YMCA Camp Letts
Girl Scout camp for the girls

DS is going to Scout camp this summer, it will be his first time. We are planning on some local high adventure camps for the next few years as well as the traditional overnight camps. A 7 day camp that includes a 5 day backpacking trip or a canoeing trip costs about $550.
There are a good number of different local council Scout camp options in Virginia.

There are more expensive options at the national high adventure camps that are longer, Philmont is about $2000 for a 14 day backpacking trek but that doesn’t include transportation to New Mexico.

YMCA, scout and church camps are cheapest. you can stack multiple sessions. you don't typically have to pick up between sessions.

Camp Horizons in Harrisonburg is 3400 per kid for 2 weeks.

Church camps are often more affordable

We send DD to week-long Girl Scout camps for about $700/week. None of the options are longer than 2 weeks at a time, but in theory we could stack them so that she only came home Fri-Sun. We have to drive to pick up and drop off.

Go south for cheaper camps. Many fill up quickly by September. If you have boys, mine went to Falling Creek in NC. There are girls camps around too- Camp Illahee, Glen Arden, etc.

If you are just starting to explore camps, think about what kind of camp you want (general activities? Lots of water play? Focused on something like sports or music? Xo-Ed or single sex?) and how long you want your kids to attend (overnight camps range from less than a week to eight weeks long). Then start asking around! I agree with others that camps affiliated with a religion or with scouts or the YMCA tend to be less expensive. Yes, there are scholarships at more expensive camps, but I do think those are generally used to increase camp diversity more than to make it more affordable for upper middle class kids to attend. Good luck!

Some camps offer 3 or 4-week sessions which still have a great community but are much cheaper. Also, many have financial aid.

For my child, she attended a 4-week camp that had a list price of around $6500, but we paid around $3,000 each year. Still expensive, but nowhere near what the full price was.

YMCA camps. Church/church light camp (try Quaker). Go down South inside of up towards NE, or towards Pittsburgh/Ohio

The further you're willing to travel, the cheaper you can find. Also sometimes church camps are cheaper.

Anonymous wrote:The YMCA camps are probably the cheapest around.

Those are maybe a week. I don’t think that is what OP is seeking, otherwise she would know there are options less than 10k

The YMCA camps are probably the cheapest around.

Not if you are wanting a 7 week camp, which are the ones that are 10-15k.

BUT many have robust scholarships and you could potentially get a discount or free tuition.

I’ve heard many camps cost upwards of $13,000. Are there more affordable options?

This would be for ages: DD 14, DS 10, DS 6