2125 Elachee Drive · Gainesville, Georgia 30504 · Tel 770.535.1976 · Fax 770.535.2302

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April 7-11

Join us during your Spring Break for some great camp fun! Children in grades K- 5 will discover the wonders of the Chicopee Woods in April. Daily themes set the stage for fun, healthy educational activities, and include water, plant, and animal study, astronomy, forest exploration, archaeology, and much more. Discover how exciting early spring can be during this memory-making week of camp at Elachee.
Spring Discovery Camp Details.

May 26 –29 (4 day Pro-rated)

Kick off another year of Camp Elachee with a great opportunity to study the diverse world of insects in the Chicopee Woods. Spot butterflies, bees, and other pollinators as they do their important work. Wade in Walnut Creek to collect mayflies, stoneflies and other aquatic insects. Be the first one in your group to see a Cicada or catch a Katydid. Visit with the experts from UGA’s Entomology Club and enjoy their remarkable and exotic live invertebrate collection. Don’t forget to visit Elachee’s own “Honey Bee” exhibit and see if you can find the Queen and her drones.  Insects are a hot item during this cool week at Camp Elachee.

June 1 - 5

Camp Elachee rocks during this popular week of summer camp. Test rocks and minerals for hardness and other qualities and then pan for precious stones under the expert eye of Taylor Cantrell of the Northeast Georgia Gem and Mineral Society. Identify some of Georgia’s most important minerals and discover how geology determines where certain plants grow and specific animals live. Identify some of our local igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic minerals in the best rock spots of the Chicopee Woods.  A week of hard rocks is easy fun at Camp Elachee.

June 8 -12

Soak up some fun and enjoy the wonderful world of water at Camp Elachee. Walk the creeks of the Chicopee Woods to spot fish, reptiles, and amphibians. See how many paper clips you can float or droplets of water you can place on a penny in order to illustrate some of the properties of water. Construct your own miniature raft to compete in the annual “Walnut Creek Regatta.” Hike to remote spots in the Chicopee Woods to spot beaver, otter, herons, and other water-loving animals. Learn some simple and important ways to conserve water at home. It’s time to get wet and wring out all the excitement you can from Camp Elachee.

June 15 - 19

Bring your celestial side to Camp Elachee this week and enjoy an assortment of astronomical activities and adventures. Study stars, planets, and constellations in Starlab, our portable planetarium. Create a constellation and accompanying myth of your own. Skilled Elachee staff will show you how to safely search for sunspots and other solar activity with solar telescopes and “sunspotters.” Cook up a snack in our solar energy oven and see first hand how the sun provides food for the many plants and animals in the Chicopee Woods. Examine actual meteorites while learning more about them from Elachee friend and meteorite expert Dave Gheesling. 

June 22-26

Dig into Elachee’s extensive fossil collection and journey back into the age of dinosaurs, Ice-Age mammals, and pre-historic Georgians. Examine authentic fossilized bones of dinosaurs and ancient mammals and then learn more about these fascinating giants from dinosaur expert Pete Nesbitt. See actual tools and weapons created by the first Georgians who arrived here almost 15,000 years ago. Make your own fossil replica and locate plant species in the Chicopee Woods that date back to dinosaur days. Pre-historic times come alive during this paleo-popular week at Camp Elachee.

June 29 - July 3

Calling all snake lovers to join us for this hisssterically great week of camp!  Make memorable acquaintances with “Red”, “Coach”, “Gopher Boy”, “King”, ”Mitch” and other reptile favorites from Elachee’s collection before searching for some free-roaming varieties in the Chicopee Woods. Elachee friends and reptile experts Johnny Hester and Mark and Kitty Tomcho will return with their incredible animal collections for us to enjoy. Young herpetologists will find a lot to love about this camp week.

July 6 – 10

Mammals, birds and fish are all the rage at Camp Elachee this week. Learn to read the tracks of deer, raccoon, fox and other residents of the Chicopee Woods. Spot herons, ducks, hawks and other birds at Chicopee Lake. Construct your own special bird feeders and learn some of the songs of our resident birds of the Chicopee Woods. Search for minnows and other native fish in Walnut Creek and make a special fish print of your own. We will be all about animals during this fun and “fauna” week at Camp Elachee.

