THE CLEARING
MIXED GENDER
AGES 11-14
Trading clocks for connection
Finding Yourself In Nature and Community
Located on more than 4,800 acres of undeveloped and conserved woodlands, The Clearing is a place of timeless rhythm, hands-on learning, and profound connection. Here, campers step away from the pressures of screens, clocks, and mirrors to discover who they truly are.
Campers learn to live in harmony with the natural world, build fires, and participate in ceremonies that mark their growth. Living together in canvas lodges they master hide tanning and other outdoor living skills, work together to keep camp running, and form deep friendships in a small, close-knit community.
In this two-week program, young people experience the power of shared ritual and the confidence that comes from learning to do hard things. With a supportive community beside them, they discover that challenges become manageable and growth feels possible. They learn that they are part of nature, capable of more than they imagined, and surrounded by friends who believe in them.
I landed at Farm & Wilderness after many years of experience in summer camp leadership and experiential education. I am an avid backpacker, artist, musician, and gardener, and I was trained in outdoor leadership at the University of Oregon. You can learn more about my background here.
Besides an incredibly exciting program and a stellar leadership team, what really drew me to F&W the most was its values—simplicity, community, equity, peace, integrity, and sustainability. I believe that camp changes kids and kids change the world, and this is exactly the kind of world-changing I feel honored to facilitate.
Come join us for the best summer of your life! I can’t wait to see you at The Clearing!
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| Session 1 | Wednesday, June 24 Thursday, July 9 |
| Session 2 | Sunday, July 19 Sunday, August 2 |
Campers sleep in canvas lodges, with 4-6 campers and one counselor per lodge. Each lodge features a fire pit at its center, creating a warm gathering space where community forms naturally. Campers have individual sleeping spaces and storage, allowing them to personalize their area while living closely with their lodge group.
Facilities: Shared facilities are nearby for all their hygiene needs, including fresh water and hot showers.
WHAT OUR CAMPERS SAY
Explore Life At The Clearing
Every day brings opportunities to deepen skills, strengthen community, and connect with the natural world in meaningful ways.
Morning Routines: The Clearing day begins with the essential work of keeping camp alive. Campers rotate through morning chores—gathering fuel for fires, chopping wood, tending the composting toilets, and preparing the day's first meal. This isn't just housekeeping; it's the practice of interdependence. When campers gather kindling, they're ensuring their community can eat breakfast. When they maintain the fire, they're keeping the heart of camp beating. These morning rhythms ground each day and remind campers that community thrives when everyone contributes.
Daily Community: After breakfast, the entire camp gathers for Silent Meeting and Community Meeting—consistent spaces for reflection, processing, and connection that anchor each day. Campers then dive into their chosen immersions, spending focused time developing outdoor living skills with expert guidance. Free choice activity periods in the afternoon allow campers to explore interests, build friendships, and simply be. Meals are shared outdoors or under the shelter of the Roundhouse, with camper cook crews working alongside kitchen staff to prepare food over a fire, a propane stove, and an outdoor oven.
Immersive Learning: Unlike programs that prioritize breadth of activities, The Clearing goes deep. Campers select immersions - multiple day workshops with clear learning arcs that build real competency. Whether mastering fire skills, learning backcountry cuisine, creating practical crafts like hide tanning, or cordage, campers engage in sustained practice that creates lasting confidence. These aren't quick sampling activities; they're meaningful apprenticeships in core skills.
Ceremony and Ritual: Throughout the session, carefully designed ceremonies mark growth and build shared meaning. The Opening Ceremony begins with lighting the session fire—a flame that will burn continuously, tended by the community. The Fire Quest challenges campers to maintain their own individual fires from sunrise to sunset, supported by their peers. Those who complete this challenge bring torches to light the Big Fire during the Welcoming Celebration, formally inviting them into the community. The session culminates in Earth Walk, where campers apply all their learned skills in an camper-led overnight experience before gathering for a closing ceremony where the fire is respectfully extinguished, marking the end of their transformative journey.
EXPERIENCE LIFE IN THE OUTDOORS
Activities
Outdoor living skills, ceremony, and community work—falling in love with wild places and your place within them!
Fire
Campers master fire-making with bowdrills, learn fire lays, and distinguish tinder, kindling, and fuel. More importantly, they become fire keepers—tending flames that warm and feed their community. Through daily practice and immersions, they develop technical skill and deep respect for this ancient element.
Shelter Building and Tool Use
Campers learn to lash structures, build brush shelters, and work safely with knives and axes. Through collaborative building projects, they gain hands-on experience with fundamental outdoor living skills. Tool use workshops ensure every camper develops confidence and safety with essential wilderness tools, skills they practice daily as they maintain their living spaces.
Practical Arts
Immersions may include traditional skills like basket weaving and hide tanning. Basket weaving teaches patience, pattern, and the art of creating functional beauty from natural materials. Hide tanning connects campers to the full cycle of using what nature provides. These practical arts build campers' confidence as makers and deepen their connection to the natural world.
Backcountry Cuisine
Campers help prepare meals for their community using fire, propane stoves, and outdoor ovens. Those who choose the Backcountry Cuisine immersion explore advanced fire cooking techniques and wild edibles, discovering that creating nourishment for others is a meaningful contribution.
Storytelling and Song
Campers who choose the Storytelling immersion prepare stories and songs about nature and community to share at ceremonies and gatherings. Music and storytelling are woven into daily life at The Clearing, creating shared experience and joy.
Earth Walk
Earth Walk brings together all the skills campers have learned in one overnight adventure. Working in their immersion groups, campers venture into the woods to set up camp, with each group contributing their expertise to the whole. They cook dinner over fires they've built, sleep under stars in shelters they've prepared, and gather for appreciations around the evening fire. This isn't an extreme wilderness expedition—it's close to base camp—but it represents a significant personal challenge. Earth Walk gives campers the chance to discover what they're capable of when they trust themselves, their community, and their skills. They return transformed, ready for the closing ceremony that will mark the end of their journey at The Clearing.
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