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Camp Recreation

Girl Scouts

Camp Outdoor Recreational Experience

Enrich and customize your visits to any of our camps by exploring a wide variety of available recreation activities. Each property features a different set of opportunities, though all must be reserved in advance by contacting the camp registrar. Below is a listing of the staff-led recreation activities available, but don’t forget to enjoy many of the free activities your troop or group can do on its own. See the Self-Guided Activities and Facilities listing on this page.

Staff-Facilitated Activities

Archery:
Learn National Archery Association essentials of equipment and bow handling, including shooting targets successfully and consistently. End with a special contest of archery skill to prove what you now know. Approx. 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Available at Butternut Springs, Greene Wood, Happy Hollow, Juniper Knoll, Meadowbrook, and River Trails. Cost is per person/per hour, $4 for Girl Scouts, $6 for other non-profits and $8 for corporate.

Archery Level Two:
Learn first stages of NASP – National Archery in Schools Program as a progression toward competency leading to college level archery competition and Olympic archery. Approx. 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Available at Butternut Springs, Greene Wood, Happy Hollow, Juniper Knoll, Meadowbrook, and River Trails. Cost is per person/per hour, $4 for Girl Scouts, $6 for other non-profits and $8 for corporate.

Archery Level Three:
Continuation of Level Two progression. Approx. 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Available at Butternut Springs, Greene Wood, Happy Hollow, Juniper Knoll, Meadowbrook, and River Trails. Cost is per person/per hour, $4 for Girl Scouts, $6 for other non-profits and $8 for corporate.

Basic Canoe:
Learn the essential strokes of paddling your canoe with a partner. Learn how to right a tipped canoe and how to stay afloat and calm. Take your canoe out for a trip across a bay in a lake. Approx. 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Available at Butternut Springs, Greene Wood, Juniper Knoll, Morrison, and River Trails. Cost is per person/per hour, $4 for Girl Scouts, $6 for other non-profits and $8 for corporate. Please note, if you are planning on canoeing at River Trails, contact us for more information. Becuase you will be canoeing on the river instead of a lake, there are several options which will require different set-up.

Ceramics:
Enjoy an afternoon of picking out your own handmade ceramic piece, choosing a handful of colors to paint it, and being able to take home a beautiful handmade craft. The possibilities are endless just like your imagination. Be creative. Approx. 3 hours. Available at Butternut Springs and Juniper Knoll. Cost is per person/per hour, $5 for Girl Scouts, $7.50 for other non-profits and $10 for corporate.

Compass/Orienteering Course:
Apply the basic essential skills of map and compass usage to a pre-defined course across a wide geographically diverse location at camp. Explore locations and obstacles rarely seen. Find all your waypoints and record them in a register as well as mark them on your map. Approx. 3 to 3-1/2 hours. Available at Butternut Springs, Happy Hollow, and Juniper Knoll. Cost is per person/per hour, $3 for Girl Scouts, $4.50 for other non-profits and $6 for corporate.

Geocaching:
Investigate how a GPS Receiver works to help you locate yourself out in the woods, and use some of the basic skills of map reading on a pre-defined course across a wide geographically diverse location at camp. Explore locations and obstacles rarely seen. Find all your waypoints and record them in a register as well as mark them on your map. Approx. 3 to 3-1/2 hours. Available at Butternut Springs and Juniper Knoll. Cost is per person/per hour, $3 for Girl Scouts, $4.50 for other non-profits and $6 for corporate.

Hay Rides:
Select camps have hay wagon rides around camp, plus our food service team can have hot apple cider and smore’s waiting for your troop or group event. Length of time is flexible. Available year-round at Butternut Springs, Greene Wood, Juniper Knoll, Palos, and Pokanoka. Cost is per person/per hour, $2 for Girl Scouts, $3 for other non-profits and $4 for corporate.

High Ropes Course:
Challenge yourself on an obstacle course that could be as much as 30 to 40 feet above the ground! Work your way across a postman’s walk or a Burma Bridge. Come down with a rappel or via the zipline. Approx. 3 to 3-1/2 hours. Coming Soon.

Letterboxing:
Find hidden secrets! This is an outdoor hobby that combines elements of orienteering, art, and puzzle solving. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly-accessible places and distribute clues (descriptive and orientative) to finding the cache. Like geocashing, but without the GPS. Available at Happy Hollow, Juniper Knoll and Morrison. Cost is per person/per hour, $2 for Girl Scouts, $3 for other non-profits and $4 for corporate.

Low Ropes Course:
Traverse the Wild Woozey with a partner. Exchange places with another group on the balance beam. Scale the Wall. All things are possible on the Low Ropes course when you work together to accomplish your goals. Approx. 3 to 3-1/2 hours. Available at Butternut Springs. Cost is per person/per hour, $15 for Girl Scouts, 22.50 for other non-profits and $30 for corporate.

