Birch Rock Camp

An Introductory 13-Day Program for Ages 7 – 12. Birch Rock Camp’s Cubs Program is an ideal opportunity for boys to experience a taste of residential camping before committing to the full three, four or seven week camp program. Cubs campers enjoy all of Birch Rock’s traditional activities: swimming, camp craft, sailing, archery, field sports, art, nature, tennis and much more. Cubs live in small cabins with both new and veteran campers, under the supervision of Birch Rock’s veteran staff. All Cubs fully participate in the routine and rituals of the daily program, and delight in Birch Rock’s cherished traditions. An overnight wilderness trip is one of high points of the Cubs experience.

The Junior Maine Guide Program (JMG) is a long-established wilderness camping skills program sponsored by Maine Summer Camps and the Maine State Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. It is an outdoor skills program designed to foster enjoyable, safe and healthy outdoor living experiences. JMG certification can lay the groundwork for later training and certification for a Maine Trip Leader permit, as well as provide a lifetime of enjoyment of living in concert with nature in the Maine wilderness. JMG uses current philosophies in outdoor living. The program, unique to Maine, was created in 1937 as an act of the State Legislature, in an effort to promote the use of the Maine wilderness for recreation as well as to train new generations of youth to adopt use practices that conserve the environment. It is offered by various Maine summer camps. JMG’s goal is to foster enjoyable, safe and healthy outdoor living experiences for campers. These efforts have also resulted in the valuable training and certification of licensed trip leaders in Maine. The Junior Maine Guide Program is a uniquely Maine activity, with its reference to the legendary Maine Guides, and its emphasis on the State’s magnificent forests, lakes, rivers and mountains. At Birch Rock, a boys wilderness camp in Maine, we prepare every boy for their adventures in the wild or on the waters through skills they learn by signing up for activities like campcraft, nature, canoeing, biking, etc. All of our activities are structured to help our campers prepare themselves for the outdoors. The boys learn to hone the skills they have learned on campus out in the wild under the watchful eye of experienced Trip Leaders. They return to camp more confident and comfortable in the great outdoors, and more confident and comfortable in their own skin as well.

Each summer, a group of full session 15 year old boys are selected from the Birch Rock community to take part in the Maine Wilderness Adventure Program. MWA is a three-week endurance challenge that puts a boy’s confidence to the test. The program, which runs during the second session of camp, asks boys to backpack through the most difficult and remote sections of the Appalachian Trail, canoe class III rapids in Maine’s most secluded waterways, scale cliffs in Acadia National Park, raft down class V rapids in the Penobscot River and paddle board in Mount Desert Island’s largest lake. This trip requires boys to push themselves outside of their comfort zone, test their limits, and work together as a team. During these three weeks Birch Rock campers live out of their backpacks, carrying all their own food, sleeping in tents, lean-tos and hammocks along the way. MWA has been a rite of passage for many of Birch Rock’s most prominent leaders. This trip is the most challenging adventure offered at Birch Rock, and it has become something campers look forward to year after year. *To register for MWA, you must register for Full Session. Please select both Second Session