Shaffer's High Sierra Sleepaway and Overnight Summer Camp in California
Where Screen Time is Replaced by Wilderness Adventure
Fun, friends, and adventures await your child at our overnight summer camp in California's spectacular Tahoe National Forest.
Located along the peaceful headwaters of the North Yuba River, Shaffer's High Sierra Camp offers access to miles of hiking, biking, and horseback riding trails in the stunning "Lost Sierra" region of the Tahoe National Forest!
But it's not just fun, friends, and adventure. In this picturesque setting, children ages 8 to 17 will develop invaluable life skills, unplugged and free from technological distractions.
A History of Fun and Learning
Since 2000, Shaffer's High Sierra Camp has welcomed thousands of campers from across the globe to help them grow and learn through exciting activities among soring peaks, clean rivers, inviting lakes, and tall trees.
Fun Activities That Develop Essential Life Skills
At our overnight summer camp in California, campers have the unique ability to choose daily the activities that interest them and which are facilitated by trained and caring staff to not just be fun but to increase team work, communications skills, and activity skills.
Exceptional Staff
Each staff member is carefully screened to ensure we only hire those with standout maturity, judgment, and enthusiasm. And everyone goes through state and federal background checks.
Recommended by:
Shaffer's High Sierra Camp has been recognized as one of the leading overnight summer camps in California and the entire United States by Outside Magazine, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and Summer Camp Hub.
No Wi-Fi. Better Connections.
We help boys and girls grow through an unplugged, wilderness adventure program where they build activity, communication, and social skills, all of which boost confidence and independence, free from the distractions of their phone. We encourage kids to step out of their comfort zone, to try new activities in a supportive atmosphere, meet people from different parts of the world, and develop a sense of curiosity. We'll help your child develop these and other essential life skills at our sleepaway summer camp, assisting them in taking another step toward a happy, healthy adulthood.
Watch the video below to learn more about what it's like to stay at Shaffer's High Sierra Summer Camp.
Learn why Outside Magazine named Shaffer's High Sierra Summer Camp as one of its 5 favorite camps in the U.S, why Newsweek put the summer camp on its list of the nation's best camps, and why the Los Angeles Times recommended the camp!
Summer Camp Activities
Your child will have the unique ability to pick the activities that interest them the most from among the many that are offered each day! Shaffer's High Sierra Camp offers exciting wilderness adventure activities designed for fun, team building, and to help develop essential life skills and are led by well-trained, caring and mature staff.
The activities offered at our overnight summer camp in California include:
Camp Location and Directions
Shaffer's High Sierra Camp is located in the Tahoe National Forest of Northern California, between Bassetts and Sattley, in the "Lost Sierra." The camp is roughly 50 miles from Tahoe, 220 miles from the Bay Area, and 500 miles from Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The camp offers bus service to the Bay Area and free transportation to and from the Reno International Airport.
For more information about where our camp is located and how to get there, visit our location page.
Food and Accommodations
Campers at Shaffer's High Sierra Camp get meals made with tasty, fresh, and healthful food! Our chef crafts almost all dishes from scratch using whole ingredients to create a meal that kids love and that can fuel them for a full day of activities. Whenever possible, we work with local vendors like the Truckee Sourdough Company, Bonanza Produce Company, and Bradley and Son Cattle to ensure that we get the freshest ingredients possible. Each meal also has vegetarian and vegan options alongside our meat-based dishes. The meatless options are often similar to the omnivorre options. For example, if dinner is chicken tacos, the meatless option might be jackfruit tacos accompanied by the same sauces.
The accommodations at our overnight summer camp in California are designed to help campers get closer to nature and foster community-building! Our lodging options are minimalist and rustic, calling to mind the way people used to live in Northern California. Most campers will stay in our "Miner's Tents," which are similar to the walled tents used by prospectors during California's gold rush in the mid-1800s. We also have cabins for our oldest campers. No matter which accommodation your child uses, they'll have full access to the bathhouse with private showers and flushing toilets.
