Dutchess Summer Naturalist Programming Returns

POUGHKEEPSIE – Dutchess County Parks announced registration opened Wednesday, March 22 for Dutchess County Parks’ popular Adventure and Survival summer programs for children ages 9-17 at Bowdoin Park in the Town of Poughkeepsie and Wilcox Memorial Park in the Town of Milan.

Summer sessions will feature hands-on activities such as hiking, shelter making, fire building, and other survival skills, as well as tracking, archery, and building group problem-solving skills. Sessions are held Monday-Thursday, except for the week of July 4th session, from 9:30am to 4pm, with early drop-off and late-pick up options available.

New this year is Spring Break Days, a chance for kids who have not yet experienced Parks’ popular summer programs to get a taste of the longer summer sessions’ offerings this April. Youth ages 9-11 will learn survival and tracking skills, team building exercises, and more. Intro to Survival will be held April 3-4 and Intro to Adventure Camp will be April 5-6 at Bowdoin Park. Sessions will be held 9am-4pm daily, are limited to 20 participants each, and there is a cost per youth. While Spring Break Days are limited to those who have not previously attended a summer camp with Dutchess County Parks, for those still looking for other activities to fill this spring break, the complete line-up of Spring Naturalist Programs was also announced today.

Summer Program Schedule
The Adventure Program and Survival Program, for ages 9-11, will be held July 3rd-7th (no camp on July 4) or July 17th -20st. The Adventure Program, for ages 12-15, will be held July 10th-13th or July 31st-3rd. The Survival Intensive Program, for ages 12-15, will be held July 10th -13th. These programs will be at Bowdoin Park.

Additional programs include Complete Survival at Wilcox Park for ages 12-15 on July 24th-29th and Living Survival at Bowdoin Park for ages 16-17 on August 7th-10th. These sessions will mimic a real survival situation framed in the context of a story that changes every year. Complete Survival requires students to have participated in Survival Intensive and ends with an optional overnight stay.

Sessions cost $175 per student, per session. Due the popularity of the programs, there is a limit of one session per student.

Eaglet Adventures
Eaglet Adventures returns this summer for ages 6-8 on July 31st-August 3rd. These sessions will be from 10am-2pm and will give children a chance to become better explorers and scientists. Children will develop skills to identify animal tracks, discover pond life and begin to see the interconnection that keeps the natural world in balance.

This session is limited to 12 children plus one caregiver.

To learn more about Dutchess County Parks programs, visit DutchessNY.gov/Parks.