Each summer, we welcome over a thousand campers who come to share in a warm welcome, good food, friendship, campfires, stories, worship and songs. Each week of camp forms a community that experiences the love of God through a dedicated staff, well planned activities, and a beautiful outdoor setting.

Registration for Summer Camp 2011 will be coming in December!

Chestnut Ridge was voted the #1 residential camp by the readers of Carolina Parent magazine in 2008 and 2009.

Chestnut Ridge is a fun place to grow. It is a place for first-time campers to gain new life experiences and new friendships with campers and staff. It is a place for returning campers who come each year to make new friendships and renew old ones. It is a place where all campers recreate and reconnect with others, with the created world, and with God.

Costs for all camps can be found on the Financial Information page. To see what camps and sessions still have openings, check out the Camps page.

Nestled in the Heart of Carolina [location and directions], Chestnut Ridge offers residential and day camp experiences for campers in grades K-12. Summer Camp offers the very best residential program we can conceive: a small group with which to live and grow, and a choice of program activities for older elementary and middle school aged campers. Day camp features breakfast with the camp community, an abundance of program selections, and finishes each day with campers returning home before dinner.

Evenings offer resident campers the opportunity to enjoy evening meals together, lively fun worship, night swims, camp wide games of capture the flag, the Amazing Race, Home in the Woods, a talent show, pool party, and an end of session celebration full of skits, songs, stories, and praise.

Each summer we are blessed to have an amazing staff from around the world who dedicate their summers to creating a fun, safe, and positive environment for the campers to enjoy. Many summer staff were once campers themselves, and carry on the great Chestnut Ridge traditions to the next generation. Check out our team page to see the amazing staff being assembled for next summer. Are you in interested in being on staff yourself? Read more to find out how to apply.

Day or Resident Camp - Which One?

We are often asked about the differences between day and residential camp. So, we prepared a spiffy article that articulates the many reasons why a camper may want to choose to be residential with us.

It is our prayer that every word and deed at Chestnut Ridge glorifies God. We want to partner with you as parents to develop and preserve practices of faith that strengthen and uplift the campers and in turn, each camper’s family, church, school, and community.

A summer camp experience built on excellence and quality remains vitally important for children and youth, providing them with space and time apart where they learn about themselves, their peers, and life in the Christian community. We look forward to sharing the love of Christ with our campers, their families and our team!

What's New for 2010

Family Camp

Every year parents drop their children off at camp and we hear them exclaim, "I wish I could come to camp too!" Well, now you can! New this year, Family Camp (July 23-25) offers families a chance to experience camp together. Families will spend the weekend at camp participating in many of the traditional camp activities like the challenge course, zipline, swimming, canoeing, and archery. The worship and programs of the weekend will be tied together by our Family Camp theme, "Stronger Together." Families have the option of having a private room, sharing a cabin, staying at our rustic sites, or even tent camping. Family Camp is not limited to immediate families only. Bring grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins - bring the whole family! It will be a great weekend of outdoor fun and adventure. Our hope is that time spent together will indeed make our families stronger.

Lake Toys

The lake toys were introduced part way through Summer 2009, but the waterfront will be fully operational all summer long in 2010. The lake toys were a HUGE hit last summer as the campers bounced on the trampoline, katapulted into the water, and slid down the Summit.

2-Week Duskie Camp

One week of camp just isn't enough to experience all that Chestnut Ridge has to offer! Every Friday night campers plead with their parents, "please let me stay at camp one more week!" We have been asked by many parents to consider offering longer camp sessions. You asked for it, and you got it! New for 2010, we are offering a 2 week camp for Duskies (5th - 8th grades). These campers will stay in the rustic cabins with the same amazing counselors and campers. Over the weekend, they will head to the mountains to go camping and whitewater rafting on the Nantahala River. Campers are free to choose a different major for each week. Staying at camp for two weeks gives campers enough time to really get to know the counselors and the campers in your group, participate in all the amazing activities Chestnut Ridge has to offer, and create new friendships and memories that will last a lifetime.

Lodging

All residential lodging is in air-conditioned cabins with indoor bath/shower facilities. All overnight, off-site trips (Duskies & High Schoolers) involve tent camping. Weather permitting, residential Waterdogs and Duskies will camp out on Wednesday night at our weekly Home in the Woods night.

Transportation

Transportation is being offered for day campers from the Chapel Hill/Durham area to Chestnut Ridge. Each morning at 7:30 a.m., our team will pick up your camper in our camp vans or buses and return your camper to you at 5:30 p.m. Pick-up and drop-off will be in the parking lot of Chapel Hill Bible Church (260 Erwin Rd, Chapel Hill, NC), convenient to I-40 and Hwy 15/501. You must sign up in advance for this service during registration, since space is limited.

Health and Safety

At Chestnut Ridge, the safety of the campers is our primary concern. Our excellent safety record is a direct result of the care we take in our program and in setting our behavioral standards. All of our camp counselors are trained in Basic First Aid and CPR. Many of our team are further certified in Wilderness First Aid (WFA) and Lifeguard. In addition, we maintain a communications system that enables effective communication amongst staff and quick access to EMS.

We keep in touch with the Rescue Squad in Efland which is less than 3 miles from camp. The local squads are very familiar with the property, making their response time quick. Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill hospitals are both within 15 miles of Chestnut Ridge.

All campers must complete a Health History Form to leave on file with our Health Care Administrator. In addition, all prescriptions must be checked-in at registration and left with our Health Care Adminstrator. Medications are dispensed from the Infirmary and a log kept of the time, dosage and administrator.

Food Service and Dining

If you've read our mission statement, you know we have large shoes to fill. As part of our striving to practice and embody "responsible care for the earth," we're constantly reviewing which foods we serve, where they come from and how we can do better. In September 2009, we commited to purchasing food free of trans-fats, MSG, artificial colors and flavors, and high fructose corn syrup. We are increasing our use of organic and fair-trade products such as coffee, tea, and bananas. In addition, we are purposefully supporting local farms for products such as vegetables, fruits, milk, whole grains, and meat.

We are proud to be serving real food and supporting local sustainable farms. In so doing we are supporting local farmers and companies with values that are in accord with our own. These farmers and companies care enough to use the best ingredients for our health, the health of communities, and the health of God's very good Earth. We also take advantage of the produce and livestock grown at our very own Community Farm right here at Chestnut Ridge. It doesn't get much more local than our own backyard! Summer campers help to plant, grow, and harvest food from the farm all summer long. Then our experienced kitchen staff takes these raw ingredients and whips up a dazzling array of made from scratch meals for all of our campers to enjoy.

Chestnut Ridge also has a partnership with Larry's Beans! Larry's is a fair-trade, organic coffee roaster located in Raleigh. Serving fair-trade coffee (to counselors and retreat guests) is another way in which we practice our faithfulness to social justice, compassion, and care for Creation.

Come, taste and see what's cooking in the kitchen at Chestnut Ridge!