Discovery Overnight Camp: What to Expect?

Discovery Overnight Camp is the flagship overnight program at Keystone Science School. This overnight camp option offers a traditonal overnight camp experience mixed with Science, Adventure, and FUN! Campers can choose from 1 or 2 week sessions. Each session follows the same core activities and adventures with a different science theme hidden in each week.

Sleeping Accommodations- Where do you start?

The first step of Discovery Overnight Camp is choosing your sleeping accmmodations: the dorms or the tents in Snake River Village. The dorms, Bighorn and Henry, each have 8 rooms with 2 bunk beds in each, which you can see in our 3D tour. Campers will be placed in a room with children of similar grades. In addition, the dorms have a lobby area with couches and a shared bathroom. The other sleeping accommodation is the canvas tents near the Snake River. There are 4 tents, each sleeping 6 or 7 campers. This choice adds more of a rustic feel to the camp experience, but everything that a camper could need is in a building a short walk away.

The play-by-play of a week full of camp magic:

Monday: After campers move into their designated living space for the week, their trail group will jump into team building. This allows campers to begin forming friendships right off the bat. They will spend most of the first day with their age-sorted trail group. However, at the end of the evening, all of the trail groups will join together for the opening campfire. The counselors will perform silly songs and skits and campers will laugh with one another, strengthening the bonds that they have started making.

Tuesday/Wednesday: On the second day of camp, campers will leave for their overnight camping trip. They will spend the morning packing group gear and before lunch, they will head to their trail. They will hike into their campsite and will have time to learn wilderness skills and hang out with new friends before they tuck into their sleeping bags for the night. When they wake up in the morning, they will have breakfast and pack up camp. Campers spend the rest of the day on campus or around Summit County, where they can choose from activities like Disc Golf, games at Rainbow Park, an on-campus Earth Trek, fishing, Archery and tye-dye. We end each day with a Candle Chat.

Thursday: On Thursday morning, campers will wake up early and attempt a challenging hike to an alpine lake or mountain summit. After they celebrate their success and return to camp, they will have a longer period of feet off the floor time before dinner and the evening program.

Friday: For the final full day of camp, the campers will go on their chosen adventure day! They will spend the day rafting, horseback riding, climbing, or doing the adventure park. Friday evening includes the talent show - a chance for kids to step out of their shell and share laughter with their friends that they made during the week. Finally, they will participate in the closing ceremony and campfire. This is a special time to reflect on their week at camp.

Saturday: At camp, Saturday morning flies by. Before campers know it, they are reuniting with their parents and are sharing exciting stories about their week at camp. Before parents arrive, campers spend time packing their belongings and then they share one final breakfast together before they head separate ways (for now).

What’s next?

If campers enjoyed their week at Discovery Camp, they can always return next summer! If they want to expand on their traditional camp experience, Discovery Deluxe is the two-week session of Discovery camp. It includes all of the same activities as a normal week but also includes the Keystone Science School’s color war, known as CLAW. In addition, our Adventure programs are an option for older campers. These are off-campus programs in various locations that have a higher level of an outdoor adventure than traditional Discovery Camp. If a high school-aged camper is set on sticking in Discover Camp, though, they can become a member of the Counselor Assistant Program (CAP). This allows them more of a leadership role in the traditional camp world.