Farm and Nature Camps at Devil's Gulch Ranch Summer 2010

Check out the Documentary of Camps at Devil's Gulch Ranch.

Thank you for checking out our programs. All of the camps offered at Devil's Gulch Ranch are focused around connecting children and young adults to agriculture, nature, outdoor recreation, and our ancestral past. All our camps have capacities of 30 or less with staff to students ratios of 1:5 with some activities being 1:1 and 2:1.

In all camps, the start of each day for all participants is doing routine farm chores.  The rest of the day is devoted to learning about agriculture, getting connected to the forest, creeks, and meadows around the ranch, learning primitive skills, doing crafts centered on natural materials, developing skills in archery, atlatl, tomahawk, rappelling or horsemanship. Each day of the week has time for free play or exploration. One day of the week is devoted to a wander in the forest. 

We challenge each participant to go past their comfort zone and try new things.  This is not your usual summer camp and this is not a petting zoo but a production ranch raising livestock for food. Participants have hands on experiences in real work and have opportunities to explore all areas of production. For more information on the Devil's Gulch Ranch please see www.devilsgulchranch.com

The students will find that they are a member of a happy and healthy community with mentors that incorporate humor, storytelling, rites of passage, respect, celebration, thanksgiving, and more.

Please explore the rest of the web site and see what activities and programs are available that might be of interest.  
I welcome your inquiries and look forward to talking to you.

Brian King
Brian@devilsgulchranch.com

Basic Agriculture/Nature Summer Day Camp

• Ages: 6 to 13
• Capacity: 20 students
• Session Dates: Throughout the summer
• Pick-up and Drop-off: M-F 9 AM and 4 PM
• Drop off Location: Nicasion Ball Field

We ride up the dirt road and through the forest to Devil's Gulch Ranch in our antique buckboard wagon. Kids love this ride and the feeling of leaving the fast-paced life outside the ranch gates!

Our skilled and flexible staff provide a different program every week, tailored to the interests and abilities of our campers. In any week, the guiding mission of the camp is reflected in hands-on activities and instruction centered on connecting the campers to their food and to nature.

Farm Chores

The students get an overview of the production of food and fiber. This is not a petting zoo but a production ranch producing meat for local fine restaurants and the farmers market. They learn by doing chores and participating in aspects of ranch life such as harvesting, animal care, horseback riding, veterinary science, agricultural mechanics and much more.

Nature Connection

The nature staff are alumni of the Regenerative Design Nature Awareness program and with skills in tracking, primitive technology, and cultural mentoring. The program at Devil's Gulch is modeled after Jon Young's Coyote Mentoring and is an affiliated program. The students practice the core routines for reconnecting them to nature as outlined in Coyote Mentoring.

Nature Crafts

Complementing the agriculture and Nature component are our nature crafts, including tanning hides, spinning wool, making soap, fly tying, jewelry, etc.

Recreation

Our amazing options in recreation, includes, rappelling, archery, rabbit stick, swimming, wandering in the forest, and free play. Monday of each week the campers have the day to themselves to wander to their heart content to explore and have adventure that some parents relate to Huck Finn.

Staff Ratios

We have one of the highest staff-to-camper ratios around and limit our enrollment to 30 campers a week. As a consequence, Devil’s Gulch Ranch Camps have an intimate, personal atmosphere. For most activities, the students are in groups of no more than 5. With some activities it is not un common for a 1:1 or 2:1 teacher student ratio.

Beginning Agriculture/Nature Summer Overnight Camps

Sorry Not yet offered

• Ages: 9 to 13
• Capacity: 15 students Session Dates: Throughout the summer
• Pick-up and Drop-off: Sunday 5 PM and Saturday 10 AM
• Drop off Location: Nicasion Ball Field

Campers age 9 and up have the opportunity to enroll in overnight camp. The day campers and overnight campers are together weekdays and do the same activities as listed above. Overnight campers come Sunday at 5 PM and leave Saturday noon.

With the smaller number of kids and being a bit older, the campers get to participate in more involved instruction in crafts, recreation, and nature connection.

The overnight experience, the actual camping, is what makes camp for many of us growing up. Every kid that has ever gone to camp remembers campfire. It is a part of our make up as humans to sit around a central fire, cook food, make music, laugh, listen to the story of the day, watch the fire burn down.  The kids experience camaraderie that only comes with an overnight experience. The younger kids wind down and start nodding off while the older ones engage in discussions about new experiences,
In tents surrounded by forest the students experience a real camping experience.
Students are dropped off at the Nicasio ball field at 5 PM Sunday evening and returned the following Saturday.  Students can also be meet at San Francisco International Airport (contact us to make arrangements).  Student staying multiple weeks can stay through the weekends and receive the retuning student discount.  

Advanced Agriculture (Animal Science) Summer Camp

• Ages: 14 and up
• Capacity: 10 students Session Dates:
  July 20-July 24
  July 27-July 31
• Pick-up and Drop-off: M-F 9 AM and 4 PM
• Drop off Location: Nicasion Ball Field

Students may attend either or both of the two sessions, which will cover different animals. Attending both sessions will allow students to take projects in tanning and pottery through to fruition. An overview of the curriculum covered in this intensive program is available here.

Before registering for this camp please read through the Advanced Agriculture Curriculum.

A Hard Day's Knight - Hero's Journey

• Ages: 14 and up
• Capacity: 10 students Session Dates:
  July 20-July 24
  July 27-July 31
• Pick-up and Drop-off: M-F 9 AM and 4 PM
• Drop off Location: Nicasion Ball Field

Develops in students and young adults the skills and attributes of the knights of old in a modern world. Open to those 14 and up who want to push their edges to follow the hero's journey. For more information see A Hard Day's Knight.

Come celebrate this summer with A Hard Day’s Knight in 2009 as we expand our program to an exciting new location! To take the adventure a step further, HDK has teamed up with Brian King, an animal sciences expert and level 3 archery instructor who heads the children’s camp at beautiful Devil’s Gulch Ranch. Devil’s Gulch is a working ranch where children (and now us!) get to experience the nuances of a farm education, everything from milking goats to gutting and cleaning pheasants for dinner. There is also blacksmithing, rappelling, horse riding, swimming, an archery range and all the rowdy campfires and questing you have come to enjoy at HDK!

This summer’s camp session for our older students will be focused on the Ranger’s life; fire-building, gutting and tanning, pottery, horse handling, stalking, trail-work, shadowing games and primitive skills training. You will have some of the best and most enthusiastic wilderness Rangers as your teachers, including our very own Cub and Bear team! If you are interested in our six day Ranger’s Intensive running from the 27th of July to the 1st of August, please contact Jordan at: thenextquest@hotmail.com for signup information. As always, space is limited, so sign up today!

Leader In Training

Open for 10 students only

This program is for young people in 9th grade and up who are highly motivated, ready to learn, work, and play hard, and who demonstrate additional responsibility in accepting the challenges of leadership. For details please go to the LIT page.