies by bike. Make silly veggie art, dry fruit chips, and have a rainbow salad making contest. Hike park trails to learn about the nearby web of life and who’s harvesting who in nature!
Blue Herons (Ages 8-11)
CYCLE FORCE: June 27-July 1, 9am-4 pm, Alton Baker Park: Learn all about how bikes go as we explore Willamette River bike trails. Create bike part art, learn basic bike maintenance skills, and use human power to make bike smoothies! *You must be able to cycle up to ten miles per day, and have or borrow a helmet that fits, a bike lock, and a working bike for this camp. Bike/lock/helmet loans may be possible on advance request.
CHILL CRITTERS: July 5-8 (no camp July 4th), 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Travel back in time to discover the links between today’s cold-blooded critters and their distant dino relatives. Solve scaly mysteries and use your reptile radar to search for herps in nature nearby. Invent a cold-blooded critter of your own and chill out with a float down the canoe canal!
NATURE KNOW HOW AT MOUNT PISGAH: July 11-15, 9am-4pm, Mount Pisgah Arboretum: Wayfinding and water safety, knives and knots, maps and mountain climbing. You’ll learn about all these skills and more as we hike in the hills, play in the Coast Fork of the Willamette, and explore the hidden corners of this amazing park. Sturdy shoes and a sense of adventure essential!
TREE TREKKERS: July 18-22, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Alton Baker Park: Discover who’s hiding, hooting, and hovering in the forest as you explore our Willamette riverside parks by bike. Find our area’s coolest trees — the tall, twisted, wide, and weird! Look for treetop heron, osprey, and eagle nests as you wander in the woods along the Willamette River. Visit Tall Trees Park, the Eastgate Woodlands, Skinner Butte, and more. *You must be able to cycle up to ten miles per day, and have or borrow a helmet that fits, a bike lock, and a working bike for this camp. Bike/lock/helmet loans may be possible on advance request.
ROCK ‘N ROLL: August 1-5, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Explore the Willamette River watershed by bike! Pedal along rolling rivers and past tall trees on the Willamette River Bike Path. Get a close look at local geology when you visit fossil beach in Alton Baker Park and the famous rock columns in Skinner Butte Park. Take a break from biking on a relaxing float down the canoe canal. *You must be able to cycle up to ten miles per day, and have or borrow a helmet that fits, a bike lock, and a working bike for this camp. Bike/lock/helmet loans may be possible on advance request.
DIG IN & COOK OUT: August 8-12, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Slice, dice, mix, and mash your way through a week of tasty treats using goodies from our Learnscape gardens. Make paper you can plant, brew herbal teas, dry apple chips, and bake artistic pizzas in a solar oven. Enjoy a camp cook-off and blend bike smoothies!
RIVER RUNNERS AT MOUNT PISGAH: August 15-19, 9am-4pm, Mount Pisgah Arboretum: Discover the wild, watery world of the Willamette River’s Coast Fork as you explore in this amazing park and beyond. Swim like a fish and navigate through a salmon migration obstacle course. Sharpen your observation skills as you look for signs of water wildlife and catch aquatic insects!
WILD WAVES ‘N WHEELS: August 22-26, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: Cycle the Willamette River bike paths in search of the best wading, rock-stacking, and stone-skipping spots. Learn about the river’s amazing journey from the mountains to the sea and enjoy your own cool ride as you float down the canoe canal! *You must be able to cycle up to ten miles per day, and have or borrow a helmet that fits, a bike lock, and a working bike for this camp. Bike/lock/helmet loans may be possible on advance request.
LOOK OUT!: August 29-September 2, 9am-4pm, Alton Baker Park: It’s a wild world out there! Discover the awesome ways that plants and animals protect themselves or their young, hunt their prey, and defend their territory. Find armored bugs, learn to identify perilous plants, and search for camouflaged critters as you explore the trails and waterways of Alton Baker Park. Explore the farthest reaches of the park and cool off with a float down the canoe canal!