Nature immersion Summer Camps 2024
summer Camp Registration now open
Camp info
Please ensure your camper is dressed properly and brings a water bottle every day. Snack is provided by Willow Creek Forest School and campers bring their own nutritious lunch. Drop off and pick up is at the Tryon Creek State Natural area parking lot. Camps are Monday - Friday, 9:30am - 2:30pm and are $350 a week.
Available to all that truly wish to participate, regardless of financial situation. Please contact us for scholarship information. To sign up for a camp, register here! To secure your camper’s place at our camps, please send a check payable to TLC Farm and send to 11640 SW Boones Ferry Rd, Portland, OR, 97219. Refund policy: We realize that life happens and plans change. 100% refund with 3 weeks notice. 50% refund with 2 weeks notice. If you need to unenroll from a camp after that, please contact the administrator to see what we can work out.
About Our staff
All staff of our Nature Immersion Summer camps are fully vaccinated, have certified state certified background checks and are CPR and First Aid certified. All of our teachers share a love of the outdoors and with working with young people. They integrate enthusiasm and fun with safety, striving to give the campers the best outdoors experience possible.
About the land
Willow Creek Forest School is a program of Tryon Life Community Farm, a 501(c)3 non-profit that runs off the 7.5 acre land. TLC Farm's mission is to "bring people together to root into relationships with each other and the land, by sharing tools for community-based sustainability and social change, and tending resilient ecosystems." Along with Willow Creek Forest School, TLC Farm hosts events, classes, workshops and school groups who come and learn about gardening, natural building and more. The Farm is nestled against Tryon Creek State Park, 650 acres of diverse forest with a creek running through it. It is Oregon's only state park located within a major metropolitan area and is frequented by Portland area residents.
Our 2024 camp offerings
Week 1: June 24th - 28th
Nature Trekkers (Full)
Campers will learn skills for navigating the forest. Most days will be spent in the forest complete with a picnic lunch somewhere in the woods.
Camp runs M-F. 9:30 am - 2:30pm. Available to all that truly wish to participate, regardless of financial situation. Please contact us for scholarship information.
Week 2: July 8th - 12th
Bug Science (Cancelled)
Join us as we learn all about the bugs, insects, and tiny creatures that inhabit our farm and Forest! We will be making our own bug scientist kits consisting of insect nets and habitats to take on our explorations around the land. We will have plenty of Field Guides, journals, magnifying glasses and a microscope to assist us on our Bug Science adventure!
Camp runs M-F. 9:30 am - 2:30pm. Available to all that truly wish to participate, regardless of financial situation. Please contact us for scholarship information.
Week 3: July 22nd - 26th
Crafting with Nature (Full)
No need for designer art supplies and expensive classes when we have Nature at our fingertips! Come learn how to turn eggshells into sidewalk chalk, dandelions into watercolors, tree branches into paintbrushes, and many more as we find environmentally-friendly and sustainable ways to create art. Children will learn about proper harvesting procedures and how we can help protect the forest and land in the process.
Camp runs M-F. 9:30 am - 2:30pm. Available to all that truly wish to participate, regardless of financial situation. Please contact us for scholarship information.
Week 4: August 5th - 9th
Forest Myths (Full)
Gnomes, Faeries, Trolls, Elves and YOU! Come to the woods, where the magical creatures play. Learn about forest ecology and stories from all over the world that share the wisdom of the woods with the next generation of forest heroes. Campers will become the hero of their own myth and have fun with friends on the TLC Farm and in the Tryon Creek State park.
Camp runs M-F. 9:30 am - 2:30pm. Available to all that truly wish to participate, regardless of financial situation. Please contact us for scholarship information.
Week 5: August 19th - 23rd
Forest Adventures (Full)
Be a creature expert! Learn about real creatures of the forest and mythical creatures from the past in Tryon Creek State Park and on the Forest Farm. Create your own creatures with nature crafting and your own wild imagination while making friends, hiking through the forest, making awesome crafts and learning forest ecology. Join us for a fun-filled adventure and come play where the wild mythical creatures live!
Camp runs M-F. 9:30 am - 2:30pm. Available to all that truly wish to participate, regardless of financial situation. Please contact us for scholarship information.