- August 5-9, 2024 Wilderness Survival Craft for ages 8-13 with no prerequisite, and seven year olds ok with older sibling at camp.
- Related Camp: August 12-16, 2024 Advanced Skills of the Artisan for ages 10-15 who have completed at least three prior camps this year or in past years, and whose parents attest that a camper can succeed in our method of knife safety and tool training.
- Related Camp: August 19-25, 2024 Advanced Conservation Scouts for ages 10-15 who have completed at least two prior camps this year or in past years. Advanced Zombie Apocalypse Overnight camp also available this week for ages 11-16 with prerequisite of at least one prior overnight camp with us.
- August 26-30, 2024 Wilderness Survival Craft for ages 8-13 with no prerequisite, and seven year olds ok with older sibling at camp.
- August 26-30, 2024 Advanced Wilderness Survival day camp for ages 10-15 with prerequisites of Wilderness Survival Craft and at least one other camp earlier in the summer or in past years. Advanced Conservation Scouts Overnight camp also available this week for ages 11-16 with prerequisite of Advanced Conservation Scouts day camp or any prior overnight camp with us.
Wilderness Survival Craft is especially great for hands-on learners, and the theme celebrates its 26th year this summer at the Hans Jensen Group Camp where we can safely roam hundreds of acres of wild state-owned forest.
Re-create a traditional way of life with us, honoring the gifts of wood, stone, fire and water. We’ll follow the critical order of survival, practice emergency response scenarios addressing the top hazards in nature, build warm shelters, purify drinking water, make fire, and prepare the most important plants and insects for survival.
Campers will also witness bow drill fire by friction and then work with a team to practice it themselves. They will learn aidless navigation for lostproofing, craft tools of stone, including a coarse knife. They will make rabbit sticks and other honorable hunting implements, learning that all life – plant, animal and mineral – is sacred to be respected.
Camp Itinerary
Itineraries are subject to some amount of change based upon location, weather, instructor preference, and natural resource availability. 3-4 pm cool-down time includes group options of archery, sprinkler games, creek wading, and berry picking.
Monday: Awareness, Navigation & Community Building
Morning Session: Introductions; Awareness Training, Order of Survival
Afternoon Session: Natural Navigation & Survival Shelters
Tuesday: Water, Wild Edible & Medicinal Plants
Morning Session: Water Purification Practice, Digging Seeps & Rock Boiling Demo
Afternoon Session: Top 10 Plants, Wild Teas & Edible Insects
Wednesday: Emergency Shelter & Fire
Morning Session: Fire Pits & Safety, Bed-Pillow-Blanket for Baby Fire, Tinder & Firesteel Trainings;
Afternoon Session: Matches Training, Bow Drill Demo & Challenge
Thursday: Animal Craft
Morning Session: Rope Making, Stone Knife Making; Intro to Animal Trailing;
Afternoon Session: Rabbitstick Training, Honorable Hunter Training, Animal Trailing;
Friday: Survival Scenarios
Morning Session: Survival Review & Scenario Challenges;
Afternoon Session: Survival Craft Trading Market & Closing Ceremonies
We were voted Best Wild Day Camp in the last ParentMap Golden Teddy Awards!
Daily Camp Schedule
8:30-9:00 Check-Ins & Morning Care (gate opens at 8:30)
9:00-9:30 Songs, Stories, Stretches & Late Check-Ins
9:30-12:00 Morning Lessons with snack break at 10:45
12:00-1:00 Lunch, Games, Archery or Swimming Option
1:00-3:00 Afternoon Lessons with water break at 2:00
3:00-4:00 Camp Crafts, Creek Time, Berry Picking & Early Check-Outs
4:00-4:30 Aftercare & Final Pick-Ups (all-staff meeting starts at 4:30)
Camp Leaders
Camp Directors Kim & Chris Chisholm are on site all week teaching groups and directing staff instructors at our hallmark 6-1 average student-teacher ratio that’s critical for safe and profound outdoor experiences. Read our FAQ’s for more details and check out camp testimonials dating all the way back to 1997.
Health Protocols
Hygiene protocols will remain the same as last year as long as there is still no evidence of Covid/Cold/Flu transmission in the outdoors with plenty of room to spread out. To start each day, campers must pass our health screening before being allowed to participate in camp. If there are reports of group participants who came in contact with an infection, we may provide n95 masks for participants of that group to wear when less than 3-6 feet from others. As before the pandemic, we will continue requiring hand sanitizing whenever sharing tools and materials, before entering toilets, and we train campers with proper hand washing after campers exit toilet facilities with doors left open between uses when possible to ensure ventilation.
