Every time I have dropped my kids off or picked them up for this camp for the last two summers the counselors have been ignoring the kids. Never once have they been playing a game during down time, the counselors seem very overwhelmed and inexperience. Also, they no longer own enough Vans and so many times kids will not have a place to shelter in severe weather. The counselors in charge of the 5/6 year old kids wasn't watching the kids at all when I picked my kid up a half hour early. The kids were told to hang out under a shelter with absolutely no games or activities during a day that rained all day. read more

It is really disappointing to have to rate Avid with a one star - but they have earned it. While we enjoyed having our son in camp last year - this year they are acting like crooks and refusing to refund in full when camps were cancelled. Zero customer service, even sent out a email saying that they won't be replying to emails or voicemail. UPDATE: Andrea with the social media team was the only person to respond from the entire organization. She was able to process close to a full refund, charging a $25 per session admin fee. Not ideal, but at least she deserves credit for the effort she put forth and timely response. read more

My kids LOVE Avid4 Adventure!! And so do I. Monday started with groaning and protests about doing mountain biking camp, by Wednesday the smiles, confidence, joy, and pride exuded from both of them. They are so proud of the improvements they've both made in three days and cannot stop talking about their camp leader Nate and how supportive and motivating and fun he is!! Thank you Avid4!! You guys are doing revolutionary work for children and I greatly appreciate it. read more

My granddaughter was on a recent school field trip hosted by Avid4 Adventure on Boulder Reservoir. Things were going well until the wind and large waves came up, flipping the paddle board on which she was riding, hitting her on the head and forcing her under water. Fortunately, she kept her cool, and is a good swimmer so a potential tragedy was averted. Unfortunately, all the adult(?) supervision was standing around on shore at the time, with no one out among the participants to help in such an event. Other classmates paddled over to help our granddaughter and a couple of other girls as they clung to the board and made their way back to shore. I'd be careful with allowing my children to participate in such activities with this company, in view of this unfortunate experience. A very concerned grandparent read more

There are so many options for summer camps in Boulder County, and Avid 4 Adventure is by far the best gear outfitted and excellent staff as counselors. This operation in well run, with emails and phone calls well ahead of time packed with information on what to bring, and what to expect. The website is full of updated information such as locations of various activities, pictures of each of the children, etc... The counselors are very responsible young people. At the beginning of each day my children and I were greeted, and told what to expect, at the end of the day I received a small recap of everything as it went on, including any challenges either with the activity or other kids and how it was resolved. The counselors shared more than the love of the sport or activity, they had circle time to share principles such as leave no trace, and also good behavior and team building among the kids. My children did a couple weeks of the multi sport camp, which included, biking, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, and rock climbing. The kids are grouped co-ed by ages. I realize that it may be challenging to try to sort out kids by skill level, and the following statement is not meant to brag, but my kids were a bit more skilled than others their age, and moving them up an age group was not possible for various valid reasons. --The other camps were at full capacity --It is impossible to know ahead of time how skilled the children are until the day of the activity --It gives skilled children a chance to experience leadership and be helpful in guiding others by becoming " helpers" Later I learned that if you choose a specific activity for the entire week, then it might be easier to group them by skill level. Regardless, the kids loved the camp, and I have got to start saving $$ now to do a longer camp next summer, they absolutely look forward to coming back to Avid 4 It is totally worth every $ of it. read more

We are huge fans of Avid! My boys are 4 and 5. They've been on training wheels for a year, striders before that. Avid's "learn to bike" camp transformed them into junior cyclists. On Monday, they were struggling. By Friday they were peddling in their own! Hayley is a delight. She's always available and smiling. I was psyched to see some friendly faces from Eldora as well. We'll be signing up for a week of regular Avid camp later this summer. read more

This is everything you could want out of a summer camp for your kids. Awesome adventures, caring, dedicated staff, clear communication, and a huge self confidence boost for kids! This will be a yearly tradition for us. My kids came home everyday raving about their experiences. Every person on the staff I interacted with made me feel at ease. Very clear, well laid out instructions so there was never any confusion. It is obvious that the employees genuinely love what they do. My boys are 5 and 3 and now want to go kayaking and rock climbing again. I can't say enough good things about this camp. Worth every penny! read more

