Chewonki for Girls strives to enable girls to find their voice and rely on their unique strengths through reflection and action. Our program is designed to allow girls and young women the chance to discover their capacities for courage, compassion, insight, and perseverance. Our goal is to have each girl return home with heightened self-awareness, expanded horizons, and a renewed sense of wonder.

Camp Chewonki for Girls offers both in-camp activities and wilderness travel for girls ages 8-17. Our in-camp activities include formalized instruction in several activities, including: campcraft, woodworking, canoeing, art, crafts, nature, local history, map & compass, renewable energy projects, and communal meal preparation. Special emphasis is given to natural history, ecology, wilderness canoeing and hiking trips. There will be plenty of time and space for laughing, swimming, games, skits, singing, group discussions, stargazing, campfires, and many other informal activities that make this small community unique and special.

All programs will enjoy a community celebration at the end of their journey.

Housing Groups

Camp Chewonki for Girls offers three-week sessions at our base camp on Fourth Debsconeag, as well as a special 5-day introductory program at our Chewonki Neck campus for ages 8-11. At our Base camp on Fourth Debsconeag, girls are assigned to a round canvas structure known as a yurt. Chewonki’s yurts are a modern adaptation of the ancient shelter used for centuries by Central Asian nomads. These structures are highly efficient, compact and comfortable.

Each group is assigned to a yurt based on their ages and grades in school, with six to ten campers and two trip leaders to each yurt.

The same housing arrangement will apply to girls at our Chewonki Neck campus.

Yurt and cabin groups take overnights and wilderness trips together and offer contributions to campfires, meal preparation, and other special events. Since Chewonki attracts a wide cross-section of young people, working toward becoming a cohesive yurt or cabin unit is an important part of the experience.