Camp FAQ

The safety and well-being of each child is of paramount importance to our staff. All reasonable care and precautions are taken to ensure that your child will have a safe, fun and creative experience. The application form contains an “acknowledgement of risk and liability” release, which you are required to sign. Please read these paragraphs carefully so you understand both the terms on which we accept the care of your child and the risks you assume in sending a child to camp. Any child in reasonable physical and emotional condition can thrive in our program. Though many of our activities are challenging, we support children in knowing their own limits and we respect those limits. We follow preventive safety procedures. All of the waterfront staff are qualified Red Cross Lifeguards and each of our staff members is trained to keep a sharp eye out for a child’s safety, including participating in a two-day Wilderness First Aid course. In addition to our own high safety standards, F&W camps meet the accreditation standards of the ACA (American Camping Association) and pass peer on-site evaluations yearly. We maintain four camp health centers, each staffed by a nurse or qualified health care provider; a physician is on-call daily. Rutland Regional health center is 20 miles away, and Vermont has one of the best 911 systems in the country. You will be contacted if your child has any serious health concerns, injuries, or trips to an outside health facility.

F&W offers two week sessions for nine & ten-year-old campers who are new to the overnight camp programs. These sessions, called J1 and A1, occur during the first half of each three and a half week session. We have designed these programs to be an introduction to the delights, adventures, and opportunities offered at Timberlake and Indian Brook Camps. As these programs will have limited enrollment, be sure to register early to secure a spot. 

Farm & Wilderness camps sit among 4,000 acres of hardwood forest, meadowland and pasture, along with two lakes in the Green Mountains of Vermont. Campers live in three sided cabins or, at Flying Cloud, simple canvas structures. The cabins are equipped with built-in wooden bunks or cots. Each camp (except for Flying Cloud) has a central lodge with kitchen and dining area, an extensive waterfront, play areas, farm animals, tool rooms, and organic gardens. Flying Cloud has its own stream-fed pond, ice house, organic garden, and unique cooking shelter. The camps also share facilities: campers from all camps may dance at Tamarack Farm’s square dance barn, be challenged at Indian Brook’s adventure course, or participate at one of Flying Cloud’s Naming Ceremonies. The immediate area is also host to many remarkable natural landmarks. Campers have the chance to spelunk in the Nickwackett Bat Caves, pick berries on top of Gork Mountain, swim in Tinker Gorge, rock climb at Silver Lake, hike up Shrewsbury Peak, and paddle around a floating island.

Parents have told us how much they appreciate the general emphasis we place on respecting the human body as the precious gift that it is. This is done in several important ways.

Freedom to be Yourself

Today’s popular culture imposes demanding pressures on our children. Peer pressure can amplify these demands. Together, they can conspire to suffocate a child’s creativity and natural instincts to be her or his own best self. At F&W we encourage campers to find and express their potential through simple living and activities filled with physical challenges. We celebrate  a child's discovery of his or her creativity and reinforce it as much as possible. We say that young people are free to wear what they choose and have given this the name, "The Fifth Freedom." Our costume boxes are legendary and it’s not unusual to see campers and staff parading across the lawn in outrageous outfits. No longer compelled to wear what fashion magazines dictate, campers and staff are empowered to be their own best selves.

Historically, campers were free to wear what they wanted at the waterfronts as well. Skinny dipping was a tradition at F&W that started when the camps were founded, and was a well-known part of camp culture. Today skinny dipping is not practiced at Farm & Wilderness. Campers and staff wear suits at the waterfront.

Illegal Substances, Alcohol and Tobacco

As a community we work hard to keep the camps free from these addictive substances. Quite simply, they are prohibited. Their possession or use will be reason for dismissal from camp without refund.

Dismissal Policy

F&W reserves the right to preserve the experience of the whole camp community by dismissing any camper for disruptive behavior, for an infraction of camp policy, or for other physically or emotionally inappropriate behavior, without obligation to refund any part of tuition and fees.

The $500 registration fee is nonrefundable, unless you are applying for campership. In that case, the deposit is reduced to $250 and is fully refundable before March 1st.  If the application for a prospective camper is withdrawn prior to March 1st, all tuition payments will be refunded, less the $500 registration fee. After March 1st, Farm & Wilderness expects families to be responsible for the full tuition. Exceptions are made only if the camper is unable to attend Farm & Wilderness for reasons of health. If the camps succeed in filling the place, which is often difficult in the late spring, parents will be relieved of this financial obligation.

