Camp Netimus/Shohola vs Timber Tops/Lake Owego

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have familiarity with these sleepaway camps? I am trying to understand the "culture"/atmosphere differences since otherwise the camps seem similar (smaller/close knit feeling, single sex, on a lake in the Poconos, similar offerings). I need a girls and a boys camp so I am looking at them in pairs. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[Anonymous]

Timber Tops and Lake Owego are going to have more kids.Sessions at these camps are 3 1/2 weeks. Nothing shorter.Runs about $7000.

Netimus and Shohola are smaller, options for 2 weeks. Will be more rustic.

For Timber Tops/Lake Owego, calling their lake "a lake" is generous. It is a small pond at best. Water skiing is done at lake Wallenpaupack.

The Lake for shohola and netimus is bigger.

Both camps get nice kids. More DC kids will be at Shohola and Netimus. Timber Tops/Lake Owego will have a larger contingent of NY/NJ/PA.

[Anonymous]

My 11 year old rising 6th grader is getting ready to spend her second summer at Timber Tops. She absolutely loved it. There are a fair amount of girls from the area who go but also more from Pennsylvania, NJ, NY which is fine by me. No one from her grade in her current ES is going there however, there are 3 girls one grade below her who happen to be going this coming summer.

The lake is small at TT but she never seemed to mind at all. She loved all the activities and the camp in general. The minute she stepped off the bus she begged to stay for the full summer this year (she's not b/c we want to spend time as a family over the summer). Our rising 5th grade boy will go to Oswego this summer. Super nice folks run the camp and they are invested in making sure everyone has a great experience. Coincidentally there are 8 new rising 5th graders this year and 4 are from Bethesda/Potomac for Oswego so you just never know the make up in a particular year. Oswego is much smaller than Timber Tops.

Good luck in your search. I'm not familiar with the other camps but I can say that everyone we know who has done Timber Tops and/or Oswego has had very positive experiences.

[Anonymous]

These camps are all great. Owego is a truly special place for boys. There’s not really anything comparable