Full vaccinations are strongly encouraged – we follow the scientific consensus – with tetanus shot (usually given as part of the normal Tdap vaccine series) considered the most important in the field of outdoor education. Otherwise, we know that due to our 100% outdoor setting, combined with health screenings, contact tracing, supervised hand washing, bathroom ventilation, mask use when exposure has been reported in a group, and individual/family style tenting at overnight camps, the risk of disease transmission has been negligible at Wolf Camp, so other vaccination records are not required. Click here for full details on our health and safety protocols during the pandemic era, and see the latest CDC summer camp guidelines.
Camp Tuition at Lake Sammamish
• Tuition is $695 for a camper’s first-ever week with us, plus $595 per additional day camp week in 2024. Discounts of $10 available per additional child. Tuition includes all expenses except you’ll need to pack lunch and appropriate outdoor wear, and also includes organic t-shirt at your first camp with us, then at subsequent camps a choice of recommended field guides, orienteering compass, firesteel and other outdoor essentials depending on number of camps attended, age and availability.
• Tuition is $595 per week in 2024 for campers returning from previous years. Discounts of $10 available per additional child and camp weeks.
• Sliding scale financial aid scholarships available via the Conservation College – Max Davis Scholarship fund. To apply for a scholarship, click here and email your answers to their simple financial aid questions. Or to make a contribution to the Max Davis Scholarship fund, click here. When the Conservation College or other funding source can’t cover a need, we provide in-house financial aid to ensure everyone who applies can access at least one Wolf Camp week based on need and merit.
Registration (opens November 20th for returning camp families, and January 20th for new camp families)
STEP 1 – If this is a camper’s first year with us, reserve the first week with a $200 deposit, plus $100 per additional week; and returning campers reserve spots with $100 deposits per week; via one of the following methods:
• Zelle to “kim@wolfcollege.com” with a note including camper NAMES, AGES, CAMP DATES & THEMES, plus your EMAIL & PHONE since Zelle doesn’t otherwise share that with us;
• Or call us between 9am-9pm at 425-248-0253 ex 1 with a credit card to register over the phone;
• Or use the PayPal system appearing below after January 20th;
STEP 2 – If this is your camper’s first year with us, complete our once-in-a-lifetime Registration Form WITHIN ONE WEEK of making your deposit, otherwise we will have to refund you and give your spot(s) to others. You can use our Microsoft Word or PDF registration form, or make your own copy of our Google Doc form, or choose our Bilingual Chinese-English Registration Form PDF / Word Doc – one per new participant. We’ll need you to email it back to us for review within one week to maintain your reservation. Again, skip this step if your camper has attended anything with us in the past.
STEP 3 – Pay balance during your summer camp week. We’ll email you an invoice in late spring with camp prep info and balance payment options (Zelle, PayPal, Check, Credit Card) that can be done in advance or during your first camp week. All payments are non-refundable unless we refuse your registration. However, if you cancel (at any time for any reason is fine) we will save your payments as credit for you to use in future years, or you can choose to have us move the funds into our scholarship account if you prefer. The best practice is to make the minimum deposits to register, and then wait to pay the remaining balance during your camp week via Zelle to “kim@wolfcollege.com” saving us time and transaction fees, or you can PayPal us at that same email address, or give us a check or have us run a credit card on site.
Or email us to be put on our list for this program in the future. We always keep your information absolutely private, and will never share it.
Refund Policy: Payments are not refundable unless we don’t accept your application. If you cancel for any reason, you may receive a full credit good through the following calendar year on appropriate and available programs listed on our schedule, although an additional deposit may be needed to secure your spot in the future program. If a program you sign up for is canceled and not rescheduled at a time you can attend, you may receive a full refund except in cases of natural (weather, geologic, wildfire, etc) disasters, grid failures, epidemics, government shutdowns, conflicts or curfews, or other unforeseen emergencies making it unsafe for staff and/or attendees to reach or use program locations, in which case all payments made will be held by us without expiration date for your future use in appropriate/available programs of your choice. Reasons include the expenditure of funds (property rentals, advertising, materials, admin staff time, etc.) long before programs take place, i.e. deposits make it feasible for Wolf Camp to schedule programs in the first place, but our mutually understood agreement is that Wolf Camp will run the program at the safest available time in the future. Finally, no refund, nor credit, is given if a participant is a no-show without prior notice, or asked to leave a program for inappropriateness as determined by our kids, youth and adult agreements for participation.
Day Camp Preparation: Agreements, Packing List and FAQ’s
Day Camp Agreements for Participation
Other FAQ’s – Frequently Asked Questions
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