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13 Maine Summer Camps the Kids Will Love

It’s not too early to start planning for the classic Maine rite of summer camp. Here are a few featured places to start the search.

Maine Summer Camps map
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1. Acadia Institute

9 Lower Dunbar Road, Seal Harbor, Maine, 04675
800-375-0058
explore@acadiainstitute.com

Based in Seal Harbor, Maine, the Acadia Institute of Oceanography hosts more than 200 students from around the world each summer to explore their career opportunities in marine science. Students will study the chemical, physical, and biological aspects of oceanography through hands-on activities along the coast of Maine and Acadia National Park. Lessons take place in the field, aboard a boat, at the shore, and in the laboratory. Students are housed in a converted schoolhouse with a working wet lab, cafeteria, bathrooms, classrooms, and recreational facilities.

At the heart of our program is a dedicated and experienced staff of college professors, classroom teachers, and environmental educators who work and live with the students. Sessions are organized by grade level and age, with a one-week introductory session for ages 10–12 years, two-week intermediate sessions for ages 12–15 years, and two-week advanced sessions for students ages 15 and up. Additionally, we offer a six-day winter program in Florida for students 14 and up and an eight-day advanced program in San Pedro, Belize. These programs are offered on alternating years and are open to exemplary students in our summer programs.


2. Acadia Mountain Guides Inc.

92 Main Street, Orono, Maine, 04473
Main Office: 207-866-7562
Bar Harbor: 207-288-8186
climb@acadiamountainguides.com

Climb, hike, canoe, and adventure the summer away with Acadia Mountain Guides. We’ve been helping youth to learn and grow through outdoor experiences for the past 20 years and have no plans to stop. Located in Orono and Bar Harbor, Acadia Mountain Guides travels around New England as well as to Canada, hosting one-of-a-kind summer camps. All ages are welcome!

Our day-long and overnight Outdoor Adventure Camps include activities such as nature study, hiking, swimming, canoeing, rappelling, knot tying, caving, and rock climbing. Our Rock Climbing Camps are offered at every level to youths and teens seeking to learn or improve their fundamental rock-climbing skills. We even offer single-day Saturday and Sunday rock climbs all summer long in various locations. Choose from select itinerary dates or customize your own group experiences. If you have any questions about our offerings, give us a call and someone over here would love to chat.


3. Hurricane Island

19 Commercial Street, Rockland, Maine, 04841
207-867-6050
registration@hurricaneisland.net

Hurricane Island summer science programs embed students in experiences that leverage the art and practices of science as tools for leadership and local actions. Through personal and group explorations, students explore their own strengths as transformative leaders who can address the sustainability challenges facing our world today.

Through innovative and integrated curricula of science and research, middle and high school program participants are immersed in activities that help them think, observe, and ask questions. Students will develop leadership skills and immerse themselves in the natural history and ecology of the island. Island research priorities help inform our curricula and give students a chance to meet and engage with our research staff and see what field research is all about.

Our off-grid 125-acre island campus models sustainable living and working collaboratively in a conservation-minded community of staff, students, and visiting scientists and speakers. Being on Hurricane Island allows for a deeper connection to nature and to one another, with ample recreation time for campfires and s’mores, sunrise and sunset hikes, rowing, and swimming.


4. Maine Summer Camps

550 Forest Avenue, Suite 203, Portland, Maine, 04101
207-518-9557
office@mainecamps.org

Maine Summer Camps is a nonprofit organization connected to more than 140 camps in Maine and the go-to resource for camps, businesses, and families. Visit our website to discover the best-fit camp for the camper in your life!


5. Pine Island Camps

Belgrade Lakes, Maine, 04918
207-465-3031
sford@pineisland.org

Independence coupled with a concern for others, honesty, generosity, a sense of humor, and the ability to find joy in life — these are the qualities we want for our campers. We aim to give boys an adventurous, happy, and safe summer experience where they can find these all-important qualities within themselves. To this end, Pine Island Camp keeps its enrollment small, its program challeng- ing and imaginative, and its life simple, unplugged, and close to nature.

Days on Pine Island include a long-proven combination of instruction and free time. Campers choose their activities, their wilderness trips, and how they use their downtime. At night around the campfire, we enjoy homegrown skits, musical performances, games, and stories of adventure from each returning trip.

Whether your son is shy or gregarious, big or small, this camp will challenge him to be at his best in the varied circumstances of simple outdoor living, albeit under the close supervision of our caring staff. The more you learn about this magical place, the less surprising you will find the fact that it all happens on a tiny wooded island in a pristine lake in central Maine.


6. Summer Ecology Academy

The Ecology School at River Bend Farm,
184 Simpson Road, Saco, Maine, 04072
207-283-9951
alex@theecologyschool.org

Join the Ecology School at River Bend Farm for the week of a lifetime along the Saco River in southern Maine! From tide-pool and ecosystem exploration and canoeing the Saco River to enjoying farm-fresh food and evening campfires, this summer-camp learning experience will create memories that will continue to inspire for years to come. The Summer Ecology Academy is for rising 5th–9th graders and will be offered during four 1-week sessions: 7/2–7/7, 7/9–7/14, 8/6–8/11, 8/13–8/18.


