School Break Camps

Fall & Winter (Wake County) Discovery Days and Track-Out Camps are now open. Register today!

Spring, Fall, & Winter Outdoor year round Day Camps

You can find our school year camps in Durham, Orange and Wake Counties.

We run year-round single-day camps (Discovery Days), track-out, intersession, and early release (half-day) camps to cover your family’s child care throughout the school year. Campers enjoy adventuring through the changing forest, building fires and forts, whittling, and playing plenty of games. Nature-based themes change each week, so a new adventure is always in play. We’ve set up our school break camps to accommodate as many Triangle school calendars as possible. Sign up for as many as you need to cover your camper’s time out of school!

Browse School Break Camps

Durham County

5253 N Roxboro St, Durham, NC 27712

Orange County

3223 New Hope Church Rd, Chapel Hill, NC

Wake County

2100 North Harrison Avenue, Cary NC 27513

Wake County

2100 North Harrison Avenue, Cary NC 27513

Camp Locations

With 4 locations in Durham, Orange, and Wake Counties, our programs are available to thousands of children across the Triangle.

Durham County Locations

West Point on the Eno City Park – Important Update!

West Point holds a special place in the hearts of many as the original Schoolhouse location. An incredible 400-acre park located in north Durham, it combines the amazing Eno River, miles of hiking trails, cherished base camps and secret spots, and an incredible history.

Environmental Education Pavilion

5253 N Roxboro St, Durham, NC 27712

With some significant construction projects on the south side of the park, our 2026 camp programs will run out of the Environmental Education Pavilion parking lot, located just north of the main entrance.

Main Entrance

5101 N Roxboro St, Durham, NC 27704

The main entrance is temporarily closed.

We’re on a mission to shape kind, curious, & confident kids through nature-based outdoor adventures.

Camp Finder

Find our camp handbook, details about what to bring, when to drop off and pick up, and more.

Guidebook

Orange County Locations

Brumley Forest Nature Preserve: Private Entrance

3223 New Hope Church Rd, Chapel Hill, NC

Brumley Family Nature Preserve offers more than 600 acres to explore at our most rustic site. A diverse landscape of mature hardwood forests, young pine groves, streams and creeks creates a rich habitat for wildlife and a picturesque setting for exploration. Located in western Orange County, just 4 miles southeast of Hillsborough and 10 miles north of Chapel Hill.

Wake County Locations

Umstead State Park — Loblolly

Reedy Creek Entrance

2100 North Harrison Avenue, Cary NC 27513

Our Loblolly location is conveniently located off of I-40 in Umstead State Park between Raleigh, Cary, and Durham. Programs at this location enjoy drop off and pick up out of the main parking lot, the convenience of plumbing in the park bathrooms, and a bit more hiking. The slightly farther hikes lead our campers to amazing basecamps, natural wonders, and water spots in this gorgeous forest.

Umstead State Park — Whispering Pines

Reedy Creek Entrance

2100 North Harrison Avenue, Cary NC 27513

Our Whispering Pines location is also conveniently located off of I-40 in Umstead State Park between Raleigh, Cary, and DurhamPrograms at this location have an additional 5–10 minute drive once they enter this park. Although a bit more rustic than Loblolly (portapotties), the basecamps and creek locations are a bit closer together. Come find a marbled salamander or jack-in-the-pulpit!

Parts of the camp day….

Outside of summer, our campers still have a chance to try a wide range of activities, from outdoor exploration and adventure to arts and crafts, music, and more. We may be wearing jackets and hats, but we still believe in the power of play and creativity to inspire learning and growth. Our low camper-to-staff ratio allows a sense of freedom and adventure while providing a nurturing and supportive environment.

