Site Overview
Camp Whittle offers a variety of housing options. Students and teachers stay in recently renovated, heated dormitories with nearby bathrooms. Private lodges with baths are also available for students or faculty chaperones. All participants must bring their own sleeping bags, pillows, or bedding. Meals are provided in the cafeteria, except for lunch, which is eaten on the trail.
Activities include hiking, initiative games, group challenges, high and low ropes courses, art, astronomy, earth science, life science, and age-appropriate environmental science. The program offers extensive hiking opportunities, both individual and group challenges, and cooperative activities that enhance participants’ connection to the natural environment, especially the San Bernardino Mountains. Students also learn basic natural history, environmental science concepts, and minimum-impact wilderness travel, all while sharing a common experience.
Participants will be organized into groups of 12-14 students. Naturalists at Large instructors will guide these groups, teaching basic outdoor skills, supervising meal preparation, and leading educational hikes that combine “walk and talks” with hands-on activities. Students will work together on tasks such as cooking, setting up camp, and completing camp chores. They will also engage in problem-solving challenges, both intellectual and physical, designed and facilitated by the instructors.
Educational Overview
- Freshwater biology
- Plant communities – botany, ecology, plant identification
- Adaptations of plants and animals
- Geology – landforms
- The stars –constellations, & mythology
- Environmental resource management
- Water resources – pollution, sewage treatment, water sources
- Outdoor skills appropriate to your students
- Invertebrate zoology & bird watching
