tents accommodating up to five people.

“There’s a combination of getting this
beautiful outdoor experience of tent living,
but your meals are provided for you, and
there are activities around to do,” she says.

Camp Blue Ridge
Camp Blue Ridge calls Montebello, Virginia,
home. Associate director Julie Minnick says
their camp, organized by the Seventh Day
Adventist Church, consists of four individual
weeks, from check-in on Sunday to checkout
Friday morning.

During this week, campers can participate
in family worship in the mornings. The
camp provides a pastor who leads the
worship services and a themed worship
book. Afterward, families are welcome
to participate in several hours of open
activities, including canoeing, swimming,
and paddleboarding. Evenings at Camp Blue
Ridge typically consist of a group family
activity, such as water Olympics.

Minnick says that Camp Blue Ridge is
suited for a family experience and staff are
very passionate about providing families
opportunities to play and worship together
“in a beautiful environment” while trying to
promote family unity, playing together and
enjoying the outdoors.

The family camp option offers families a
large amount of flexibility, she says. Parents
can spend time with their children at camp,
but they can still choose to do their desired
activities from time to time.

“Maybe mom and dad want to go on a hike,
but the kids want to go swimming,” Minnick
says. “That’s totally fine. It’s great because
the families don’t have to feel pressured to
be with their kids the entire time.”
What makes Camp Blue Ridge unique,
Minnick says, is the setting in Virginia’s Blue
Ridge Mountains. The camp, priced at $168
for those 13 years or older and $142 for ages
5 through 12, doesn’t have cell service, which
Minnick said helps to hone in on the camp’s
“be still and know” theme.

“We are very passionate about immersing
our guests in creation,” Minnick says,
“and that’s what we have to offer here. It’s
just absolutely gorgeous property. We’re
surrounded by the beauty of creation.”
Family Camps at
Chincoteague Bay Field
Station The family camps at Chincoteague
Bay Field Station on the eastern
shore of Virginia offer families the
opportunity to explore aquatic
wildlife. Education director Anne
Self says that the unique part of
CBFS is its location.

“Barrier islands are a super
unique ecosystem that offer
anything from a bayside to
an oceanside to a forest
environment,” she says.

“We have a diverse group of
programs that we’re
able to offer because
of the environment
that we’re in.”
Self says that CBFS is
home to many species of
fish and crabs, including
blue crab and spider
crab. Campers can also
see many diamondback
terrapins turtles and the
occasional shark.

Campers can participate
in different aquatic activities
such as otter trawling, which
involves pulling a big net
behind a boat, and seine netting,
which consists of dragging a long
net through the water.

Self says her favorite part of
the camp is seeing families find
their love for nature.

“They might know that
they like nature,” she says,
“but I really love seeing that
moment as soon as they
find their first organism
or as soon as they touch
the mud for the first
time. I feel like we get so
many of those lightbulb
moments of
this genuine wonder and
excitement about the
natural world. It is so
fulfilling to see.” P
PHOTOS COURTESY CAMP ALLEGHANY, CAMP BLUE RIDGE AND CHINCOTEAGUE BAY FIELD STATION
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