Adventurous Play

Some perceive activities like tomahawk throwing, climbing trees, swinging on a vine, and whittling to be too risky for kids. We believe that supervised risk-taking is an essential part of growing up and that these activities not only provide valuable experiences and opportunities to build skills and confidence—they’re fun!
Outdoor Games

Games played during Schoolhouse of Wonder summer camps can be sneaky and strategic, loud and wild, collaborative, or individual. The forests and fields provide a perfect backdrop for games you might have heard of like Kick the Can and plenty of Schoolhouse Originals like Six Feathers and Defeat the Lich!
Wilderness & Bushcraft Skills
Storytelling

Storytelling has always been a sacred and beloved tradition at Schoolhouse, and we believe there is a storyteller in all of us. Campers are invited to immerse themselves in the exciting and ancient art of storytelling by listening to old tales and helping to spin new ones.
Music
Nature Crafts

The sky is the limit and nature is our canvas when it comes to creating one-of-a-kind nature art, including fanciful creations like leaf art, mud faces, fairy and troll houses, monster masks, corn husk dolls, pine cone bird feeders, and whatever else our imagination can conjure!
Special Projects

Campers embark on any number of special projects, depending on the focus of their camp– these could include tracking and cataloging wildlife, building forts, making camouflage, service projects for our host sites, and all of the other things our staff have dreamt up over the winter!

The Schoolhouse Way

Camp FAQs

Campfire Cooking

There’s nothing like a fire on a cool fall, winter, or spring day! Outdoor cooking combines adventuresome elements and skill — fire building, chopping food, handling pots and pans — in a controlled environment to keep kids safe while learning valuable life skills, allowing them to step outside their comfort zones in the midst of enjoying time with their friends.
Water Time

In the cooler months, water time is weather dependent. As the days cool off, we shift from splashing to wading to skipping rocks to just looking at the rivers and creeks. Many of our water time activities are still a hit including rock skipping, building stick boats, and identifying animal tracks in the mud.
Ecological Literacy

We believe that knowing the land around you can change you. Although environmental education isn’t our main priority (it’s growing good humans), we take every chance we can get to learn about the ecosystems we’re a part of. Through intentional, experiential learning opportunities, campers learn about everything that makes up the ecosystems we’re a part of.
Plant & Animal Identification

If you can identify a few plants and spot a few animal signs, the whole forest opens up like a child learning to read. In camp, we enjoy learning to identify various plants, spot signs of animals like a track or home, and hopefully see critters like crawfish, salamanders, snakes, turtles, toads, and more.
Growth Rings

Campers (7-12 years old), Counselors in Training, and staff can challenge themselves to grow their patience and skills by earning “Growth Rings” in areas like fire making, whittling, plant lore, and snake identification. We use these “Rings” to encourage positive growth and development by setting appropriate goals and practicing follow through in a supportive environment. These levels are not meant to be earned with speed, but rather with patience and practice.
Team-Building

Many of our fall, winter, and spring camps have a broader age range than during the summer. This unique dynamic allows older campers to try on being a mentor and leader in a way that’s a bit trickier in a peer group. Campers come together to make decisions, complete challenges, solve problems, and play games. Whether they realize it or not, they grow together as a team, building social emotional and communication skills along the way.

We’re on a mission to shape kind, curious, & confident kids through nature-based outdoor adventures.

Camp Finder

Find our camp handbook, details about what to bring, when to drop off and pick up, and more.

Guidebook

Learn More

Our Award Winning Outdoor Summer Camps

Schoolhouse of Wonder has served North Carolina children and families since 1989, and we’ve been selected as Indy’s Best of the Triangle for 12 straight years in one or more Triangle counties.

Recognition

School Break Camps

Spring, Fall, & Winter Outdoor year round Day Camps

You can find our school year camps in Durham, Orange and Wake Counties.

Durham County

Orange County

Wake County

Wake County

Camp Locations

Durham County Locations

West Point on the Eno City Park – Important Update!

Orange County Locations

Brumley Forest Nature Preserve: Private Entrance

Wake County Locations

Umstead State Park — Loblolly

Umstead State Park — Whispering Pines

Parts of the camp day….

Our Award Winning Outdoor Summer Camps

Programs

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