About Green River Preserve
Green River Preserve is a co-ed summer camp connecting children with nature. Located on a 3,400 acre private wildlife Preserve in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, this extraordinary natural setting inspires campers to have a greater understanding of themselves, their environment, and their fellow man. Green River Preserve is a place where one’s character really matters and where campers have a chance to learn their own strengths and to find their inner voice. Campers are “their best me at GRP!”
Camp Sessions
Green River Preserve is a safe and comfortable place, both physically and emotionally. Purposefully small, our enrollment is limited to 104 campers per session. One, two, and three week summer camp sessions are offered for campers in the rising 2nd through 9th grades and high school expedition programs for rising 9th graders through college freshmen. Summer camp tuition fees range from $1,250 – $3,500 and high school expedition fees range from $2,700-$3,900. The 2013 summer camp season opens on June 9th and ends on August 10th.
Green River Preserve Staff
Missy and Sandy Schenck are the Executive Directors of Green River Preserve. Each camp season, staff are interviewed by the directors and carefully selected with regard to maturity, sensitivity, intellectual achievement, and integrity as role models. Our staff is trained to ensure all campers get the rich and rewarding experience they should expect from Green River Preserve. Our camper to staff ratio is 3 to 1.
Activities
A wide variety of activities such as nature, hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking, kayaking, canoeing, outdoor skills, environmental science, fly fishing, music, guitar, art, theater, pottery, woodworking, archery, and BB skeet foster life time learning skills. Unique to our activities is our partnership with the Flat Rock Playhouse, the state theater of North Carolina, for our residential theater camp; an artist-in-residency program with nationally acclaimed artists; access to DuPont State Recreational Forest for mountain biking; and a partnership with Trout Unlimited for a their “Summer on the Fly” summer camp fly fishing program. Green River Preserve’s program and activities offer quality, intentional, experiential learning opportunities that spark diversity of thought and creativity.
The signature of Green River Preserve’s program is the mentor hike. Led by mentor naturalists, campers explore forest, streams, and hidden valleys of the Preserve. Filled with adventure, discovery, and a heightened appreciation of the natural world, campers learn to use all of their senses as they play under waterfalls, crawl into caves, explore archeological sites, track wildlife, and taste edible plants.
Sustainability
The hallmark of Green River Preserve is to teach young people to be better stewards of the land. Since 1988, sustainability has been woven into the very fabric of Green River Preserve. Our farm to table program is just one of our many efforts in sustainability leadership. Our partnership with Leave no Trace provides campers with guidelines for low impact camping. A conservation easement with Carolina Mountain Land Trust safeguards the future of the Preserve’s land for generations of campers. Green River Preserve is a GREEN AMERICA APPROVED business.
