Camp Chewonki at a Glance

Boys & girls overnight camps with multi-day off-campus expeditions
Multi-week trips & expeditions available for all ages, genders, and skill levels
Southern campus: 400-acre saltwater peninsula on the coast of Maine
Northern campus: private lake embedded in pristine conservation land
Multiple private islands off the coast of Maine and a network of exclusive north woods campsites
A working farm where campers can help grow our food and help care for animals
An 18-element challenge course – with low & high ropes
Expert instruction in canoeing, whitewater & sea kayaking, backpacking, camp craft, wildlife & ecology
Wildlife Center

Wildlife Center with live birds, insects, reptiles and more!

Our Values

At Camp Chewonki, summer is about having fun in a community where campers and staff come together to develop their sense of place. Through the lens of our mission, we focus on three types of relationships:

Relationship to Self – fostering a sense of self-discovery and developing a growth mindset so that we can take healthy risks and reflect on ourselves.
Relationship to the Natural World – exploring the environment around us with a sense of wonder and deepening our understanding of how we connect to the plants and animals we share the world with, including following sustainable land stewardship practices.
Relationship to Others – building a camp community that is accepting and affirming and learning about how to be an active participant in a group while practicing joyful service to others. We eat and sleep together, developing community agreements to live by, sharing family style meals, and unplugging from the wired world to connect more deeply with each other.

Our values of Self-Discovery, Environmental Stewardship, and Community Development are not isolated silos of practice, but rather overlapping ways of thinking and being that lead to a better understanding of sense of place and fostering the confidence in each individual to be able to say: “I belong here, there, everywhere!”

Building Community

From the first moment you arrive at Camp Chewonki this summer, we want you to know you are a welcome member of the community! Your cabin counselors and cabin mates will greet you at the cabin and help you get settled in. In the opening days of camp, we establish community norms & expectations through collaborative work on the challenge course and through the creation of a cabin agreement. The goal: determine who we are as a group and how we want to be as members of the group.

Each day we will think about and work on a value or trait we wish to hold up in our community. At the end of each day, cabin groups will hold an evening meeting to share out how the day went and examine how the daily theme showed up in their experience.

In addition to our work as a cabin group, we build community through shared meals, weekly gatherings, and special events. In the dining hall seats are randomly assigned and we eat family style. We work together to make sure everyone gets the fuel they need, both nutritionally and socially, to maximize their enjoyment of the Chewonki experience. Each week we come together around the campfire and under the pines for entertainment and reflection to enjoy each other’s company while considering what the experience, at camp and on the trail, has meant for us.

At the end of each session, we spend our final day creating a cabin plaque and reflecting on our time together. The day culminates in a special banquet filled with songs, speeches and delicious food to commemorate our summer.

Meals

We aim to provide participants with food that is delicious, nutritious, and sustainably sourced, ideally from our own working farm. Farmers work closely with our kitchen, sharing a philosophy and mission to ensure that the food served at Chewonki fuels the busy bodies and minds of our participants, while simultaneously being yummy! Meals always include options to accommodate those with dietary restrictions.

Participants sit at tables by assignment, with specific staff members, ensuring the building of new connections between community members. Participants enter the dining hall quietly and begin each meal with a shared reading or song on a specific theme that aligns with our values. After being seated, participants are served first portions by one of the staff members at the table. The meal closes with community announcements.

Camp Activities

At the heart of everything we do at Chewonki is our mission, and our desire to provide participants with learning in the natural world that carries on beyond their time at Chewonki. This includes our daily overnight camp activities. When not out on a remote trip, each participant takes part in a weekly rotation of activities that are at the heart of what we do. Here they develop the skills and values to prepare them for remote trip experiences, and to engage deeply in the world around them outside of Chewonki.

Farm & Food

Our food philosophy outlines the beliefs, values, and practices that guide how we engage in food systems and educate all of our participants. Through lessons, games, and activities on our working farm, participants build context and understanding around where food comes from and how it gets to our tables. Taking part in work projects in our gardens and pastures, and caring for livestock, helps to engage the hands, hearts, and heads of participants, building connections to the land, and to each other.

Natural History

Our campus covers 400-acres of different and exciting ecosystems, from salt-marsh and rocky shore, to ponds and streams, and forest and fields. We believe that by building connections between participants and the plants and animals that live in the natural world, we can develop empathy, sense-of-place, and cultivate an environmental ethic, empowering participants to be stewards of the earth. Working closely with our Traveling Natural History Program team, our Natural History curriculum creates opportunities to interact with non-releasable wildlife, explore and investigate natural spaces, and develop the skills to make a difference in environmental issues that participants are passionate about.

Outdoor Living Skills

Our Outdoor Living Skills activity teaches participants essential skills for simple living in the natural world, preparing them for their remote trip experiences. Important skills such as fire building, axe and saw use, and map and compass skills give participants a sense of self-sufficiency, and challenge, as they work towards deeper mastery and understanding. The Outdoor Living Skills curriculum is informed by our years of experience teaching young people how to live in the woods, in programs including Chewonki’s Outdoor Classroom, and Leadership Expeditions.

Watercraft Skills

Our Watercraft Skills activity gives participants skills and experiences to spend time on the waters of Maine. Our Wiscasset campus is located on a saltwater peninsula, providing us with a unique and wonderful environment for campers to practice piloting canoes, kayaks, and sailboats through saltmarsh channels and along rocky coasts.

Extra-Curricular Activities

Our overnight camp programs offer time each day for campers to engage in a wider variety of activities, and provides room for flexibility and individuals’ interests and needs. They are designed to provide further structured learning in areas both inside and outside of our core curriculum, as well as provide a time to engage campers in spontaneous fun!

Activity areas that are regularly offered include:

Swimming
Woodworking
Visual Arts
Performing Arts – (Chewonki Songbook)
Sports and Recreation
Archery

A Day in the Life

Here at Camp Chewonki the days are packed with good friends, good food, and good fun. Each day offers the opportunity to try something new, meet a new friend, and push yourself to overcome healthy challenges in camp and on the trail.

In Camp

Everyone follows the same schedule as we take part in activities, share meals in the dining hall, and enjoy ourselves on Chewonki Neck.

Early to Rise

The Chewonki day begins even before the peal of the wake up bell each morning. Campers can get their hands dirty on farm chores, practice their skills of identification on a birdwalk, or experience the crisp morning jolt of a Polar Bear dip at the waterfront.