Girl Scouts of Northern California runs three council-run camps and over a dozen volunteer-run camps every summer for our scouts. This article gives information mainly regarding our three council-run camps: Camp Sugar Pine, Camp Hidden Falls, and Camp Bothin. For more information regarding the specific registration process for our volunteer-run camps, please refer to that camp’s specific website.
For answers to FAQs regarding registration, visit our FAQ article here: Council-Run Camp FAQs
To review the forms required for camp, visit our form article here: Camp Forms
Thinking about sending your child to camp this summer? Here is a step-by-step guide on what to expect start to finish.
- Determine if your camper is ready for camp.
- Is your camper ready to try new things? Wants to make new friends? Can reach out for help if they need it? Is willing to contribute in their camp community?
- Ask your child how they feel about camp. Are they able to adjust to new situations? New environments? For overnight camps, have they ever spent the night away from you before? For how long?
- Some nervousness is expected! Camp is a new place with activities and situations that they may not have experienced before. However, if your child feels anxious, scared, or cries at the thought of going to camp, they may need to wait a year or two before joining us for the summer.
- Decide what type of camp you want your camper to go to.
- Different camps encourage different levels of independence. One of the main differences in our camps is whether your camper will stay overnight with us or only attend for the day.
- Day Camp – Campers are dropped off at camp in the morning and picked up at the end of the day.
- Sleepaway Camp – Campers stay at the camp overnight and aren’t picked up until the end of the session.
- Different camps encourage different levels of independence. One of the main differences in our camps is whether your camper will stay overnight with us or only attend for the day.
- Find the camp location that’s right for your camper.
- Visit our Girl Scouts of Northern California camp page to find descriptions and locations of each of our camps: Our Camps
- Council-Run Camps – Camp Sugar Pine, Camp Hidden Falls, and Camp Bothin are our three council-run camps and are staffed by camp counselors. Our counselors join us from all over the world and go through extensive training before the start of each summer. All three council-run camps are sleepaway camps.
- Volunteer-Run Camps – These camps are staffed by screened and trained volunteers. Parents can often attend with their camper in exchange for helping in different areas of the camp. Both day programs and sleepaway programs are available at our volunteer-run camps.
- Visit our Girl Scouts of Northern California camp page to find descriptions and locations of each of our camps: Our Camps
- View our Camp Guide and determine which session works best for you.
- The Camp Guide contains descriptions of each program, session dates, and prices for our council-run camps.
- Our Camp Guide will be available in late-December. Once it is available, we will link the PDF of the camp guide to our camp page: Our Camps
- (For Council-run Camps) Register for camp using our registration system, CampInTouch, when registration opens in January.
- You can create an account and register our camper here: CampInTouch
- Once you create an account, complete the Camper Application. The Camper Application asks for basic information which includes: your camper’s name, your name and contact information, which program you would like your camper to attend, and if you are interested in applying for financial aid.
- At the end of the Camper Application, we will ask for you to enter in your credit card information and pay a deposit to secure your camper’s spot in their program.
- Camp programs fill up quickly so we recommend registering early!
- Complete your camp forms.
- After you’ve registered your camper into their program, you will need to complete your camper’s camp forms. These forms include medical information, emergency contact information, Camper Buddy requests, and any other necessary information for your camper to attend camp with us.
- Camp forms can be found in the Forms & Documents section when you log into your CampInTouch account: CampInTouch
- All camp forms are due June 1st, but we recommend filling these forms out early in case they need to be resubmitted.
- Pay the remainder of your camper’s camp registration fee.
- The remainder of your camper’s registration fee will be charged to the credit card on file on June 5th. This is done automatically by GS NorCal. We give our families 5-7 day notice as a reminder before we charge your card.
- Payment can be made in smaller increments at any time by going to the Financial Management section of your CampInTouch account. If your camper’s registration fee is already completely paid by the final due date, no charges will be made to your card.
- Get ready for camp!
- Camper Info Packets that include packing lists, camp policies, our Camp Culture Code, and much more will be sent to families around April.
- In the meantime, if you have any questions regarding registration or camp life in general, you can email our camp team at: registration@gsnorcal.org