“Nature lessons are life lessons.”
Rapp Nature Camp is set in southern Rappahannock County, Virginia and is a summertime day camp for boys and girls ages 8 to 16 years old. The 2022 Summer Session was our 37th year! Our 2023 Theme of Study is: “WONDER”
Please click HERE for enrollment information and registration forms or call (540) 252-6308.
SESSION 1: JUNE 12-16
SESSION 2: JUNE 19-23
SESSION 3: JUNE 26-30
SESSION 4: JULY 3-7 (Note: July 4 will be a regular camp day)
Camper participation fee will be $225 per one-week session, and we can usually provide financial assistance if necessary. Camp hours will be 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday – Friday. Session 4 will include an evening camp experience. Our on-site staff consists of the camp director, an adult assistant director, a camp medic, and usually at least one young counselor-in-training. As always, we will require enrollment and individual health information well in advance of the first day of camp. We hope that every camper will attend every day, but contrary to our usual policy, attendance will not be mandatory every day.
Due to COVID conditions, our plans for 2023 are greatly modified from pre-pandemic camp sessions. Like our 2021 and 2022 camp sessions, in 2023 we will offer four, 1-week sessions, all of which are open to campers 8 to 16 years old. Sessions will run in 2-week pairs, with alternating sub-themes of “cycles and change” and “connections” in nature. Campers may attend any number of sessions. In addition to providing greater safety during the pandemic, the 1-week sessions will allow a greater number of campers to participate (we will be limiting group size) and will also allow siblings to attend together. We will have a procedure worked out for screening upon arrival.
The goals of the camp are:
• to awaken an interest in our wonderfully beautiful and diverse natural surroundings
• to observe living plants and animals in their natural habitats
• to understand the role of human beings in this shared environment
• to have fun and make new discoveries every day
Campers explore the forests, meadows, rivers and ponds of the Singing Creek property and surrounding areas, including the Shenandoah National Park which is within walking distance. The camp’s home base is on the Hazel River, two miles west of Route 231. Some of our favorite places to explore are: the Hazel River, Frog Pond, Secret Garden, Puckwudgie Tree, Azalea Rocks and our own individual Quiet Spots.
Most of our campers are Rappahannock County residents; some come each year from far away and are visiting grandparents or other relatives who live in the county. Our mission is “to allow individuals, especially children, to discover for themselves the wonder and beauty of the natural world, and to understand what it means to be a part of a community of living things.” The camp’s motto is “Nature lessons are life lessons.” Our activities are almost all outdoors and are focused on community building, nature observation, and respect for the natural environment and its inhabitants. Everything we do is oriented towards such “life lessons” as developing listening, confidence in public speaking, vocabulary, working cooperatively, art and music, and imagination. Each camper has a special “Quiet Spot” and spends “Quiet Time” alone, just observing nature. Every year, the campers write and draw for our 16-page annual newsletter.
Over the years, Rapp Nature Camp has been made possible by tremendous volunteer support. Neighbors allow use of their properties, and volunteers have built the camp barn, a footbridge over the Hazel River, and the Frog Pond which is the focus of our habitat studies. Volunteers also help with registration and serve as visiting instructors. For many years, one former camper’s parents donated, delivered, prepared, and served all food and supplies for a night of camp. So Rapp Nature Camp is a true community effort!
See some photos from 2017 here.
“Here at camp and many other places, I’ve seen many forms of nature. From creek to mountain, from forest to beach. And I’ve found to adapt, learn from it, and respect it…. The creek teached me about life. Everyone is a stick that falls into the creek. You flow through life hitting bumpy rapids with problems. When the stick is stuck on land or between two rocks then life is over. It’s a fact that we’re all sticks in the creek, it can keep moving or it can stop at any time.”
-Joe W. (camper 2007)
Photos: Top Header: 2022 Session 2 Campers Bottom: Campers beekeeping.