For families ready to take the next step in outdoor adventures
There’s exploring the trails near your house. Then there’s exploring the great outdoors in a setting you can’t find anywhere else. From the Boundary Waters to the Apostle Islands, our Wilderness Trips provide adventure for families who love to be outdoors together.
We provide a menu of optional activities each day, you and your family choose how to spend your time. Hike and berry-pick, canoe and swim, or join a naturalist-led experience.
Each morning, children and adults can participate in age-appropriate activities with a naturalist. Our preschool naturalist has both experience and a great love for working with young children. Older kids can join their peer group to explore nature around campus. We offer special adventures for adults.
Afternoons are for shared family adventures. Rock climbing, orienteering or geocaching, Ojibwe heritage, Adventure ropes, voyageur life, canoeing, a visit to the farm, or perhaps a field trip to the shore of Lake Superior…. Nature crafts, outdoor games, and campfires round out the evenings.
With a mix of new families each year and returners whose children have “grown-up” at family camp over the summers, you’ll meet like-minded outdoor adventurers who can become a source of joy and ideas for exploring the natural world.
Families going on an Apostle Islands trips will meet their wilderness guide/naturalist at the Little Sand Bay Campground near Bayfield, Wisconsin. Groups will camp there for the first night of the trip and will depart and camp on the islands themselves on the following day.
Families going to the Boundary Waters will be housed in the new Margaret A. Cargill Lodge at the beginning and end of their trip. Each room sleeps up to eight family members, with bathrooms and showers in the rooms. Group spaces have comfortable couches, tables, plenty of room for games, and windows that overlook the forest and hills.
While on the trail, families sleep in tents. Wolf Ridge uses sturdy and spacious 2, 4, and 6 person backcountry tents.
On the trail, families eat delicious, high-energy foods to fuel their wilderness exploration. Backcountry meals include burritos, alpine pasta, hearty soups, fry bread, pancakes, oatmeal, with many other possibilities. Special dietary considerations can usually be accommodated on the trail. Canoe trip participants will eat on-campus meals in our dining hall before and after the trip.
Chris O’Brien, our food service director, believes “we should all be fed well, every meal, every day.” From-scratch vegan, vegetarian and meat dishes are available at each and every meal. Vegan dishes are inherently free of any animal product, including dairy, and are most often gluten-free as well. All dietary requests are addressed and often the menu is adjusted to reflect the needs and wants of our clients. Those with common food allergy and sensitivities, including dairy or peanuts, will find good, healthy food that addresses their needs. Fresh fruit, veggies, and homemade bread are available all day, in addition to coffee and tea.
Chris and his staff go above and beyond to meet our guests’ needs and work hard to produce a choice driven, healthy, hearty meal while creating a sense of community here at Wolf Ridge. Most of our produce is from the Wolf Ridge Organic Farm and our meats and other products are sourced as locally as possible. It’s about quality. It’s about passion. It’s about good food done well.
Family camp is an adventure we hope everyone will experience. If your family is in need of financial support, the Wolf Ridge Family Camp Scholarship could provide 10 – 50% of the cost of the program. The deadline for submission is May 1, 2020.
The costs listed are the costs for your entire family, everything included. There are no extra costs.
The cost for a 5-day BWCAW Canoe Trip or 5-day Apostle Islands Sea Kayak Trip is all-inclusive. It includes meals, housing, equipment, permits, naturalist guide.
$1900 – for up to 4 participants
$450 – per person after the first 4 participants
We accept credit cards (VISA, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express).
The balance of your camp fee is due by June 1st.