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My daughter, age 6, has attended these day camps every summer in Boulder for the last three years. The ones she attends have a day each of hiking, biking, canoeing, kayaking, and rock wall climbing (her fave). Avid4 is amazing through and through--wonderful staff (both for their expertise and their love of children), great administration and website making for a quick and painless registration process, and the camp is a great experience. We've tried numerous day camps and this is the only one my daughter wants to do again and again. As day camps go, this one is a bit pricey, but worth every penny. When my daughter is a bit older we'll definitely try the overnight camps. Here is some copy provided by Avid4: "Avid4 Adventure camps teach pre-K - 7th graders of all levels to climb, paddle, bike, hike and thrive in the outdoors. With help from their time-tested curriculum and insanely experienced* instructors, Avid4 Adventure gives campers solid skills and character-shaping confidence, launching them into a lifetime of empowering adventure. Camp locations in Colorado: Bailey, Boulder, Golden, Highlands Ranch, Denver Washington Park and Denver Stapleton (NEW in 2015!), in California: Mill Valley, Berkeley, Palo Alto, and the South Bay (town TBA). Learn more and sign up at www.avid4.com [www.avid4.com/or call 800-977-9873] * Seriously. Avid4 Adventure instructors are outdoors experts and talented teachers with impeccable credentials--all 21 and up and certified in (at minimum) Wilderness First Aid and CPR." read more

Buyer beware! We signed up for a bike camp pre-COVID for our two young children in Lafayette. Avid4adventure cancelled all the camps in our region and refused us a full refund. They continue to harass us and are fighting the credit card company to keep our money. read more

My 10-yo son attended the Valmont Bike Camp, and it was incredible. Not only did he learn skills and gain confidence in riding, but the instructors were incredibly friendly, communicative, and encouraging. They created an environment in which all the kids were accepting and supportive of the other kids (my son has autism) and had a great time. Everything went smoothly - very professional!!! read more

There should be a warning with Avid 4 adventure! It maybe torture for your Child! This is one that Avid 4 Adventure does not tell you and has no form for! Yes they make sure they know your child, what he or she is like! Temperament and what talents they are prone to exhibit, the likes, dislike, and ones allergies in the environment or his or her food desires! These are normal precautions and maybe legally driven by operational statutes and regulations a camp must produce to the state in order to operate in the US! All very useful and important but they mean nothing to the real anxiety the that Avid 4 Adventure causes the kids that have attend the camp, at least once before ! This stress is unknown to the kids who have never attended Avid 4 Adventure, but beware it will haunt every kid that has, and when ever you ask them if they want to go again to Avid 4 Adventure camp in the coming year! ....A BIG Yes will be displayed at 1st when the question is asked with a smile but wait just a few seconds and that face will turn to one of panic and stress! This is common in my house and it is well know to all kids that have experienced the climbing walls, the canoeing, the hikes and bike trips which the camp exposes the campers too! Below is what they are thinking in their heads or speaking out loud: Which camp do I do? I love the climbing- I'll do a climbing camp.... No wait the biking was so cool- I'll do that.... Wait..... Kayaking and Canoeing was fun! We went all the way across the rez, I'll do that one! That was a great trip, they told me I was good at it !But you know they have bike skills at Valmont that would be fun to spend all week at getting to know my bike, its parts and the courses around the park! I heard Mt Biking out on the trail was so cool! -which one do I do? Remember they have Rock climbing I want to do that, maybe all week! There is multi camp I could do a week of that and get them all in, WAIT I COULD DO A WEEK OF ONE AND THEN A WEEK OF SOMETHING ELSE! OH WAIT- THEY HAVE MULTI WEEK CAMPS! I CAN DO ONE OF THOSE BUT WHICH ONE????? I sit back and watch the panic of decision set in and then I fan it by saying "You better decide fast camps fill up you know! John Ahrens- 2 campers in my house love Avid! read more

Greatest summer camp ever. Well trained, caring staff who provide an authentic outdoor experience to the kiddos.

