A List of Phone-Free Camps

Summer is, reliably, on its way and if you’re looking for phone-free camps, we hope to help! Time away from the rest of the year’s drama — and even loved ones — is special for kids, and phones can interfere.

This list is by no means complete. All camp names were submitted to us by readers. Some are co-ed, some are religiously affiliated. Some are day camps, most are overnight.

If you’d like to add a phone-free camp, great! Please make sure it’s one that literally takes phones and tablets from campers and stores them the whole time. No phones in the cabins! No “sometime” use. And it should be, of course, a camp you love! Email us its name, location, URL, and whether it is for boys, girls, or co-ed: Camp@LetGrow.org . We will add them as they come in.

Note that MOST camps seem to have some sort of phone-free policy. This keeps kids in the moment at least for some chunk of their young lives. We also like when camps resist the urge to post photos of their campers for parents to pore over. Part of the magic of camp is that it is a chrysalis where change happens. Cameras don’t belong in there.

The first thing out of parents’ mouths when they pick up their kids from an overnight camp is usually: “Look how you’ve grown!” (And not just physically.)

To be able to see that growth requires us parents NOT seeing it incrementally.

Just as kids deserve some time away from the phone world, they also deserve some time when their parents are not watching their every move. So here’s to the camp world’s dedication to an old-fashioned childhood. A toast (of a marshmallow) to you! Phone-free camps are listed in the order they were received:

Camp Southwoods (Paradox, NY)

Adventure Treks Camp (many locations)

Liberty Lake Day Camp (coed), Bordentown, NJ

Everwood Day Camp (co-ed), Sharon, MA

Camp Tamakwa, Algongquin Park, Canada

Asto Wamah,Columbia, CT

North Star Camp for Boys Hayward, WI

Camp Burgess (for boys) and Hayward (for girls), Cape Cod, MA

Skylake Yosemite Camp, Calif

Nicolet (for girls), Eagle River, WI

Lanakila (VT)

Camp Crescnet Cove (Lake Sebago, Maine)

Camp Wohelo (Waynesboro, PA)

WinShape (Georgia)

Camp Greystone (NC)

Camp Mystic (TX)

Camp Longhorn (TX)

Camp Gan Israel (Poconos, PA)

Camp Icogawan (WI)

Wolf Ridge (MN)

YMCA Camp Ihduhapi (Loretto, MN)

Camp North Woods (boys), Pleasant Valley (girls) (Wolfeboro, NH)

Trustees of Reservations Day Camps, 7 locations

SPLAT Adventures (mystery road trips)

Lure of the Wild Nature Camps (Catonsville, MD)

River Valley Ranch (overnight and day camps) (River Valley, MD)

Camp Wabanna (Edgewater, MD)

Camp Ramah (Conover, WI)

YMCA Camp Kern (Oregonia, OH)

Everwild (Los Angeles)

Eastport Maritime Museum Day Camp (Annapolis, MD)

UBC Camp (Vancouver, BC)

Eagle Lake Camp (Colorado Springs, CO)

Camp Hanover (Mechanicsville, VA)

Jaycee Camp Hope, Camp Sertoma, Camp Odyssey (Clemson Outdoor Lab, Pendleton, SC)

Camp Hochelaga (South Hero, VT)

Camp Abnaki (North Hero, VT)

Camp Tawonga (Groveland, CA)

High Peaks Camp (St Hubert’s NY)

Camp Coniston (Grantham, NH)

Camp Kesem (nationwide network of camps for children affected by a parent’s cancer)

Cedarbrook Camp of Ohio at Stony Glen (Madison, OH)

Camp Wyonegonic, for girls, and Camp Winona, for boys (Denmark, Maine)

Swift Nature Camp (Minong, WI)

Colvig SIlver Camps (Durango, CO)

BYMCamps.org (Appalachian Mountains of Virginia and Maryland)

Camp Bil o Wood (Blind River, Canada)

Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp (Twin Lake, MI)

Valley View Ranch (Cloudland, GA)

Wheretherebedragons.com (Phone-free international travel programs for high school and college students)

Camp Songadeewin (girls) and Keewaydin (boys) (Salisbury, VT)

