My family loves Mountain Camp and it's the highlight of my children's summer. My 13-year old…read moredaughter has attended for 4 years and my 9-year old son attended for the first time this year. Both my children have severe, epi-pen level food allergies (to peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, legumes, soy milk and egg). Mountain Camp is the only camp that was willing to take on my children for two weeks and have a detailed allergy protocol in place. In advance of camp, I communicate with the culinary team to understand the menu for the session (they have a wide variety of food from around the world and different lunches and dinners every day). I partner closely with the wonderful chef and kitchen team to ensure the menu is safe for my kids (and I bring replacements for items which are not). I trust the team completely and my daughter reports that they are the safest camp she has been to (she has been to sleep away camp in Switzerland, Austria, New Zealand and in school outdoor education camps in California). Both my daughter and son have a warm relationship with the chef and go to her directly, most often for second servings! We have not had any incidents and the camp is incredibly responsive in our experience. We are grateful to Mountain Camp for their kindness, diligence and the magic that makes this summer camp so special for all the campers. See you next year!

This is the second year my child attended Mountain camp. She has food allergies and the first year,…read moreout of an abundance of caution, I sent her with food just in case she felt she could not eat the food served. Turns out she did not need the food. Bolstered by this positive result, we did not send her with food this year. Yesterday, two days before she was scheduled to return home, I received a call that my daughter self administered her Epi pen after consuming an allergen. My husband and I raced two hours to meet my daughter at the ER in Placerville and decided to bring her home, letting the staff know of our decision. The following day, after leaving an email, voice mail and text, the camp director finally called us mid afternoon. Apparently a health emergency does not warrant a before noon check in. I confirmed my daughter's recollection, that their head kitchen staff gave my daughter a gluten free cookie, insisting it was free of egg, the item she is severely allergic to. My daughter, having been raised to be overly cautious, asked the staff member twice to check and confirm. The staff member insisted it was safe and did not bother to check. My daughter ate the cookie, suffering an allergic reaction within seconds. She travelled with a counselor and a nurse to the ER and waited for us to arrive. That she was scared is an understatement. Mountain camp is a beautiful camp staffed by well meaning people. They are not, however, capable of ensuring your child's safety when it comes to food allergies. The camp was well aware of my daughter's allergies. She was the only one at the session that they had to show special concern. The head kitchen staff member selected a cookie that looked identical to the safe cookie, but never bothered to double check that she had made the right choice. In fact, the cookie was correctly labeled as gluten free but not vegan, which should have been the tip off. Her carelessness led to a medical emergency for my daughter one which was completely avoidable. After discussing further with the camp director, it became doubly clear that they have ineffective policies in place and no redundancy. They have no business claiming that they are safe for campers with food allergies if they can't even be trusted to double check. My daughter trusted the staff member as she would an aunt or other family adult friend. Despite her positive experience in other aspects of the camp, we will not return. I do not advise other parents with food allergic children to have them attend unless you have confirmed that they have out in place basic safety and redundancy protocols for their camp, including staff training. Even then I would think twice or encourage against it.

This is my son's dream camp, but there is no way we can afford $925 per week for a full day camp…read more(9a-6p) but we also are nowhere near to the HHI required for financial aid. The cost is nearly _double_ that of every other camp we have enrolled in. Everything about it sounds amazing but if you aren't a two-earner household both making huge tech dollars it's entirely out of reach.

Our daughter (entering K who prefers playing with dolls indoor) thoroughly enjoyed the Explorer…read moreCamp. She had tried Monkey Business Camp last summer but she did not like the unstructured free play time as she did not go with a friend. With Avid4Adventure Oakland, she went without knowing anyone and enjoyed every single moment of the five days outdoor adventures (biking, kayaking, hiking, mountain biking and stand up paddle boarding). She loved the fact that they had to take a van to go offsite (eg: Berkeley Aquatic Park for water sports, etc). They also have yoga, art, music, etc. We were worried because she could not bike without training wheels but the instructors helped her and at the end of the day, our daughter was very proud of her biking skills! She always looks forward to next day's activity. They emphasize recycling and the love for our environment during camp, so much so that after attending Avid4Adventure, our daughter checks on us when we have trash at home to make sure we are recycling 100%. Even the tiniest scrap paper and snack bags must be recycled!!! Think TerraCycle. Great first time exposure to sports adventure and spending time outdoors with fun instructors!

best place ever, the apprenticeship is amazing and so are the lessons ive learned so much from…read morecastle rock arabians.

