Forest Lake Camp

Forest Lake Camp is one of America’s great sleepaway camps that has been open since 1926! Since 1926, thousands and thousands of boys and girls have experienced the wonders of Forest Lake Camp, gaining independence, developing self-confidence, establishing strong new friendships, touching the majesty of the outdoor world, and sampling an extraordinarily broad range of activities never experienced before.

Forest Lake Camp is situated on 411 acres of rolling fields and forests in Warrensburg, New York. Boasting a private spring-fed Adirondack lake, the camp offers an extensive variety of traditional summer camp activities both on land and in the water. Rooted in decades of tradition, Forest Lake Camps maintains a rustic feel – you won’t find televisions, laptops, cell phones, or iPods – just the sounds of mother nature.

With all of the fun activities offered each day, campers won’t spend a moment missing their modern amenities. The camp takes advantage of the gorgeous Adirondack region’s rivers, lakes, and trails through an extensive wilderness program. Coupled with a staff that returns to camp year after year, Forest Lake Camp makes both new and returning campers feel welcome from day one. Forest Lake Camp’s 70% camper return rate is a testament to exceptional programming and a great staff.

Program Description

Forest Lake Camp runs a general activities program featuring a mix of sports, waterfront, wilderness, arts, and equestrian options. Daily programming is elective-based, meaning that campers choose their own activities each day. Campers choose three electives plus one general swim period and are typically grouped by age and gender.

Evening activities are typically group-oriented and offer an exciting change from normal Forest Lake programming. Evening activities include outings into town, fishing derbies, capture the flag, social events, and color war.

A stand-out element of the Forest Lake Camp program is horseback riding – an activity that roughly 50% of campers choose to attend. The camp maintains its own riding facilities and campers can take up to three lessons per week. The program accommodates both beginning and advanced riders.

Staff Overview

The staff structure at Forest Lake resembles the hierarchy of a school. There is the camp director (principal), assistant directors (vice principals), head counselors (guidance counselors), department heads (department chairs), specialists (special subject teachers), general counselors (homeroom teachers), nursing staff (school nurse), and maintenance staff (custodial staff).

Many Forest Lake counselors are former staff members. All counselors are in or have graduated from college. The average staff age is 21.

Setting & Accommodations

Forest Lake Camp is located in the southern Adirondack Mountains in Upstate New York. Situated on the side of Lookout Mountain, the camp offers breathtaking panoramic views of “Vampire” Mountain to the north and the Cat Mountain Range to the east. The camp is located just over an hour north of Albany and about 3.5 hours from New York City.

Campers are housed in traditional hand-built log cabins. Each cabin features electricity, stone fire places, and built-in bunk beds. Most cabins have bathrooms and some have showers. There are typically 10-12 campers and 2-3 counselors in each bunk.

Forest Lake Camp doesn’t feature traditional camp food – instead, Sodexho provides lunches and dinners on a four week rotation. The camp even grows its own vegetables that are served during meal time.

Safety Standards

Forest Lake Camp employs a resident registered nurse on site 24 hours a day. In the event of an emergency, a hospital is located less than 20 minutes from camp.

Forest Lake Camp is accredited by the American Camp Association and meets more than 300 safety standards set forth by the organization.