Wachusett Meadow Nature Camp Programs & Pricing
Experience a variety of habitats and wildlife found at Wachusett Meadow. Explore the outdoors, perform hands-on activities, observe wildlife, play games, make crafts, and more.
Online registration for Wachusett Meadow Nature Camp will open on Wednesday, January 24 at 6:00 am. Registration by phone and customer support will not be available until regular business hours.
Half-day Nature Camp
Tuesday–Thursday • 9:00 am–1:00 pm
Sessions every-other week from June 18–August 15
Preschool Naturalists • Ages 3.5–5
Counselor-to-Camper Ratio: 1 to 5
Explore Wachusett Meadow's ponds, fields, and forests. Have fun outdoors as you play games, make crafts, go on hikes, and spot wildlife. Use real scientific tools, like magnifying glasses and ponding equipment to study plants, worms, and insects up close. Play in our backyard and make new friends!
Full-day Nature Camp
Monday–Friday • 9:00 am–3:30 pm
Weekly Sessions from June 17–August 16
Discover the animals and plants that call Wachusett Meadow home. Make new friends and explore new places. Find out who lives in our ponds, fields, and forests. Walk along the sanctuary's trails, make crafts, play nature-themed games, and listen to stories. Camp groups will participate in longer hikes and more advanced activities like canoeing and all-day hikes as they age up.
New this year: Campers will be split into groups after registration. It is important to list a buddy if you wish for your camper to be placed in the same group as a similar-age camper; both buddy must request each other at registration.
Age Groups
Pathfinders • Ages 4.5–6
Counselor-to-Camper Ratio: 1 to 5
Discover the animals and plants that call Wachusett Meadow home. Find out who lives in our ponds, fields, and forests. Make new friends while you walk along the sanctuary’s trails, make crafts, play nature-themed games, and listen to stories.
Explorers • Ages 5–7
Counselor-to-Camper Ratio: 1 to 5
Explore Wachusett Meadow’s many habitats and wildlife as you look under logs, go ponding in the wetlands, build shelters in the woods, and play nature-themed games like Camouflage and Hawk and Mouse. Make new friends, make creative crafts, sing camp songs, and go on picnics.
Naturalists • Ages 7–9
Counselor-to-Camper Ratio: 1 to 8
Discover new nature facts about the wildlife at Wachusett Meadow and in your neighborhood. Climb a glacial boulder, meet a 250-year-old tree, and canoe our Wildlife Pond. Learn about the sanctuary’s field, woodland, and wetland habitats and the wildlife that call them home. Hike the Brook Trail and eat lunch by the stream.
Adventurers • Ages 9–12
Counselor-to-Camper Ratio: 1 to 10
Explore the longest trails and farthest reaches of Wachusett Meadow. Hike the Brook Trail, canoe our Wildlife Pond, and summit Brown Hill for an awesome view. Investigate what’s living in the sanctuary’s fields, forests, ponds, and streams. Learn about the impacts of climate change and actions you can take to make a positive impact on the planet.
Specialty Camps
Monday–Friday • 9:00 am–3:30 pm
Discoverers • Ages 9–12
One-week sessions: July 15–19 and August 5–9
Counselor-to-Camper Ratio: 1 to 10
Make new friends and expand your horizons. Discover the biodiversity at Wachusett Meadow as you learn about community science. Hike along the Brook Trail and parts of the Midstate Trail. Enjoy Wildlife Pond from a canoe. Stay after dark on Thursday evening for dinner around the campfire, nighttime games, stargazing, and other nocturnal fun. Camper pickup on Thursday is at 9:30 pm.
Trailblazers • Ages 11–14
One-week session: July 22–26
Counselor-to-Camper Ratio: 1 to 10
Experience all the fun of camp while hiking the longest trails on the sanctuary as well as some of our connecting conservation land. Campers can expect to be out all day with lunch and snacks on the trail. Average hiking distance each day will be 6–8 miles. Learn about the many organizations that protect the land around us and how they work to steward open spaces throughout central Massachusetts.