UMaine 4-H Camps and Learning Centers

10. Tanglewood 4-H

1 Tanglewood Road Lincolnville, ME 04849
207-789-5868
extension.tanglewood4h@maine.edu

University of Maine Cooperative Extension 4-H Camps connect people of all ages with the natural world and are for everyone! All sites offer traditional residential camps, off-site adventure trips, year-round school programs, custom programs, and programs for adults. Programs inspire participants to reach their fullest potential through affordable, hands-on experiences and connec- tions to the natural world. Each is a unique place to see a world bigger than one’s self and to learn how to care for it. Caring adult mentors form healthy and positive relationships with participants, fostering a sense of belonging for all. Activities include outdoor skills, creative arts, archery and shooting sports, canoeing and sailing, hiking and backpacking, ecology, engineering and problem solving, swimming, camping, group building, awesome all-camp games, and gardening. Everyone in Maine deserves to experience the joy, belonging, and confi- dence that comes from being connected to the natural world and each other — experience it at UMaine’s 4-H Camps! From down east Maine to the midcoast and over to the western mountains, there’s a 4-H Camp perfect for you!


11. West End House Girls Camp

39 Pineridge Road Parsonsfield, Maine, 04047
857-777-6535

West End House Girls Camp is a residential summer camp for girls ages 7–17, located in southern Maine, on the shores of Long Pond. Offering two-week sessions and tiered pricing, the WEHGC experience is intentionally small, progressively multi-cultural, and 100% camper-focused.

When it comes to finding a summer camp for your daughter, you want the best. We strive to be the best by actively partnering with parents and fostering an atmosphere that upholds our mission to positively influence the lives of the girls by providing them with skills, support, and opportunities needed to grow into healthy, productive, and responsible women.

At the West End House Girls Camp, girls get to experience the things everyone gets from camp: Sunshine. Laughter. Campfires. New friends. But beyond that is where the magic happens. “I AM” is what defines the West End House Girls Camp: I AM Strong, I AM Courageous, I AM Intelligent, I AM ME. Send your girl to a place where they will be encouraged to be their best self, gain lifelong friendships, and return home saying, “Camp was awesome! Can I go back next year?”


12. Winona Camps for Boys

35 Winona Road Bridgton, ME 04009
207-647-3721

Winona Camps was founded in 1908. A boys’ residential camp for ages 7–16 offering an exceptional trip program and waterfront activities. Winona is located on 300 acres with almost a mile of shore frontage on Moose Pond. The majority of our campers lives in small platform tents in groups, which creates a wonderful sense of community.

The Winona experience strives to preserve a sense of earned accomplishment and perseverance over instant gratification. We encourage hands-on learning as part of a whole experience held together by our constant aim to nurture responsibility, leadership, and self-esteem.

Activities instruction is available in water sports, wilderness hikes, canoe trips, riding, sailing, kayaking, rock climbing, field sports, and much more! Four units grouped by age offer small-group instruc- tion with the benefits of a large camp population. The Junior Maine Guide program, co-founded at Winona, is available to campers who are at least 14 years old.

Winona is a diverse camp with often 30 states and 15 foreign countries represented. A veteran staff, with over 85% returning each season, helps create the Winona Experience.

2023 dates: June 25–July 15 — July 16– August 5 (3- and 6-week sessions).


13. Wyonegonic Camps

215 Wyonegonic Road Denmark, Maine, 04022
207-452-2051
info@wyonegonic.com

Wyonegonic is the oldest girls’ camp in the nation. We offer 3- and 6-week resident programs for campers age 8 to 17. Wyonegonic is a traditional camp where girls challenge themselves in a non-competitive atmosphere and enjoy the beauty of friendship in the simplicity of the outdoors. Campers can try new things, take risks, be cheered on whether they succeed or fail, get dirty, push boundaries, love nature, and so much more.

Our extensive waterfront offers swimming, canoeing, sailing, sailboarding, SUPs, kayaking, and waterskiing. Other activities include horseback riding, tennis, archery, climbing wall, ropes course, pottery, arts & crafts, theater, music, and dance. Beyond five instructional periods daily, there is time to play with friends or relax and absorb the beauty of Wyonegonic.

Wyonegonic places an emphasis on waterfront activities and wilderness camp- ing trips. We teach outdoor living skills, ecology, canoeing, and offer different levels of challenge for trips. Our trip focus is on small-group camper involvement, adventure, and respect for the outdoors. Most campers experience an overnight at one of five wilderness campsites on our lake. Then, campers may choose to participate in opportunities up to six days long for hiking, backpacking, and canoeing trips in Maine and New Hampshire.