Clearwater Camp (girls) Minocqua, WI

Brown Ledge Camp (girls, 10-17), Colchester, VT

Camp Little Notch (overnight, girls), Fort Ann, NY

Camp Nebagamon (boys), Lake Nebagamon, WI

NYC Guitar School (day camp, ages 8-17), New York City

Camp WeHaKee (overnight, girls), Winter, WI

Pine Island Camp (boys, overnight), Belgrade, Maine

Camp Merri-Mac, (girls, overnight), Black Mountain, NC

Camp Timberlake, (boys, overnight), Marion, NC

Surprise Lake Camp. (co-ed, overnight), Cold Spring, NY

Hummingbird Music Camp (co-ed) Jemez Springs, NM

Camp Oatka (boys, overnight) Sebago ME

Van Buren Youth Camp, (co-ed, overnight), Bloomingdale, MI

Eden Village Camp, (co-ed, overnight), Putnam Valley, NY

Camp Olympia (co-ed, overnight) Olympia, TX

Frontier Camp (co-ed, overnight) Grapeland, TX

Concordia Language Villages (co-ed, day and overnight) Bemidji, MN

YoungLife Camps (various locations)

Camp Deerhorn (boys, overnight) Rhinelander, WI

Camp WA WA Segowea (co-ed), Southfield, Mass

Camp Killooleet (co-ed, sleepaway) Hancock, VT

Cottonwood Gulch Expeditions (coed), ABQ, NM

YMCA Camp Woodstock (co-ed, overnight), Woodstock, CT

Camp Chatuga (co-ed, overnight), Mountain Rest, SC

Camp Carysbrook (girls, overnight), Riner, VA

Ckids Gan Israel Florida (boys), North Carolina!

Camp Unalayee (co-ed) Trinity Alps Wilderness, CA

Camp Glenbrook (co-ed, overnight), Marlborough, New Hampshire

Kroka Expeditions (co-ed, overnight), Marlow, New Hampshire

Camp Kupugani (separate girls-only and co-ed sessions, overnight), Leaf River IL

Cottonwood Gulch Foundation (co-ed, overnight), Thoreau, New Mexico

Camp Wildcraft Art & Nature Day Camp (co-ed), Los Angeles

Camp Lokanda (co-ed, overnight), Glen Spey, NY

Camp Netimus (girls, overnight), Milford, PA

Jameson Ranch Camp (co-ed, overnight), Glennville, CA

Camp Desoto, (girls, overnight), Mentone, AL

Alpine Camp (boys, overnight), Mentone, AL 

Jameson Ranch Camp (co-ed, overnight), Glennville, California

Camp Lincoln / Camp Lake Hubert (boys / girls, overnight), Nisswa, MN

Ligonier Camp & Conference Center (co-ed, overnight, Christian outdoor camp). Ligonier, PA 

EXPLO (co-ed, overnight and day), MA, NY, CA, UK

Mountain Camp Marin (co-ed, day camp), San Rafael, CA

Sebago Wohelo (ages 12-16+) and Little Wohelo (age 6-12) (girls, overnight camps), Raymond, ME

Roughing It Day Camp, (co-ed day camp), Lafayette CA

Camp Kiniya (girls, overnight), Colchester Vermont

Camp Dudley  (boys, overnight), Westport New York

Camp Tecumseh (boys, overnight), White Mountains of New Hampshire

Camp Desoto (girls, overnight), Mentone, AL

Sanborn Western Camps (girls and boys camps, separately, overnight. Photos taken just once/week), Florissant, CO

 Camp Pemigewassett (boys, overnight) Wentworth, NH

Kanakuk Kamps (boys and girls, overnight) Branson and Lampe, Missouri

YMCA Camp Kanata (co-ed, overnight), Wake Forest, NC

Eisner Camp (co-ed, overnight), Great Barrington, MA

Riverside Bible Camp (boys and girls, adults, couples, retreats, overnight), Story City, IA

Sonlight Camp, Pagosa Springs, Colorado

Summer’s Best Two Weeks (co-ed, Christian, overnight), Somerset, PA

Camp Skylemar, (boys, overnight), Naples, Maine

Please list your camp this way, to make it easier for us to add:

Name of Camp, URL, boys or girls, day camp or overnight, city, state

Send it to Camp@LetGrow.org. Thanks!