Nature Explorers Summer Camp

For over 30 years, area children have been able to experience the diverse wonders of nature in a safe, fun, hands-on manner as part of Cataraqui Conservation’s Nature Explorers Summer Day Camp at Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area in Kingston. Your kids will be enjoying themselves so much that they won’t even realize how much they are learning about plants, animals, conservation and the environment.

Spending a week on an adventure at one of our Nature Camp weeks is more than just a way to occupy children during their summer vacation, it is a way to get them to ‘unplug’ from their electronic world and engage with nature on a deeper and more profound level. Camp provides a series of unique wilderness experiences that will foster in them a sense of wonderment and curiosity and perhaps inspire new forms of creativity or even future career aspirations.

Camp takes place at the Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area, which is composed of lush forests, meadows, wetlands and trails with an abundance of wildlife and vegetation to explore. Campers have the chance to truly be kids, and explore the forests in a way that allows for a certain amount of freedom, while still focusing on exciting new core activities such as building shelters and tracking animals.  Campers will visit Gould Lake Conservation Area two days in the session where they will be supervised by a certified lifeguard.  They will get to enjoy the cool waters of Gould Lake and the biodiversity of beings at this wilderness gem.

Camp Staff

Our camp supervisor and two camp instructors are fully trained, eminently qualified and experienced. They have a passion for inspiring and fueling a love for nature in children and are dedicated to creating a safe, fun and learning environment for all campers. There is generally a ratio of one instructor for every 10 campers and all staff have first aid certification and carry first aid kits with them on all outings. The camps are designed for kids ages 6 to 10 with a maximum of 20 campers per week.

Fees, Location & Times:

• 2025 pricing $250.00 per child $200 for short weeks due to the holiday Monday
• For ages 6 to 10 - your child MUST be 6 or turning 6 in the fall to attend.
• 9:00 am to 4:00 pm at Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area - Outdoor Centre. 1641 Perth Rd. Kingston.
• Cancellation & Refunds: you have ten business days before the start of your camp week to qualify for a refund minus $25.00 non-refundable deposit per camper per session. Refunds requested less than ten business days will be less 25% of the total camp fee per camper. Refunds will not be issued for no-shows or campers who attend only part of a session for any reason.

Registration:

Maximum of one week of camp per child. Registration is on a first come first served bases through our online booking form.

• registration is coming soon for 2025. Please sign up for our newsletter/emails in the footer of this page for updates. We will be putting out a notice one week before camp registration opens.
• NEW for 2025 - to make the registration process faster you do not have to fill in information about each child attending during they payment process. When registration opens you will simply pick one week of camp, add in the number (qty) of children you want to register for that week and pay.  Staff will be in touch at a later date for you to submit all of the required information for your child to come to camp.