Chestnut Ridge

Chestnut Ridge offers quality day camp and residential camp experiences for campers across the state of North Carolina and beyond. Our campers who come from the mountains or the coast have little choice but to come to residential camp. But many campers from our local community also choose to come to residential camp because they understand the value of the overnight experience. We regularly help parents understand - "Why is Residential Camp Special?"

The Cabin Experience 

Residential Campers stay in one of the five cabins or two lodges located at Chestnut Ridge.  Unlike other camps, our cabins are air-conditioned and have bathroom facilities inside the cabins.  A typical cabin would have 10 campers and 2 counselors.  Over the course of the week, as they play together, live together, and laugh together, each cabin becomes a close knit unit, with many unique stories and tales to share upon their return home.  Through shared experience and spending so much time together, many campers form friendships that last well beyond the end of the camp week. 

Quality Time with the Summer Team

All of the camp programs at Chestnut Ridge are adequately staffed according to the guidelines set forth by the American Camping Association.  However, at 5:00pm, all of the day campers go home, but all the staff stays at camp.  Therefore, residential campers experience a better staff to camper ratio in the evenings.   This means more attention, interaction, and quality time to bond with those counselors who have dedicated their summer to being positive role models for the campers.  It is also not uncommon for campers to keep in touch with their cabin counselors whom they trust and admire.

Exciting Evening Activities

Each night after dinner, residential campers participate in camp-wide activities and games that are exclusive to the residential camp experience.  Each night brings new adventures and activities which the cabins participate in as a group.  This further strengthens the bonds and friendships formed in each cabin.  Evening activities at Chestnut Ridge may include - 

Pool Party
Capture the Flag
Reverse Scavenger Hunt
The Amazing Race
Counselor Hunt
Mud Night
Talent Show

Wednesday night is Home in the Woods night at Chestnut Ridge.  Each cabin is assigned one of the rustic sites where they will camp out for the night.  At Home in the Woods, campers cook dinner over the fire, explore nature, and sleep under the stars. 

Every night ends with evening vespers.  This is a short devotion time with songs, lessons, and prayer before the campers return to their cabins.  Along with morning worship and our small group time, evening vespers helps us to frame the day, and all that we do, within the Word of God.

Independence, Confidence, Self-esteem

These are three things that resident campers take home with them when they leave camp at the end of the week.  Resident camp is designed to instill independence, self-esteem, and confidence in the campers.  Camp allows campers to try new things in a safe environment.  Counselors go through our intensive staff training where they learn how to encourage campers to try new things, to make new friends, to step out of their comfort zone.  They praise these new achievements, and are also trained in ways to create an environment where the camper feels accepted for who they are. As they accomplish new tasks and achieve new heights, the camper's feel a new sense of confidence in their abilities.  When the campers come in from Home in the Woods on Thursday morning, the sense of accomplishment and pride they feel from cooking their dinner over the fire and sleeping in the woods all night is visible across their face. It is our goal that each camper will feel a renewed sense of confidence in themselves and grow in independence, all while creating fun memories and friendships that will last a lifetime.