Summer's Just Around the Corner: Time for Camp!

With a little over a hundred days until most summer camps begin, it's time to start touring different camps and registering! This week, Patch chose five fantastic summer camps to consider ranging from smaller local day camps to far-stretching sleep-away camps. Regardless of which type of camp you are seeking, these camps will surely provide a wide variety of outdoor adventures, unique activities, and tons of summer fun for kids and teens.

This local day camp is located on a beautiful 50-acre site and offers programs for those in nursery school through ninth grade. The camp offers a Tiny Toons Pre-School program for Kindergarten campers, a Full Day Campers program for children in grades one through six, and a Travel Campers program for those in grades seven through nine. The summer programs involve weekly themes, bumper boats, a free arcade, fishing, a ropes course, and Native American studies. The camp is surrounded by two private lakes and has a 9,000 square foot pool complex, an indoor gymnasium, acres of hiking trails, a variety of athletic fields and courts, four arts and craft centers, a climbing tower, and many other cool features.

Address: 73 East Valley Brook Road, Long Valley, NJ  07853
Phone: 908-876-3429

Camp Deeny Riback
Camp Deeny Riback is a 35-acre facility organized by a year-round Jewish Community Center Staff. The camp offers four, six, seven, or eight week sessions and runs Monday through Friday. The camp offers a Junior Village program for kids in pre-school through first grade, a Middle Camp program for kids in second through fourth grade, which also features a specialized sports unit, an Upper Camp for those in fifth through eighth grade, a Camp Friends special needs program, and a Leader-In-Training for teens in ninth and tenth grade. Activities include arts and crafts, performing arts, a ropes course, a variety of athletic activities, a zip line, day trips, and more.

Address: 208 Flanders-Netcong Road, Flanders, NJ  07836
Phone: 973-929-2901

Camp Mason
YMCA Camp Mason is located on a huge 650-acre site near the Delaware Water Gap. The camp offers an overnight program, day camp, ranch camp, and teen programs. Day Camp Seldon Shannon is open to children between the ages of five and 11 and runs Monday through Friday. Their overnight camp program is packed with outdoor activities and campers’ days are divided into three segments: cabin activities, afternoon activities, and evening activities. Campers divide into groups for instructional afternoon activities and then all campers gather together in the evenings for talent shows, campfires, games, and events. The camp also has themed weekends such as Harry Potter, Heroes and Villains, and the Olympics.

Address: 23 Birch Ridge Road, Hardwick, NJ  07825
Phone: 908-362-8217

Fairview Lake YMCA
Fairview Lake YMCA sits on a 600-acre campus on the mile-long Fairview Lake in Northwestern New Jersey. This all-ages camp offers a Traditional Camp program divided into Minisink coed camp for grades two through four, Kittatinny camp for boys grades five through ten, and Laurel Ridge camp for girls in grades five through ten. There are also a variety of specialty camp programs, including Ranch Camp horseback riding camp, Arts and Hearts girls camp, Trails and Tales boys camp, Sailing/Windsurfing camp, and many others, as well as a counselor-in-training program. The camp features a variety of athletic fields and courts, a ropes course, climbing walls, archery ranges.

Address: 1035 Fairview Lake Road, Stillwater, NJ  07875
Phone: 1-800-686-1166

Camp Lohikan
Camp Lohikan is a co-ed sleepaway summer camp for those between the ages of six and 15. This enormous camp is located on 1200 acres in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. The camp features a heated pool, a private lake with over fifty boats, horse stables, seven miles of trails, 40,000 square feet of indoor activities, a variety of courts and athletic fields, indoor and outdoor theaters, a skate park, and a circus arts center among many other cool features. The camp has over 65 activities running on a daily basis and offers unique clinics including paintball camp, Hip Hop Clinic, DJ Clinic, Cheerleading Clinic, and Rock Band Clinic.

Address: 343 Wallerville Road, Lake Como, Pennsylvania 18437
Phone: 570-798-2707