Best Sleepaway Camps for First-Time Campers
60 camps · 16 family reviews · price levels $ to $$$
The best first camp isn't the fanciest one — it's the one where a new kid gets folded in fast. The camps below all advertise a shorter intro or first-year session option in their session info, which is the single most useful feature for a nervous first-timer (and a nervous first-time parent). Read the reviews for how each camp actually treats new campers.
Ranked by honest reviews from real parents, campers, and alumni. Rankings can't be bought or edited by anyone (including us) — camps without reviews yet appear at the end.
NJY Camps
$$Poconos, PA · Milford
5(2 reviews)
Jewish community overnight camps on 1,500 Pocono acres in Milford, PA.
Berkshire Hills Eisenberg Camp
$$Upstate NY · Copake
5(1 review)
A warm, inclusive Jewish sleepaway camp on a private lake in the Berkshires since 1931.
Camp Canadensis
$$$Poconos, PA · Canadensis
5(1 review)
Co-ed Pocono Mountains camp on 1,000 acres with a 75-acre private lake, est. 1941.
Camp Chen-A-Wanda
$$$Poconos, PA · Thompson
5(1 review)
Classic coed 7-week sleepaway camp in the northern Poconos since 1939.
Camp Poyntelle
$$Poconos, PA · Poyntelle
5(1 review)
A traditional Jewish sleepaway camp on a private lake in Wayne County, PA since 1947.
Camp Young Judaea Sprout Lake
$$Upstate NY · Verbank
5(1 review)
Young Judaea's Hudson Valley camp for younger kids, grades 2-13.
Camps Baco & Che-Na-Wah
$$$Adirondacks, NY · Minerva
5(1 review)
Brother/sister traditions on Balfour Lake in the Adirondacks since 1923.
Chestnut Lake Camp
$$$Poconos, PA · Beach Lake
5(1 review)
A premier coed session camp on 200 acres in the Poconos.
Pocono Springs Camp
$$$Poconos, PA · Pocono Summit
5(1 review)
A traditional coed overnight camp built around one immersive 5-week session.
★ FeaturedYMCA Camp Chingachgook
$Adirondacks, NY · Kattskill Bay
5(1 review)
A coed YMCA adventure camp on Lake George in the Adirondacks, since 1913.
Camp Echo Lake
$$$Adirondacks, NY · Warrensburg
3(1 review)
Full-season coed camp in the Adirondack Park for campers ages 7-16.
Peconic Dunes 4-H Camp
$Other · Southold
3(2 reviews)
Nature-rich coed 4-H sleepaway camp between Long Island Sound and Great Pond.
Trail's End Camp
$$$Poconos, PA · Beach Lake
2(1 review)
A seven-week coed camp blending athletics, arts, and adventure.
Camp Kennybrook
$$$Catskills, NY · Monticello
1(1 review)
Family-owned coed Catskills camp in Monticello since 1941.
Blue Ridge Camp
$$Southeast · Mountain City
No reviews yet — be the first!
Family-run coed camp in Georgia's Blue Ridge Mountains since 1969.
Camp Androscoggin
$$$Maine · Wayne
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Boys camp founded in 1907 on Lake Androscoggin in Wayne, Maine.
★ FeaturedCamp Barney Medintz
$$Southeast · Cleveland
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The Marcus JCC of Atlanta's beloved overnight camp - 540 acres and two lakes in north Georgia.
Camp Blue Bay
$Other · East Hampton
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Girl Scouts sleepaway camp on the beach in East Hampton — open to all girls.
Camp Edey
$Other · Bayport
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Girl Scouts sleepaway camp on 95 lakeside acres in Bayport, Long Island.
Camp Judaea
$$Southeast · Hendersonville
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A coed Israel-centered Jewish camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
Camp Kabeyun
$$$New Hampshire · Alton Bay
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A traditional boys camp on Lake Winnipesaukee where boys choose their own activities, since 1924.
Camp Kweebec
$$Other · Schwenksville
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Classic coed overnight camp on 200 acres in the Perkiomen Valley, PA.
Camp Mah-Kee-Nac
$$$Berkshires, MA · Lenox
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Traditional boys sleepaway camp in Lenox, MA with 2- to 7-week sessions.
Camp Matoaka
$$$Maine · Smithfield
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Girls sleepaway camp in Smithfield, Maine offering over 30 activities.
Camp Pembroke
$$Other · Pembroke
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New England's only all-girls Jewish overnight camp, on Lake Oldham since 1935.
Camp Quinipet
$Other · Shelter Island Heights
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Waterfront overnight camp on Shelter Island, New York.
Camp Ramah Darom
$$$Southeast · Clayton
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The Southeast's Ramah camp - immersive Jewish living in the north Georgia mountains.
