FREE, week-long summer day camp for local youth. Students will spend the week immersed in nature, learning about the biology of their local environment. Activities will include: hiking, knot-tying, orienteering, art projects, animal tracking, nature journaling, bird watching, checking trail cameras, and learning about basic wilderness safety. Our goal is to provide a quality outdoor education experience that makes participants feel more comfortable and confident exploring the great outdoors.

Our camp is FREE for all participants! Breakfast, lunch, and snacks will be provided along with some personal equipment for students (small backpack, bug spray, sunscreen, hat, water bottle, notebook, a few other items). Students are required to wear comfortable clothes for being outside all day including close-toed shoes - preferably tennis shoes or hiking/work boots.*

*If a student indicates that not having appropriate clothing/footwear will prevent them from participating, we can work with them to purchase these required items for them.

Each day camp session will be 5 days in length (Mon-Fri.) with a different age group each week:

Week 1 (June 10th-14th): ages 10-12

Week 2 (June 17th-21st): ages 13-15

Week 3 (June 24th-28th): ages 16-18* [opened up to ages 13-15 if there is not a spot available for them in week 2]

Campers will spend a majority of their time at our 20-acre Animas Campus located in a Sycamore forest along Animas Creek ~30 minutes drive from Truth or Consequences. We will also go on a few short “field trips” to nearby natural areas for hiking and learning about different habitats.

We will provide transport to/from Truth or Consequences in our 15-passenger van. We may be able to provide transport to/from other local towns (Arrey, Hatch, Deming) or arrange with parents to have students dropped off at our Animas Campus.

All students between 12 and 18 that can meet pick up and drop off times are encouraged to apply. Class sizes for each 5 day session is limited to 13 students.

We have a high teacher to student ratio with 5 instructors for each group of 13. Rich Anderson is a biologist with 24 years of classroom and outdoor teaching experience in New Mexico. Megan Perry is a wildlife biologist that has worked in outdoor education in New Mexico for the last 15 years. Mónica Ortiz Uribe is a Mexican American journalist from El Paso who's spent the last decade hiking and camping the Gila Wilderness and floating rivers in the Southwest. Wendy Kessinger is a nationally certified assistant to law enforcement with decades of experience in outdoor safety and first aid. Zach Buddie is a wildlife biologist currently teaching natural science at the middle school level.