Campcraft

Pinecliffe offers an extensive campcraft program — our goal is to promote a love of the outdoors while teaching the skills necessary to work well with others.

Girls, at every age group, are regularly exposed to a range of different trips. Trips start with half-day hikes and progress to multi-day camping experiences. Our youngest campers develop a taste for outdoor living on day-trips up Hawk Mountain and Jockey Cap, and overnight campouts on a removed section of our lake-front property (complete with tents & s’mores!). Our senior campers continue this progression, ultimately hiking Franconia Notch, Mt. Washington, and/or Mt. Katahdin during their Pinecliffe summers.

Junior Overnight Trips

The Junior Overnight Trips begin to teach the basics of camping. The girls sleep in tents, eat food cooked over the fire, and roast s’mores, all helping to increase their comfort level in the outdoors and prepare them for more advanced trips. Our Juniors also have a weekly Trip Day, offering a variety of activities including hiking, nature, and beach trips.

Senior Day Trips

Senior Trip Days are used for lead-up hikes to prepare the campers for their overnight camping trips.

• All of the Evergreens (6th Grade) go on a 2-night trip to Franconia Notch, where they experience the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
• The Crystals (7th Grade) are strongly encouraged to participate in a 3-day hike of Mt. Washington, the highest peak in the Northeastern United States. The girls sleep in the Appalachian Mountain Club huts on the mountain and cross the scenic Presidential Range.
• Our Jungle (8th Grade) campers also have the option of a 4-day trip to Baxter State Park to hike Mt. Katahdin, the highest peak in Maine and camp in one of Maine’s most picturesque State Parks. This is our most challenging hike so we allow only our top hikers to make this trip due to the level of difficulty.