They are so weird, don't reply messages, can't make an appointment. I reached out to them…read moreyesterday, and just text me one message and then disappeared.

This was our first summer we have done a session of Kids for the Bay and my 8 year old absolutely…read moreloved it! He did the Stream Science session. Everyday he came home thrilled about his day and excited to go back the next. He typically is weary of trying new things but in this case we got a 2 thumbs up each day. He made new friends and the counselors were warm and kind. It felt very organized and thoughtful. We look forward to returning next year. Thanks Kids for the Bay!

My son has done Kids for the Bay's camp at age 6 and last summer at age 8…read more One of the highlights of the camp that I noticed right away is the engagement of the Counselors with the campers. Camp Leaders are full-time teaching staff with the organization during the school year. They were professional, warm and top notch educators. According to my son, "fun, and funny!". At some other camps that we've done, you drop your kid off and some summer staff can be kindof checked-out - but not here. You get the sense that the staff team is working together to make a great experience for the group. The locations change from day to day to explore different environments. Sometimes driving to different locations was a little long from Oakland (like Tilden Park, Lake Anza), but locations are not too far afield. A favorite for my son was Blake Gardens, where the group got to do a nature scavenger/treasure hunt.

Camp Chrysalis is an incredible camp. The director Lee is very responsive and passionate about…read moreproviding a wonderful experience to the kids who attend camp. It was my kids first time away from home & one of the first things they said when we picked them up after a week long camp was that they would love to go back next year, no hesitation. They are still singing the songs that they learned and talking about the experience. It is obvious that the staff love what they do and outdoor adventures are an integral part of their lives.

My teen and pre-teen had the time of their lives backpacking and swimming in mountain lakes during…read morethis year's Sierra Session. It was a TON of fun. So many lakes to swim in and so many nights solely amongst the trees and the stars. They made new friends and reunited with old ones from the previous year (pre-pandemic). Many counselors and trip leaders attended Chrysalis as youngsters and have astonishingly returned. It says a lot about the camp, its director Lee Tempkin, and the warm, nurturing, exciting and educational environment they create. Two of my youngest children also attended the Mendocino Session in 2019, their first time away from home. Well, truth be told, I am not sure they missed us *too* much with all the adventures and friendships to be had! Everyone helped prepare and cook meals. The also learned to work in teams around camp. Real world lessons. Swimming, hiking, canoing, catamaran sailing, tidepooling and even rollicking in the sand dunes... wow! This is a *real* adventure and a *real* experience. It is tent camping in a base camp and exploring the wonder that surrounds. Awesome fun and creative activities abound. Nature at its best, making epic summer memories.

We have a shy first grader who is apprehensive of new situations. The counselors made him feel…read morecomfortable and now he is loving camp. They offer a wide range of fun activities like archery, boating, swimming, etc

I used to be a camper here for one summer and when we were leaving to the annual camping trip in…read morethe Oakland hills our counselor left our entire group in a locked van for almost 45 mins in over 90 degree heat. I remember one or two people had luckily filled their water bottles or I think it would have been a lot different. When we got to the camp site we set up tarps and just put our sleeping bags on them with no cover. In the morning a bunch of white spiders were crawling on everyone and got in all of our bags. On that trip that gave us salad from a literal trash bag.

My two daughters have done this camp 3 times now and we can't wait for next summer. It's one of the…read morefew camps that actually feels worth the financial investment. They get to experience truly amazing adventures and do so in a fun and safe environment. Suzanne and her team are the best too! They have a heart for kids and education and it shows. Spots do go quick, so be on the lookout for when registration opens!

Best summer camp that my daughter has attended. Everyday is a new adventure. We look forward to it…read moreevery year. Suzanne and her staff are amazing, and they truly enjoy spending time with all the kids.

Our granddaughter went to Trackers Camp El Cerrito. Well…read moreorganized Professional staff Fun activities Very positive experience

We've been doing trackers for years. The kids have a good time but I wanted to weigh in on the…read morepricing of late. The price has gone through the roof, but I'm really irked by the timing. Drop off is at 9:30 and pick up at 2:30, so essentially 5 hours (little more than a half day camp). It's already expensive at nearly $750 a week, but then you have to pay substantially more if you want to pick up or drop off at the same time as most other camps. Basically you're getting a half-day camp at more than full-day camp prices. Really annoying to get nickled and dimed this way.