​Plan Summer Fun with McHenry County Conservation District Summer Camps

From MCC District: What kind of fun do you want to have this summer? Learn how to canoe? Explore the wetlands? Hunt for critters? Time travel? Camp under the Stars?

McHenry County Conservation District’s ten different summer camps provide all these great opportunities as well as crafts, activities, games, fun and much more! Day camps are available for children age 5 through 17.

Introduce your child ages 5–6 to the day camp experience. Join them for Day Camp Discovery at Pleasant Valley in Woodstock where you’ll spend some special summer time together in the outdoors sharing in nature walks, stories, crafts, games and experiments.

Young campers age 6–7 can spend their mornings exploring habitats and the animals that live in ponds, fields or forests during Young Explorers Camp at Prairieview Education Center in Crystal Lake or Glacial Park in Ringwood. In the Earth Encounters Camp, they can use their curiosity along with simple scientific tools to explore wetlands, prairies and woodlands at Pleasant Valley in Woodstock.

Campers age 7–8 will discover nature through the arts in Nature and Art Camp at Pleasant Valley in Woodstock. They will use their creative energies in paint, clay, music and other ways to interpret nature’s beauty.

A regular favorite for campers 8–11 is Fishing Camp where they will learn the fundamentals of fishing in both moving waters at Beck’s Woods in Chemung and still waters at Brookdale in Woodstock.

Eco-Explorer Camp at Glacial Park in Ringwood and Outdoor Adventure Camp at Prairieview Education Center in Crystal Lake provide youth, ages 8–11, non-stop explorations. At Glacial Park campers will canoe, explore habitats, take part in a conservation work project, play games and decorate t-shirts. At Prairieview, campers will enjoy hiking adventures, outdoor challenges, fishing, canoeing, and nature crafts.

Another popular camp for ages 10–12 is Time Travelers Camp at Glacial Park where youth experience a different era of history each day including Native American Life, Pioneer Life, and as French Explorers canoeing Nippersink Creek.

Not to be left out of all the summer fun, teens, ages 12–15, can pursue their natural world interest and get hands-on experience in Wild Things Camp at Glacial Park which concludes with a wilderness campout.

New this year, aspiring young hunters ages 10–17, can sign up for Hunter Safety Camp, to learn all the requirements of the Illinois Hunter Safety course, as well as other hunting related activities including off-trail tracking practice, ending with an opportunity to test for Illinois Hunter Safety Certification for free.

Sign up now to reserve your space. Camp and registration information is online at www.MCCDistrict.org or request your copy of the spring issue of Landscapes.

Leave No Child Inside this summer — have your child get outdoors, explore and connect with their natural world. Visit the District’s website at www.MCCDistrict.org to view all program and event offerings or sign up to receive the seasonal magazineLandscapes. Register online, by phone (free programs only) at (815) 479-5779, by mail-in and drop-off at Prairieview Education Center, 2112 Behan Road in Crystal Lake, or drop-off only at Lost Valley Visitor Center, Route 31 and Harts Rd. in Ringwood.

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