Benefits of Summer Camp
Going to an overnight summer camp is about so much more than just having fun and making friends. It helps campers build essential life skills, such as independence, communicating ideas and desires, social interaction with others who come from different backgrounds, working and playing collaboratively, an openess toward trying new things, a desire to participate in healthy outside exercise away from their phones, and activity-specific skills that will hopefully thrill and keep them active throughout life.
We're not the only ones who believe that summer camp is so much more than a vacation. Stanford University's Graduate School of Education researched the benefits of summer camp, which is the subject of the short video below. Also below, you can hear New York Times' best selling author and child psychologist Madeline Levine talk about the value of summer camp.
Stanford University Graduate School of Education Research Uncovers Key Life Benefits Provided by Summer Camp
Shaffer's High Sierra Camp along with five other summer camps participated in a research study conducted by Stanford University's Graduate School of Education. We wanted to see if a legitimate research study would confirm what we as summer camp directors knew intuitively -- that summer camp benefits kids so much more than simply providing a fun time. Watch this engaging video to see what Stanford learned.
Author and Child Psychologist Madeline Levine on Summer Camp
Watch this short video of best-selling author and child psychologist Madeline Levine discussing the true value of summer camp.
Testimonials
Our son looks forward to Shaffer's High Sierra Camp every summer! He returns home from camp asking to return the next summer for a week longer because he runs out of time and is not able to do all the activities. We also love that the camp picks and/or drops the campers off at the Reno airport.
This was our son's first sleep away camp and it was by far the best camp. He was so excited when we picked him up; he showed us the places he had gone rock climbing and led us on a hike. He had so much self confidence, respect, and patience. Shaffer's High Sierra Camp is magical.
The staff are very well trained to deal with issues that arise in childhood groups. They are supportive, encouraging and are not punitive. My child has attended two years in a row and growth and development were identified by himself and others following each time.
A wonderful camp for my daughter! She just completed her third summer and loved it. Lisa and Scott Shaffer and the whole High Sierra Camp staff do an excellent job creating a magical summer for kids of all ages. Check it out...you won't be disappointed!
This summer's camp experience at Shaffer's High Sierra Camp was the most incredible summer in every possible way for my 14 year old daughter offering the ideal balance of freedom and structure in a high energy "positive" environment that was both empowering and soulful!
My daughter had an exceptional experience at camp last summer. She met other kids from all over world, gained confidence on a mountain bike, cooled off in crystal clear mountain lakes, slept in a tipi, and her overall post-camp confidence soared. She can't wait until next summer to reunite with her camp family.
Lisa and Scott do a great job of managing their camp, their staff and providing a safe, adventurous place for campers! Our son is a child with Down syndrome and is extremely capable, athletic and independent. They make him feel welcome and ensure his success with their close supervision and supportive, enthusiastic staff.
Shaffer's High Sierra Camp has been a special place for our two kids. Each year they return home with stories of amazing adventures from rock climbing, mountain boarding, crafts, hip hop, my list could go. On top of it all they come home with dear friendships, fun memories, and an appreciation for the outdoors and others. Thank you!!!
The best memories of my childhood were being at summer camp. I wanted my daughter to have a great camp experience too, one that would help to create great memories for her. With all of the distractions (electronics!) it's important for me to be able to give my daughter an experience without phones, iPads or computers. We now lovingly refer to camp as Electronics Rehab!!! The fact that my daughter asked to stay 4 weeks instead of 2 next summer says it all.
Shaffer's High Sierra Camp has been a special place for our two kids. They come home from camp ready for the next year. Each year they return home with stories of amazing adventures from rock climbing, mountain boarding, crafts, hip hop, my list could go. On top of it all they come home with dear friendships, fun memories, and an appreciation for the outdoors and others. Thank you!!!
Great experience for all ages, safe and friendly environment that is diverse in every way. Campers immediately feel at home when they enter the camping parking. Staff and counselors greet everyone with a warm smile that is very sincere. Every year when I pick my camper up, I am told in the car ride home she wants to return the next summer!
My son and daughter were 1st time campers and both had such a great time. It was my daughters 1st over night camping experience and she really loved it. She made some great friends as well and is keeping in touch through social media. Even though there was so much to do at any time it seemed they really enjoyed the time just hanging with friends and getting to know everyone.
Get More Info About Shaffer's High Sierra Camp
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