My children, ages 7, 9, and 11, all had a blast at Avid this summer. One participated in the 5 day multi-sport camp at the Boulder location, one chose a week of rock climbing and then a week of kayaking out of Boulder, and my other child chose the multi-sport camp at Lafayette. They all had a wonderful experience and were excited to go back each day for more camp fun. And now they are teaching me all the technical things they learned! I wasn't sure how the camp experience would go at first because my younger children tend to be a bit shy and very cautious in new situations PLUS they were under a lot of stress having just moved to a new state a few weeks earlier PLUS they didn't have any friends at the camp starting off. But my worries were for nothing... they all raved about camp from Day 1. The online registration process was very easy and straightforward. A few days before camp, the camp leaders called me to ask if I had any questions and ensure we were all set for camp. Just being able to say to my kids, "Hey I talked to your camp leader on the phone, and he/she sounds super nice!" was comforting to them prior to the camp. And indeed, every camp leader we encountered at Avid was welcoming, kind, communicative, and engaged. I felt comfortable entrusting my kids to them for the week...even knowing that they'd be driving the groups to different off-site activity locations. At the end of each day, they gave me a quick run-down of the day and specifically commented on how my kids were doing, which I appreciated. They also took pictures of the kids throughout the week, and it was great to be able to see (and download for myself) those photos. Definitely the camp administration has their act together to be able to bring together such a well organized and well trained staff. And a quick note about the Lafayette location-- even though it is a newer offering, and therefore smaller, don't let that deter you! My 11 year old had a great experience with the Lafayette camp. And parking for pick-up/drop-off was a cinch. We plan to be back next summer! read more

As a working mother of two kids, I've had plenty of experience with summer day camps. We tried Avid4Adventure this year and my son loved it. This is a well-organized operation. We received lots of information about what to bring and what to expect before camp started. The exact place to drop off our child was well marked. Counselors shook our hand, introduced themselves, and told us a little bit about how each day went for our child. We could go online to get pictures of our kid having fun at camp each day - good pictures - Counselors clearly made an effort to get a good picture of each kid. Based on his descriptions, I felt that my child was safer rock climbing with Avid4 than he is on the playground at school. Well worth the money - we will be repeat customers. Thank you! read more

This is our third year with Avid4 and we couldn't be more pleased. Firstly, their staff is always kind, caring and extremely professional. They understand children, and make efforts to ensure your child is having a great experience.. Secondly, so many camps get boring, doing the same thing day after day. This model is terrific - each outdoor activity changes per day, and within one week they've experienced hiking, outdoor skills, biking, paddle boarding, and rock climbing. Last year they had kayaking, which was fun too. They provide all the gear, so you just show up. We feel the cost is more than fair for all they offer. And who doesn't want their child to come home happy and physically fit, not to mention a little tired! I've recommended this camp to three friends so far, and everyone's happy. We are lucky to have a group like this come to our area, as I believe they're based in Colorado. They have a few camps all over the Bay Area - check out their schedule. Highly recommend!! read more

My son did the over-night camps last year. Two years ago he did a Western Camp in Colorado and loved it. He was very excited to participate in an Adventure Camp. The experience was terrible. Although some of the activities were fun, it was a terrible experience. He found the camp was run in a very militant fashion. If your shoes were not lined up in a straight line, they would throw them in the street. The staff were not friendly, but more like drill Sgts. read more

My son attended the one week Valmont Bike camp for 7 year olds, two years in a row. It was perfect. He had a great time, learned some valuable mountain bike skills (we live in Illinois), and built upon his past tricks. Two instructors continued from the past year, were very skilled and made sure to teach about proper equipment, how to maintain the bike, and how to stay hydrated. One summer the temps were in the 90's, but my son still loved it and was enthusiastic for the following hot days. I highly recommend these camps. He loved making the whole family go back to the park every few days so he could show off his new skills. read more

we did the 5 activites: canoe, hike, kayak, bike, rock climbing in Highlands Ranch Co. The kids only were able to hike for about 30 minutes. They played games before lunch then said "it was too close to lunch to hike", then AFTER lunch they explained rules for quite awhiile. During the canoe day the kids were only able to canoe for about 15-20 minutes as they were waiting on certain parents to arrive for family day". My son whom likes all activities said "These two days were a rip off and a waste of my time." Also, my daughter had a severe reaction to 5 insect bites n a trip (not their fault) and was unable to attend the next day. They said she could not do a make-up day (an identical day was happening each of the next two weeks) due to "team dynamics". Corporate since called and said they have changed their policy and in certain instances make up days will be allowed. They also said they will make sure there is more canoeing on canoe day. So increased their rating one star and hope they follow thru. Counselors were great with kids! read more