Camp Ramah in New England
$$$Other · Palmer
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The Conservative movement's classic kosher overnight camp on a lake in Palmer, MA.
Camp Ramah in the Poconos
$$Poconos, PA · Lakewood
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A Conservative Jewish overnight camp community in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains.
Camp Ramah in Wisconsin
$$Other · Conover
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The original Ramah camp - immersive Jewish summers in Wisconsin's Northwoods since 1947.
Camp Robindel
$$$New Hampshire · Moultonborough
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A girls sleepaway camp on a cove of Lake Winnipesaukee, established in 1951.
Camp Seneca Lake
$$Upstate NY · Penn Yan
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JCC Rochester's Jewish overnight camp on the shores of Seneca Lake since 1928.
Camp Towanda
$$$Poconos, PA · Honesdale
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Family-run co-ed camp on 400+ acres in the Poconos, founded in 1923.
Camp Turk
$Adirondacks, NY · Woodgate
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Affordable coed Adirondack camp on private Round Lake, supported by the NY Masonic fraternity.
Camp Wa-Klo
$$New Hampshire · Dublin
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A traditional all-girls camp on a New Hampshire lake, empowering girls since 1956.
Camp Walden
$$$Adirondacks, NY · Diamond Point
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Coed traditional sleepaway camp on Lake George for campers ages 8-16.
Camp Weequahic
$$$Poconos, PA · Lakewood
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Co-ed sleepaway camp in northeastern PA operating since 1953.
Camp Wicosuta
$$$New Hampshire · Hebron
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A four-week traditional girls camp on Newfound Lake in Hebron, New Hampshire.
Camp Winaukee
$$$New Hampshire · Moultonborough
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A century-old boys sleepaway camp on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire.
Camp Yavneh
$$New Hampshire · Northwood
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K'lal Yisrael pluralistic Jewish overnight camp with rich Hebrew culture in NH.
Camps Kenwood & Evergreen
$$$New Hampshire · Wilmot
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Brother-sister overnight camps on Eagle Pond in Wilmot, NH, founded in 1930.
Capital Camps
$$Other · Waynesboro
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The Washington DC and Baltimore area's Jewish community overnight camp.
Everglades Youth Conservation Center (EYCC)
$Florida · West Palm Beach
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Conservation-focused sleepaway camp on the edge of the Florida Everglades.
Hidden Valley Camp
$$Maine · Freedom
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A creative, electronics-free arts & outdoors camp on 350 acres in Maine.
Independent Lake Camp
$$Poconos, PA · Thompson
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A choice-driven camp where circus, arts, sports, and tech share the stage.
International Gymnastics Camp (IGC)
$Poconos, PA · Stroudsburg
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The world-famous gymnastics sleepaway camp in the Pocono Mountains.
KenMont & KenWood Camps
$$Connecticut · Kent
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Brother/sister camps on a shared lakefront campus in Kent, Connecticut.
Pierce Camp Birchmont
$$$New Hampshire · Wolfeboro
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Family-run traditional coed camp on Lake Wentworth since 1951.
Pinemere Camp
$$Poconos, PA · Stroudsburg
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A warm, family-feel Jewish overnight camp in the Poconos since 1942.
Sababa Beachaway
$$Other · Virginia Beach
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A coed Jewish overnight camp at the beach - surfing, sailing, and scuba on the Virginia coast.
Spruce Lake Wilderness Camp
$Poconos, PA · Canadensis
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Christian overnight adventure camp on 800+ acres in the Pocono Mountains.
Surprise Lake Camp
$Upstate NY · Cold Spring
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America's oldest Jewish sleepaway camp, welcoming all kids in the Hudson Highlands.
Tapawingo (Adirondacks)
$Adirondacks, NY · Speculator
No reviews yet — be the first!
A Christian girls' sleepaway camp on its own island in Lake Pleasant, NY.
The Putney School Summer Arts
$$$Other · Putney
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A residential creative arts program for teens on a Vermont hilltop farm campus.
Timber Lake West
$$$Catskills, NY · Roscoe
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The TLC family's premier 4-week coed camp in the Catskills.
URJ 6 Points Sci-Tech Academy
$$Other · Byfield
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The Reform movement's science & tech camp near Boston.
URJ 6 Points Sports Academy
$$Southeast · Greensboro
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The Reform movement's sports specialty camp in Greensboro, NC.
URJ Camp Eisner
$$Berkshires, MA · Great Barrington
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The Reform movement's storied Berkshires camp, sister to Crane Lake.
URJ Camp Harlam
$$Poconos, PA · Kunkletown
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The Reform movement's Poconos camp - a summer home since 1958.
URJ Crane Lake Camp
$$Berkshires, MA · West Stockbridge
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The Reform movement's warm, spirited overnight camp in the Berkshires.
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