Guide to Colorado faith-based summer camps

Colorado holds accommodations for faith-based campings. (Photo by Tegan Mierle from Unsplash)

Like many other states in the United States, Colorado has a religiously diverse population. Numerous Colorado families focus significantly on their faith and desire for their children to have spiritually enriching experiences. 

Children and adolescents can learn about their religion, engage in religious activities, and interact with others who share their values through faith-based summer camps.

In addition, Colorado's natural setting is conducive to outdoor activities and adventures, which many religious summer camps incorporate into their programming. By mixing religious instruction with outdoor activities, these camps offer a unique and profound opportunity for spiritual development.

Thus, the prevalence of faith-based summer camps in Colorado reflects the state's religious diversity and families' desire to offer children meaningful experiences that combine religion and the natural environment.

Here is a list of some faith-based summer camps in Colorado:

JCC Ranch Camp

(Photo taken from JCC Ranch Camp’s website)

The Black Forest is home to the JCC Ranch Camp. Its 388 forested acres are home to miles of trails, campsites, wildflowers, and one-of-a-kind boulders and caverns. Campers enjoy Colorado outdoors while staying in our modern camp facilities explicitly designed for them.

It provides many exciting activities that keep campers moving throughout their stay. Take advantage of the fantastic camp programs available.

Activities include archery, art and dance, court & field sports, hiking, horseback riding, Israeli culture and Judaic, low and high ropes course including a zip line, mountain biking, music, onsite campouts, offsite trips, swimming, teva farm and garden, theater and drama, and tie-dye.

Highlands Presbyterian Camp

(Photo taken from Highlands Presbyterian Camp’s Facebook page)

Highlands Presbyterian Camp aims to foster spiritual refreshment and development in a welcoming, accepting community by providing warm hospitality and high-caliber Christian programming in a beautiful mountain setting.

It can be found near Allenspark, Colorado, at 1306 Business Highway 7, Post Office Box 66.

Moreover, campers, families, church organizations, school groups, and many other groups have found their site to be a wonderful resource since it was established in 1945.

Programming and facilities are offered at Highlands, run by the Presbytery of Plains and Peaks and the Presbytery of Colorado. 

Highlands serves as a resource for Presbyterian Church churches, individuals, and non-profit organizations in the USA. They also provide services to many other religious denominations and charitable organizations.

IdRaJaHe

(Photo take from IdRaHaJe’s website)

Bailey, Colorado's IdRaHaJe, is well-known for its week-long Christian summer camps, individualized outdoor education opportunities provided by its Mountain Lab School, and weekend retreats.

It has been dedicated to providing visitors with life-altering experiences since its founding in 1948.

Through sharing the Gospel, strengthening believers through the preaching and teaching of God's Word, and evangelizing campers through witnessing and missions, IdRaHaJe seeks to bring people into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

Camp Shai

(Photo taken from JCC Denver's website)

JCC Camp Shai is Denver's best Jewish day camp for kindergarten through sixth-grade kids. Everyone is accepted here, regardless of origin, religion, or family situation.

Campers at Camp Shai get to hone their skills in various areas, from sports to art to science, while having a great time and enjoying the unique camp experience.

Their goal is to make camp a place where kids can feel safe doing new things, interacting with others, and growing as individuals.

Everything we do at Camp Shai is seen through the lens of the universal Jewish principles (or Middot) of chesed (kindness), respect (kavod), community (kehillah), and good sportsmanship and attitude (ruach).

Ramah in the Rockies

(Photo taken from Ramah in the Rockies’s website)

Denver's Ramah in the Rockies offers a comprehensive Jewish program and is the only Kosher outdoor adventure camp in the United States.

The machane (camp) offers Jewish children and teens the chance to grow as people by taking on new personal challenges in health and wellness, education, community service, and spirituality.

Camp Timberline

(Photo taken from Camp Timberline's Facebook page)

Camp Timberline is a sports and mountain adventure camp in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, close to Denver. It's the top camp for Christian athletes in the state of Colorado.

The camp's goal is to win and equip young people for Christ through athletic competition and outdoor exploration. For children aged 6-18, they provide a variety of Christian-based sports camps.

YMCA Camp Santa Maria

(Photo taken from YMCA Camp Santa Maria’s website)

Located on over a thousand scenic acres not far from Bailey, Colorado, YMCA Camp Santa Maria is a classic overnight camp with a long history.

It is a camp of moderate size that offers children ages 6 to 17 outdoor adventures, experiences that nurture resilience, support from a loving camp community, opportunities to learn new skills, and endless moments of fun, humor, and joy that will make them smile.

The camp is an overnight camp in Colorado located less than a two-hour drive from the Denver metropolitan area, as well as Boulder, Loveland, Longmont, Golden, and Colorado Springs. It provides kids with a diverse array of experiences.

Their campers become fully engaged in the community and culture of the mountain summer camp through activities such as making s'mores around a campfire, going on epic walks, backpacking, learning outdoor skills, stand-up paddleboarding, and kayaking. There will be singing, chanting, and dance parties featured.

Shwayder Camp

(Photo taken from Shwayder Camp’s website)

Shwayder Camp, which traces back to 1949, is the oldest Reform Jewish summer camp in the United States.

Campers look forward to returning to the place that serves as their "home away from home." They can build their independence while having fun, expressing themselves, exploring new opportunities, and being surrounded by friends and the environment.

Their community is a secure setting in which each camper has a unique connection with one another.

Creating an atmosphere in which individual members of the Shwayder Camp community can fashion for themselves a Jewish life rich with meaning is the primary objective of the camp.

The camp strives to establish relationships, cultivate self-esteem, develop Jewish identity, stimulate an appreciation for the natural environment's wonder and beauty, and encourage each individual's one-of-a-kind capabilities by demonstrating Jewish values and traditions.

Sonlight Christian Camp

(Photo taken from Soonlight Christian Camp’s website)

Sonlight Christian camp is in its 44th year as an autonomous non-profit organization. They share the Gospel through the programs that they run and the relationships that they cultivate.

The values of community and teamwork are emphasized at this summer camp, along with an openness to various perspectives and an acknowledgment that every participant is a child of God.

Contributions are gratefully accepted and may be designated either the camper scholarship fund, the Program Excellence Fund, or the Endowment Fund, according to your preference.

Sonlight does not discriminate based on factors such as gender, age, choice of cookie, race, ethnicity, or religion, as well as those with disabilities.

The American Camp Association has granted it its approval, and the State of Colorado has granted it its license to operate as an institution for the care of children.

Beaver Creek Christian Camp

(Photo taken from Beaver Creek Christian Camp’s website)

Beaver Creek Experience Christian Camp has been welcoming visitors to its location in the Rio Grande National Forest near South Fork, Colorado, at the height of 8,500 feet since the late 1940s.

Established as a summer-only Christian youth camp, Beaver Creek is open all year and hosts various events, including workshops, reunions, weddings, retreats, and more.

The campus's unique combination of old-fashioned charm and cutting-edge amenities makes it an ideal home base for exploring the surrounding area and all it has to offer, such as Wolf Creek Ski Resort, Creede Repertory Theater, miles of hiking and biking trails, a pond full of trout, and more.


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