July 13 –17

Join us this week and journey back to a time when the Cherokee were the most important and powerful tribe in North Georgia. Locate and identify native wildflowers, shrubs, and trees that the tribe used for medicine and food. Learn to identify the tracks of animals the Cherokees pursued along the streams and trails of the Chicopee Woods. Examine actual Native American artifacts and construct your own piece of pottery under the direction of guest expert, Pat Mears. Play games, learn Cherokee words and phrases, and test your skill with an atl atl, blowgun and other Cherokee tools. Enjoy a variety of Cherokee myths and legends before creating a few of your own in the Chicopee Woods. 

July 20 - 24

Pack your water shoes, bathing suits, and towels as we embark on another wet and wonderful week of water fun and water studies in the Chicopee Woods.

July 27 – 31

Re-charge your own battery with a jolt of fun and learning in the Chicopee Woods. Conduct a hands-on and thrill-packed exploration of the different forms of energy with Elachee staff. Launch a rocket to astounding heights with only water and air as fuel. Cook up some delicious fare with the help of our sun and a solar oven. Generate light from the seat of a bicycle before calculating how many calories and cookies it will take to climb a hill in the Chicopee Woods. Design the perfect paper airplane and see how long it stays aloft in the summer air. Investigate some of the energy-saving characteristics of the plants and animals of the Chicopee Woods and learn some important conservation steps you can take at home.

Join us for this bonus week of Camp Elachee as we draw, dance, sing, and compose in the Chicopee Woods. Enjoy a variety of artistic pursuits with talented Elachee naturalists and Camp Elachee staff. Hike beautifully wooded trails to secluded spots where you can draw or write to your heart’s content. Work with our camp staff to choreograph a special nature dance accompanied by Elachee friend and musician Doc Johnson. Be as creative as you want to be and enjoy the inspiration of late summer days at northeast Georgia’s best summer camp.

Chicopee Woods CSI

Elachee Explorers

Elachee/SORBA Mountain Bike Camp

June 15 - 19

Join us for this field study-focused week as experts and professionals from a variety of science fields guide you on an unforgettable exploration of the Chicopee Woods. Search for frogs, snakes, lizards, and turtles with Georgia State herpetologist John Jensen. Explore our creeks for fish and aquatic invertebrates with U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist, Judy Toppins. Join Forester Charles Bailey in a search for some of the Preserve’s tallest or most significant trees. Elachee Education Director Peter Gordon will introduce you to the nesting birds of the Chicopee Woods and Archaeologist Jack Wynn will guide us through some of the Preserve’s historic sites. Serious fun in the company of experts is what this week is all about.

July 13 – 17

Set a course for fun and adventure in the Chicopee Woods. Orienteering, geocaching, reading a compass, map reading, and other navigation techniques are at the heart of this popular Middle School camp. Hone your GPS skills under the direction of Erik Van Dyck of the Georgia Geocachers Association before following a challenging geocaching course in the Chicopee Woods. Use a map, compass and the help of Elachee staff to navigate in the Chicopee Woods. Work in a group to lay out your own compass course for other campers to follow. Mark special spots with GPS, maps, or compass in order to make your own map of notable animal sightings, rare plants, streams or historic sites in the Chicopee Woods.

June 1-5 (Beginning Bikers)
June 29 - July 3 (Girls Only)
July 27-31 (Experienced Bikers)

Elachee and our free-wheeling friends from SORBA are excited to offer three weeks of mountain bike riding for middle school students again this summer. Join us for the exercise and exhilaration of riding some of north Georgia’s best mountain bike trails under the watchful and expert eyes of SORBA and Camp Elachee staff.  Beginning or rusty riders can join us June 1-5 for a “Beginners Camp” and learn safe and effective riding techniques, easy maintenance and other important skills. A “Girls-Only” week is scheduled for June 29- July 3. Experienced riders should mark their calendars for the July 27 – 31 session. Campers provide their own bikes and helmets and are encouraged to tune up their bikes and do some riding before camp.

Youth entering grades 9-12 can apply for Counselor-in-Training (CIT) positions and assist counselors for a minimum of two weeks of camp (only one of which can be mountain bike camp). Learn more about the natural world, help teach children and develop interpersonal and leadership skills. A nominal fee of $60 covers training and supervision. Call for an application.