Why Camp New Fork?
A Message from the President
Since the first moments of my Wilderness Adventures trip as a child, I was captured by the camp experience.
Wilderness Adventures (WA) offered me something that school had not. It offered me a community, where I was someone integral and special. Cliques and the popular kids did not exist, because in this community, everyone was made to feel special and a part of the group. At camp, I found deeper relationships and made extraordinary friends. Where schoolwork had always felt mundane, I found the challenge of the outdoors to be invigorating. I loved solving the puzzles presented by adventuring outdoors – faced with decisions like where to camp, what to eat and cook, and how to motivate myself and my peers to be our best selves. I also found my trip leaders to be role models – I wanted to emulate them in all parts of my life, not just on my trip. They were friendly, fun, adventurous, and cared for my emotional and physical well-being.
Since that experience, I have spent my whole professional career trying to create these types of experiences for kids. I have travelled the world seeking to learn more about what makes great camps so special, and I have worked to bring that magic back to our own programs.
That mindset has helped us to grow WA to not just be a renowned trip and travel program for kids, but also to expand into custom programming for schools, day camps for local communities, and gap semesters for young adults. We founded Base Camp to create this magical experience in a day camp setting for elementary school students in Teton County, and we further expanded our day camp offerings to include Missoula Outdoor Learning Adventures (MOLA) to offer increased depth to our reach.
Catherine and I have always sought to find more ways to connect with children, to provide them with a home away from home, and to have them taste the success that a superb camp experience can offer. As true believers, our own children are deeply involved in our programs: growing from campers to staff members and always providing input on the quality of our programs.
Along the journey, we had a dream that an overnight residential camp experience (one that differed from our trips in that campers would be younger and stay in one community location) would address a need that we saw among our families. The overnight residential experience in a one-week format was something our younger children clamored for, and families needed to find a superb camp operator with whom they could trust for their child’s first overnight experience.
Dreaming up the perfect summer camp
While our dream was always very much alive, we were challenged by the limitations of real estate in western Wyoming. Moreover, we knew that to do it right and to the quality of all WA brands, the intended site needed critical elements like housing, a dining lodge, superb outdoor opportunities, a location not too far from critical amenities and a water feature for our campers to cool off in.
Having toured many camp facilities around the world, I have observed and learned from the formulas of so many great camp programs. In fact, when we began our career as camp professionals, we ran and operated a fantastic camp facility-and we always made notes of what the dream camp would look like.
It would have an old lodge, with wood floors that creaked as campers moved across them to their next activity. It would have a big fireplace in the lodge for warmth, a community feel and to pull people together as adventures of the day were shared. The lodge would be attached to a sizable commercial kitchen to feed our campers healthy and nutritious food. It would have old rustic cabins and plenty of trails for kids to explore. It would have a health lodge for safety purposes and a trading post cabin with a big porch for gathering and camp meetings. It would have a flag pole area for the raising and lowering of flags. It would have an amphitheater with a big fire pit for all camp ceremonies and events. A high ropes course and/or a climbing tower would tower amongst old pines for kids to experience the challenge of scaling a rock wall. It would have an arts and crafts area and archery so that kids could grow these historic camp skills. A water feature would be critical to our dream camp, with crystal clear water. Ideally, it would be big enough not just for swimming, but for boating and fishing as well. Finally, it would have impressive mountain vistas. These mountains would beckon our campers to adventure beyond the camp and to dream of wonderful days in the mountains.
Enter Camp New Fork
In 2023, when we toured Camp New Fork for the very first time (knowing of its lore and special place in Wyoming summer camp history), it checked all of our boxes. Considering the need we saw for such an experience for young campers and their families in the area, we jumped at the chance to serve as the next stewards of this special place for children.
As camp professionals, we know how much this place means to those campers and staff that have adventured within its gates for nearly 100 years, and we look forward to building upon that history. We also are proud to continue to open this space to scout troops, church groups and other users. Another important part of our camp dream was to work to make camp accessible to all, and we will continue with that mindset as we reopen Camp New Fork.
Camp is so very important to children. However, we recognize that not everyone is ready for a big adventure to Kilimanjaro or the Talkeetnas in Alaska. We also recognize that there are many people searching for the feel of Base Camp or MOLA, but with accommodations like a dining hall and in a one week overnight format. Further, we know that what our families can find in all of our programs is a trusted brand with passionate camp leadership. Catherine and I are heavily involved in the day to day decisions at each program and are proud to serve as owners and operators of all our programs. This is what makes our programs special: our commitment to camp, our belief in community, and our enduring pursuit of curating magical experiences for kids. Families need not look any further than Wilderness Adventures to find the right program for their child. We are thrilled that Camp New Fork is now a part of our family of summer camp programs and we look forward to sharing this dream with you.