Row Boating:
Learn the basics of rowing your boat with a partner. Learn how to handle a tipped boat and how to stay afloat and calm. Take your boat out for a trip across the lake. Approx. 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Available at Butternut Springs and Juniper Knoll. Cost is per person/per hour, $2 for Girl Scouts, $3 for other non-profits and $4 for corporate.

Sail Boating:
Here’s where wind and water come together. Learn how to trim a sail, pull a sheet and handle a dagger board, all with a partner. Learn how to right a flipped sailboat and how to stay afloat and calm. Take your sailboat out for a trip across the lake. Approx. 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Available at Juniper Knoll. Cost is per person/per hour, $5 for Girl Scouts, $12 for other non-profits and $16 for corporate.

Swimming:
During the summer months, enjoy some time relaxing in the swimming pools. Swimming toys are available. Lifeguards are required and provided with your reservation. Pool swimming available at Butternut Springs, Pokanoka, and River Trails; lake swimming available at Juniper Knoll; creek swimming available at Pokanoka and River Trails. Cost is per person/per hour, $6 for Girl Scouts, $9 for other non-profits and $12 for corporate.

Teams Course/Initiatives:
A challenge for yourself and your teammates on an obstacle course that could be as wild as it is challenging. Work your way through a Giant Spider’s web or across a pit of Radioactive Peanut Butter. Cross a swamp where the Hairy Bog Beast lives. All things are possible on the Teams Course when you work together to accomplish your mission. Approx. 3 to 3-1/2 hours. Available at Butternut Springs, Happy Hollow and Pokanoka. Cost is per person/per hour, $15 for Girl Scouts, 22.50 for other non-profits and $30 for corporate.

Staff Launched

These activities need to have a staff facilitator to launch the activity ensuring participants are outfitted with equipment properly. Then you are on your own to have fun. Equipment rental fees apply.

  • Cross-country skiing - available at Happy Hollow, Palos and Wild Rose, cost is per person/per hour, $3 for Girl Scouts, $4.50 for other non-profits and $6 for corporate.
  • Fire building - available at all facilities. (Staff facilitator is not needed if someone in your group has been trained.)
  • Mountain biking - available at Happy Hollow, cost is per person/per hour, $4 for Girl Scouts, $6 for other non-profits and $8 for corporate.
  • Show-shoeing (sizes for Daisies and Brownies only) - available at Palos, cost is per person/per hour, $2 for Girl Scouts, $3 for other non-profits and $4 for corporate.

Self-Guided Activities and Facilities

These activities/facilities are free with your reservation. Please make a reservation with the camp registrar to ensure the time and day you wish is available.

  • Athletic field/court use - available at all camps
  • Fitness trail/Dyna-Track - available at Butternut Springs, and Happy Hollow
  • Hiking - available at all camps
  • Mini-golf - available at Pokanoka and Wild Rose
  • Outdoor theater - available at Meadowbrook, Pokanoka, and Wild Rose
  • Sledding - available at Butternut Springs and Wild Rose

Recreation Activities by Camp

  • Apple Acres - archery, hiking
  • Butternut Springs - archery, baseball field, canoeing, ceramics, Dyna-Track, fire building, geocaching, hiking, orienteering, teams course, row boats, sledding, soccer field, swimming pool, volleyball court
  • Greene Wood - archery, canoeing, hiking
  • Happy Hollow - archery, hiking, mountain biking, letterboxing, orienteering, cross country skiing, teams course, fitness trail
  • Juniper Knoll - archery, ceramics, canoeing, geocaching, hiking, orienteering, nature center, row boats, sailing
  • Meadowbrook - archery, hiking, outdoor theater, sledding
  • Morrison - basketball court, canoeing, hiking, lake access, volleyball court
  • Palos - tetherball, cross country skiing, basketball court, hay ride, nature center, hiking, show shoeing, volleyball court
  • Pokanoka - creek swim, hiking, mini golf, river and pond, star-gazing gazebo, sand volleyball court, swimming pool, teams course, outdoor theater
  • River Trails - archery, canoeing, creek swimming, swimming pool, volleyball court
  • Wild Rose - large and small field, ice rink, mini-golf, sledding, theater, volleyball court, cross-country skiing
For more information, please contact our camp registrar, Celeste Adams Holecek, 312.416.2500, ext. 226. You may also sign-up when you fill out your site rental application.

Due to potential spamming, e-mail addresses are not listed above. All employees can be reached using their first initial and last name @girlscoutsgcnwi.org. Thank you for your understanding.