Welcome

We are very excited for our 2024 camp season! If you are a new camp family, please review the following information to answer any questions you and your camper may have regarding this new experience. For returning families, this information will also be a valuable review of important information you may have forgotten during those cold winter months! As always, please reach out via phone or email (found below) with any questions you may have.

Parent Handbook

For more information regarding our mission, policies and parent/guardian specific information please see our Parent Handbook.

New Family Resources:

Click here to watch our New Parent Orientation 2023 

Click here to view our New Parent Orientation 2023 Slides

Additional Information

Lessons:
Hidden Pines Ranch provides lessons of many kinds for your child. Campers will be scheduled for areas like team building, horseback riding, archery, canoeing, low ropes, and camping skills. If you do not want your child to participate in an activity, please make us aware of your wishes in writing – send an email to the camp address outlining your concerns. In the absence of your written request(s), we will gently encourage campers to experience the variety of activities we offer, and even inspire them to conquer personal challenges. 

Telephone Messages:
We spend our days enjoying the outdoors, but a member of our staff will always be near the phone to answer your call or return messages promptly. If you leave a message, please include details of why you are calling and how best to contact you.

Hours:
Regular camp hours are from 8:40 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Drop off occurs from 8:20-8:40am. We start and end our day at flag where we sing songs, perform skits and make announcements. Missing these announcements can affect your child’s camp day, so please make sure your child is present.

Extended day hours begin at 7:20 a.m. and end at 5:30 p.m. Please be mindful of these hours as a courtesy to our staff.

First Day:
Your child will meet their counselor and the other campers in their group. There will be a lot of excitement! During morning drop-off, please do not block the circle, and try to pull ahead as far as possible. Staff will be directing traffic, so please help with congestion by staying in your vehicle and allowing our staff to greet you and your child at the car. Please drive cautiously and remain alert.

Parking:
If you drop off your child late, or would like to pick up early, there is a designated parent parking area that can be found by going straight at the “Y” in our road.  Once you park we ask that you walk your camper into camp, stop at our camp office to sign them in, or sign them out for early pick up and we will bring them to the office for you.

Arrival:
Drop off is from 8:20-8:40am in the driveway circle at camp.  Campers arriving before 8:20 a.m. will be considered a part of our extended day program, and are asked to check in with our extended day staff and will be charged for “drop in” care. Campers arriving after 8:20 a.m. will be greeted by camp staff who will help them locate their group counselor. Please do not park or block the flow of traffic and do your best to keep the drop-off process moving.

Footwear:
To ensure full participation and safety of the campers, please make sure your child is wearing proper shoes. Appropriate shoes are tennis shoes or sandals with straps. Closed toe shoes are required to participate on low ropes course. Do not send your child to camp with flip flops as his/her only option.

Departure:
The first car in line will be directed to STOP at top of the wooded drive by the swing set (forming a line of cars as close to the right side of the driveway as possible) until motioned to proceed forward at the conclusion of closing flag. Staff will assist campers in meeting their ride out by the bridge area after the driver has driven around the circle and come to a stop by our makerspace as directed by the camp staff. Campers are not to cross the blacktop to meet their ride.

Visiting:
If you are interested in visiting camp we ask that you contact us via phone or email to arrange a time. When you arrive at camp for your visit we ask that you park in visitor parking and proceed to our camp office to sign in and pick up a visitor tag. It is not possible for us, however, to allow campers to invite friends or relatives to attend camp with them.

Early Pick-Up:
If you need to pick your child up before afternoon flag, please park (follow parking instructions above) and come to the camp office to sign your child out. Please let both our team and your child know in advance of your plans to pick your child up early using our early pickup form (linked at the bottom of our website), so they may be back from more remote activity areas and ready for early departure.  We ask that are early pickups are done by 3:30pm to ensure you aren’t stuck in the pickup line that typically starts to form around 3:40pm.

Lost & Found:
Lost & Found items are kept in the garage. Please take frequent opportunities to re-collect your child’s belongings. We do our best to hang up and display all lost and found along our tennis court fence, so make sure to take a look on your way in and out of camp each day. Each year, a large number of unlabeled towels, clothing and footwear items are donated to various missions. 

What Not To Pack:
Campers are encouraged to bring a small drawstring bag or small bag with their lunch and water bottle each day. Campers will be provided with a locker or basket in our pole barn where they can leave their “extra” items such as rain gear, long pants, riding boots, etc. and can access when needed. They will be asked to take their extra items home in between sessions if they are not attending all summer or concurrent sessions. Please label everything with your campers name –  Label! Label! Label! and Label**

Daily Items In Small Bag or String Backpack:

1)  Lunch (insulated bags to keep things cool)
2)  Water Bottle (24oz or bigger is recommended)

Extra gear to be stored in a locker or basket:
1) Waterproof Sunscreen: Please avoid spay/aerosol types and we highly recommend applying before they arrive to camp each day, especially for our younger campers (they’ll keep sunscreen & bug spray at their base camp each day for re-application)
2) Insect Repellent
3)  Extra Rain Gear (boots, pants)
4)  Swimsuit & Towel: Needed for water activities
5) Shoes: Tennis shoes are preferred for days at camp. To ensure full participation and safety of the campers, please make sure your child is wearing proper shoes. Appropriate shoes are tennis shoes or sandals with straps. Closed toe shoes are required to participate on low ropes course. Do not send your child to camp with flip flops as their only option. (Flip Flops should NOT be worn to camp, but they can stay in campers locker for water fun).  
6)  Baseball Hat: Great for sun protection and equally important when wearing helmets. Wearing a hat along with our camp horse/bike helmets will help prevent the potential spread of lice. 
7)  Long Pants: Needed for riding. Campers will need heeled boots but rain boots work as well for riding.  Campers often borrow our camp boots and we have backup pants as well.
8) *Medications: Please turn into the office in its original container (no envelopes, plastic bags etc.).  There is a form in your parent portal titled “Medications Brought To Camp” that should be filled out and brought with the medication.  *Please attempt to bring medications to the open house or before the first day to ensure proper care and attention is given.

Provided by Camp:
1)  Helmets: Helmets are required for biking, the zip line, and horse riding. Camp provides helmets for shared use but if you’d prefer your child to have their own they can keep it in their basket.  Keep in mind bike helmets cannot be worn for horse riding.
2) Tennis racket: Camp has enough rackets for all campers to use unless they’d like to bring their own.
3) Riding Boots: We have a variety of boots for campers to borrow if they choose not to bring their own. If campers would like to bring their own they can pack cowboy boots or rain boots, anything with a sturdy heel).  

What Not To Bring:
We ask that campers do not bring valuable personal belongings to camp, as we cannot be responsible for lost or damaged items. Cell phones, Airpods, iPads and other electronic devices are not permitted at camp.

We look forward to sharing a GREAT summer with you at Hidden Pines Ranch!