Ecologists • Ages 12–17
One-week session: July 29–August 2
Counselor-to-Camper Ratio: 1 to 10
Learn about the biodiversity of Princeton and beyond! Explore Wachusett Meadow's trails including our newest Fieldstone Farm trail, canoe on Wildlife Pond, hike to the summit of Little Wachusett and Mount Wachusett, and hike the Midstate Trail through Four Corners. On Thursday, stay beyond the regular day of camp, eat dinner by the campfire, gaze at the full moon, and enjoy a night activity with your new-found friends. Camper pickup on Thursday is at 10 pm.
Teen Leadership Programs
Environmental Leadership for Teens • Ages 11–14
One-week session: July 8–12
Counselor-to-Camper Ratio: 1 to 10
Jump-start your climate activism skills in this environmental leadership camp. Alongside your peers, you'll learn how to identify areas that are vulnerable to the effects of climate change, locate resources to address those vulnerabilities, and become an advocate for climate justice. You'll meet some leaders in the community from the Environmental Action Committee and the Princeton Land Trust to learn about their involvement in local advocacy and conservation.
You will also participate in service projects around the sanctuary, and see what climate action looks like at Mass Audubon. At the end of the session, we'll help you set goals to take on a climate action project in your community.
Counselors-in-Training (CIT) • Ages 14–17
Learn what it takes to be a camp counselor. Gain leadership skills, hands-on training, and develop a lesson plan, which you will present at camp.
All CITs must register for a training day on either Monday, June 24, or Monday, July 15, and must also register for two additional weeks. A third week may be available at the Camp Directors discretion. All related CIT camp paperwork will be sent after registration.
Please note: Limited spaces are available. Registration fee covers training day plus a two-week commitment during the summer.
Extended-Day Options
Pre-registration is required for extended day programming; you may add this option at checkout when you register your child for camp or call later to add to your camper's session. Daily rates are also available upon request; call to pre-register for individual days. Sliding scale pricing also applies to extended-day programming.
Before Camp Program
8:00–9:00 am • Ages 3.5–14
Weekly rate: $30 for half-day camps, $50 for full-day camps
Campers will spend the morning engaged in quiet games or crafts. Children should arrive having already eaten breakfast.
After Camp Program
3:30–5:00 pm • All ages
Weekly rate: $75 ($45 for week of July 4)
Campers go on an extra hike, make a craft, play a game, visit the sheep, or spend time reading. Not available for half-day campers.
Family Camp-Out
Friday, July 12 at 5:00 pm–Saturday July 13 at 9:00 am
All ages welcome
Members: $50 per family • Nonmember: $75 per family
Experience Wachusett Meadow after dark with other camp families. Bring your dinner or arrive well-fed. Pitch your tent and enjoy some simple camp games with new friends, snack on marshmallows around the campfire, and take a short hike around north meadow after dark. Coffee and donuts will be available on Saturday morning and you are welcome to stay and enjoy the trails during the day at your own pace.
2024 Camp Session Pricing
Mass Audubon is committed to ensuring that every family that wants their child to experience summer camp should have the opportunity to do so. A sliding scale model helps us work toward that goal through an easy and dependable process for families. With the sliding scale structure, every family enrolls for camp at a tuition rate based on their annual gross income and size of family.
Mass Audubon Membership
Registering for camp is one of the many benefits of Mass Audubon membership. In order to register for camp, your membership must be current through the end of your camper's last session; if you need to purchase or renew your membership, you should do so as part of your camp registration transaction.
All camp families registering at Tiers 1–3 will receive a free one-year Family membership (new or renewal), thanks to the generosity of members at the Protector level and higher who chose to donate their free gift membership benefit.
Prior to Registration
To make sure you’re prepared to register for camp, please read our registration instructions and camp policies, which include changes to pricing and membership.