Looking for a place to host your school's Outdoor Education Program?  We'd love to have you out to see Elkhorn Valley.  We offer a beautiful natural setting, and great facilities which can be tailored to your specific needs and desires.  We offer multi-day programs which include lodging as well as meals.  We can also design full or half day programs for field trips, team-building exercises for teams or clubs, faculty retreats & more!  We offer activities including high ropes courses with zip lines, low ropes courses, a rock climbing wall, canoeing, hiking, archery, geocaching, peddle carts, 9 square in the air, gaga ball, human foosball, basketball, volleyball and more!

At Elkhorn Valley,  we strive to showcase our natural environment, while also providing facilities and spaces which will allow your students to Explore, Discover, Connect and be Inspired.

Our teacher-led program model not only makes us one of the most affordable Outdoor Education options, it also allows your staff to ensure that their educational priorities as well as State educational requirements are being met. 

We would love to partner with you in what we feel is a truly fun and amazing educational experience here in the beautiful Elkhorn Valley. 

Situated on over 220 acres, our camp gives students plenty of space to explore.  Whether they venture through the more than 100 wooded acres on our camp, set out on some of our more than 2 miles of groomed trails, explore the area around our lake, go geocaching with one of our GPS units, or follow along the Elkhorn Creek which wanders through our property, students are sure to have an amazing time of exploration here at Elkhorn Valley.

Our remote location also provides a great opportunity to explore the night sky.  Whether you bring along telescopes, or whether just laying in the grass and looking up, students can enjoy a magnificent view of stars and constellations in the night sky.

With a careful eye, students are sure to discover some of the amazing plants and animals which call the Elkhorn Valley home.  They can study the decomposition of logs in one of our wooded areas.  They can conduct a stream study in the Elkhorn Creek.  They may spot one of the many white-tail Deer which live in the area.  While exploring along the creek, they will be likely to see footprints of deer or raccoons who have come to the creek for a drink of water.   Our resident blue heron may also be spotted perched in a branch above the creek, waiting to scoop up a fish.

Students can also discover new things about themselves and classmates as our facilitators guide them through objective-driven sessions on our Low Ropes Adventure Course.  Students discover how to take initiative, problem solve, work as a team, and to develop trust and respect.

Outdoor Education program at Elkhorn Valley allows teachers the opportunity to connect ideas that they are teaching in the classroom to real life examples found here in our ecosystem.  This opportunity can have lifelong implications on students’ retention of information, understanding  of key ideas as well as their desire to learn.

Seeing and interacting with students in a different environment, can also give educators the ability to better understand and connect with their individual students.  These connecting experiences can then be utilized in the classroom to facilitate an improved learning environment and improved student/teacher dynamics.

Students also have the opportunity to forge deeper connection with one another while at Elkhorn Valley.  Whether through time spent working together on a Low Ropes challenge, exploring the camp grounds, or an evening around the campfire, students have the opportunity to develop meaningful and important connections with one another.

Students will be exposed to the beauty of nature all around them here in the Elkhorn Valley.  The opportunity to directly observe and learn about the ecosystem here including the creek which runs through our property can be inspirational in helping students to understand the importance of caring for our environment.

Interacting with students in the outdoor environment provides educators with the opportunity to inspire students as they begin to understand their role in being good stewards of our resources.  This interactive learning environment may be just the trigger needed to inspire a student to pursue a particular path with their life or to be inspired to push themselves harder in their academic journey.

The High Ropes Courses also provide an inspirational experience for students as they are challenged and encouraged by our facilitators.  Students can experience overcoming fears and limitations in order to experience the excitement and success of conquering one of our High Ropes Courses or Rock Wall.

Elkhorn Valley features many wonderful buildings and facilities which are sure to enhance your time here.

Our girls dorm is the newest building on our camp.  Fully climate controlled, It features 2 separate dorm areas each with multiple shower stalls with private changing areas as well as accessible shower bays.  It also has a meeting room.  If required, we do have 2 additional girls dorms.

Our boys dorm building features 4 separate dorm areas, each featuring multiple showers with private changing areas.

Our Elkhorn Commons building can serve as lodging for teachers.  This building features a meeting room with televisions and sound system.  It features 2 dorm style sleeping rooms each featuring 4 sets of bunkbeds, and restroom with 2 sinks and 2 showers.  It also has 4 sleeping rooms featuring twin over full bunk beds and private baths.

We have indoor activity areas including our Chapel which has a large open floor plan, and our Retreat Center which features multiple meeting rooms.  In addition, we have many outdoor meeting areas including 3 covered pavilions, a gazebo, a covered porch on our dining hall, and a fire ring with extensive seating.

“Elkhorn Valley has been a great experience for our staff and students.  I have personally participated in the camp for the past 11 years and every year our students come back with great stories and experiences.  They have the opportunity to try things and see things they usually do not get the chance to do or see.  The staff and facilities are top-notch.  I would recommend Elkhorn to any classroom looking to expose their students to Outdoor Education.”

Mason Boldizar,

5th Grade Science Teacher, Canton Local Schools

“Camp Elkhorn has been a perfect fit for our Outdoor Education Program!  We brought almost 400 students to Camp Elkhorn.  We anticipated that with so many students, we would run into snags.  We did not.  Camp Elkhorn was prepared for us and offered flexibility in scheduling to accommodate our needs.  The kids had an excellent experience.  Camp Elkhorn facilitated children making memories for a lifetime!  The school was offered an excellent value with top-notch professional outdoorsmen/ women.  We are scheduled to return next Spring and our staff is excited, looking forward to the same amazing experiences.”

Heather Whipkey,

6th Grade Math Teacher, Plain Local Schools

“The Campgrounds are BEAUTIFUL—plenty of space and variety of learning station options for our students.  Kids favorites would be the high rope course and the climbing wall!  The buildings are well-kept.  Our students loved the bunk beds and the individual showers.  Our staff enjoyed the creature comforts of the staff lodging as well.  The cafeteria food, as kids say, was awesome.  The staff were accommodating to special diets, menu choice, and druing our visit, seemed happy to serve.  The staff are an enthusiastic professional group of people; it’s easy to see that they truly love what they do!

Gey Welker,

Principal, Canton Local Schools

What State of Ohio Educational Requirements are met by Outdoor Education at Elkhorn Valley?

While there is space and resources available to accomplish many different educational requirements, our teacher-led program model allows educators to decide how to best utilize and prioritize their time here in order to accomplish necessary requirements/goals.

Are the high ropes courses in your Adventure Program safe?

Elkhorn Valley Adventures has a perfect safety with no incidents in more than 20 years of operation.  Each of our facilitators undergoes an annual training.  Additionally, all of our courses are inspected annually by a certified inspector.

Are students required to participate on the high ropes courses?

We operate with a “Challenge by Choice” philosophy here at Elkhorn Valley.  Our facilitators will work with and challenge participants throughout the activities, however no one will be forced to participate in any particular challenge.

Are all areas handicap accessible?

All of our buildings are accessible.  We also have golf carts available which can be utilized to transport people to some of our more remote areas.  If this is a need of yours, please notify us in advance so that we can be sure to allocate any necessary staff/resources.