It is not possible to make any reduction for entering late or leaving early, except for withdrawal on account of illness incurred at Farm & Wilderness. In that case, a partial tuition credit may be applied for the following year. There will be no refund if a camper is asked to leave during the season for an infraction of a camp rule or for disruptive behavior or if a child is voluntarily withdrawn.

With your enrollment confirmation letter, you will receive a packet of information, including a detailed Parent Handbook, and forms:  Health History/Physician's Exam Form (which must have doctor's signature annually), Travel Forms, etc. Farm & Wilderness must receive signed copies of all forms at least two weeks before your child comes to camp.

Annual physical exams are required of all campers.  After you are notified of your child's enrollment, please schedule a physical exam, have your doctor fill out the Health History Exam form, complete ALL the appropriate sections and return it to F&W. In addition you must sign the permission to treat section of the Health History/Physician's Exam Form. Your child may not come to camp unless we have a completed Health History/Physician Exam form. It is critical that both the Medical section in the camper application and the Health History/ Physician's Exam form accurately reflect your child's physical and emotional health profile.

Because the omission of health information could impact on both camper and staff safety, we reserve the right to send home any camper whose health information proves inaccurate or incomplete. In such a case, no tuition would be refunded. All campers will need a Tetanus-Diphtheria booster. As part of the Health History/Physician's form, you will provide health insurance information for your child.

Parent Expectations and Homesickness

Coming to camp may be cause for a brief case of homesickness. We regard homesickness as a normal, healthy occurrence in a child. After all, leaving home can be a jolt. The counselors are sensitive to a camper's moods and emotional adjustments. If a child is homesick, they will encourage her/him to talk it out. They try to help the child understand the emotion he/she is feeling and make an effort to involve the camper in all camp activities. Experience tells us that, within a few days, the camper will be busy, having fun and feeling secure with counselors, new-found friends, and the outdoors.

Sometimes children write painful letters home describing their homesickness. While such letters may be difficult to read, it is important not to panic. Your child may already be having a great time by the time you get the letter. Please write an encouraging letter back. We suggest that you do not say you miss her/him. The child may respond to "I miss you" by slipping back into a state of homesickness. If you get consistent homesick letters, or something your child shares with you is disturbing, please call the camp director. S/he will check in with the cabin and activity counselors and call you back.

The best way to contact a camper is to write. You can write using the Farm & Wilderness address as follows: Your child's name, Camp Name, 263 Farm & Wilderness Road, Plymouth, VT 05056. We encourage you to write at least once a week.

If you live outside of the United States or are traveling abroad, F&W will accept correspondence - from family members only - via electronic and faxed mail. Please note at the beginning of such correspondence that you are outside the country so it is obvious to our office staff. Note: campers do not have access to computers or fax machines and can not respond except via "snail mail."

As you can imagine, receiving packages from family and friends can be a highlight of a camper's day; a gift from home is always comforting. However, the constant barrage of packages can be a distraction to a camper's experience as well as set campers apart into groups of the "Haves" and the "Have-nots." Please limit your packages to a few over the course of the summer (your child's close friends often fill in the gaps) and please do not send any food, candy or gum. We are trying to help children learn that they can exist on a healthy diet which excludes "junk food" (candy, gum, etc.). Food in packages will be confiscated and not given to campers. Many parents enroll their children, in part, because of the value we place on a wholesome diet. "CARE" packages with unhealthy "fun" foods undermine this effort. Relatives need to know this also.

Camper phone contact with parents is limited to family emergency use only. Our experience has been that parental phone calls frequently trigger bouts of homesickness which the camper must then overcome. The work of the staff to help the child settle into the camp experience and to feel self-confident and independent is undone.

Immediate phone contact with staff or a camp director is not always possible. There is limited phone service to each of the camps. If you need to contact the camps to talk with someone about your child, call the number listed on the cover of your Parent's Handbook. The F&W office is open Monday through Friday between 8:30am and 4:00pm if you have general questions. For F&W contact info, please visit the Contact Us page.

Choose an F&W camp by looking through the website, requesting a brochure, talking with the Admissions team in the office, and/or calling one of our family references. When you are ready to enroll in one of the overnight camps, fill out an Enrollment Form . To enroll at Barn Day Camp, fill out the Barn Day Camp Registration Form . You can also find registration forms, financial aid information, and early registration discounts on the Camp Registration page.

We call F&W financial aid “camperships.” We give camperships to families with a wide range of income levels and circumstances. If you think you might need financial assistance with camp, please don’t hesitate to apply. You can read more about guidelines and the campership application process on the financial aid page.

Fill out the Campership Application to apply for a campership for one of the overnight camps.

Fill out the Barn Day Camp Campership Application to apply for a campership for the Barn Day Camp.