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Youth Camps

our mission

Connect with nature, build friendships, and have a blast

Explore the great outdoors and let your love of nature bloom with GARNA’s summer nature camps! Join GARNA instructors as we invite campers to explore public lands in the Upper Arkansas Valley. Campers will hike mountain trails, collect bugs in streams, experiment, journal and much more while appreciating the joys of nature. Middle school students – we hope you’ll join us for Stream Explorers with Trout Unlimited! Learn the basics of fly fishing and conduct experiments to learn about your watershed.
Youth posting by nature collection tote

Programs Available

Youth sitting mountainside listening to guide

Camp GARNA

Rising 5th-8th graders

NEW Summer Friday Program for Middle Schoolers! (Incoming 5th-8th Grade) Camp will run from 9am-3pm every other Friday, and include LNT Principles, outdoor adventures, service projects and outdoor leadership skills.

 $65/day (10% discount for all 5)
Full & Partial Scholarships Available.

Program will start May 31 and meet every other Friday, with a capstone overnight camping trip on August 9 at Ramble Camp near the Sand Dunes! 

Garna Environmental Education youth stream explorers

Stream Explorers

Fishing program with Collegiate Peaks Chapter of Trout Unlimited

Rising 5th-8th graders

4-Day program where students learn stream ecology and fly fishing skills. FREE

2024 Dates announced early summer

Program runs in the early fall (before school starts in BV and on Fridays in Sept for Salida.)

Nature Camps

Ages: 5 – 10 years old

Days: 9am-4pm, M-Th

Cost: $240

Each day we will visit different public lands locations to diversify our learning environment and introduce kids to different natural areas in our valley!

Scholarships are available – contact Cat at programs@garna.org for the application. Spanish support is also available. 

*GARNA Family Memberships get priority registration and early bird discount.*

Buena Vista

2024 Dates
Session 1: June 10-13
Session 2: June 24-27
Session 3: July 15-18

SOLD OUT – Email youth@garna.org to join the waiting list

Salida

2024 Dates
Session 1: June 3-6
Session 2: June 17-20
Session 3: July 8-11

SOLD OUT – Email youth@garna.org to join the waiting list

Creating a community that is educated about place.

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Garna Greater Arkansas River Nature Association - Education, stewardship, volunteering Salida - Plants alonside the riverbank
Gone to Seed by Kari Vanderburg
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