Click here to register your child for camp!
A Note to Parents
The Staff and Board of Directors of Birchwood Camp look forward to offering a quality Christian residential camping experience for your child! We realize the great trust you are placing in us.
We pride ourselves in offering safe and fun facilities for all our camp programs. Birchwood Camp is accredited by the American Camp Association, which means we follow several hundred best practices for camping programs, and we have been trusted by parents like you since 1961. We hold to standards that cover issues like properscreening and training of camp staff, preparing meals in a sanitary way, having a health care manager on duty at all times, sleeping in safe accommodations, and ensuring waterfront safety with certified lifeguards and appropriate supervision.
Campers live in log cabins with bunk beds and mattresses and a centralized bathroom/shower house. Each cabin has 2 counselors and up to 10 campers. Campers also spend part of their time in small “family groups” of mixed gender. All our activities provide a structured environment for campers to grow in faith and friendship. Check out the Camper Tips Page for a complete list of what your camper should bring to camp. Again, we thank you for trusting us to take care of your children while they are at camp.
-The Birchwood Camp Staff
Reaching your Child at Camp
Sending your child a letter is a great way to deepen his or her camp experience. You can send mail in the format below. Remember, it’s a good idea to send mail early to allow plenty of time for it to reach your camper while they are at camp! We also have a new partnership with Bunk 1, which allows you to send customized email “Bunk Notes” to your camper during their camp session. Parents often find this is a much simpler way to make sure their camper gets mail! Click here to learn how to use Bunk Notes.
Birchwood Camp Attn: Camper’s NamePO Box 670049 Chugiak, AK 99567
Packing a special memento of home for your camper can help prevent homesickness. Visitation and phone calls by parents during camp can cause homesickness, disrupt the camp program, and take valuable staff time away from campers. In case of an emergency, please call the camp office at 907-688-2734 or the on-call camp cell at 907-887-4676.
Other Important Information
Check-in takes place in the Main Lodge, the last big building on the right with parking in the front.
Our programs are carefully planned around the stated arrival and departure times. Please do not expect check-in to begin until the stated arrival time. We expect that all campers will be at camp the entire time. Please contact the camp office before camp if your circumstances dictate a different arrival or departure time or if your camper must leave during the camp session (e.g. a doctor’s appointment). Remember that whenever campers leave camp, they need to be signed in and out with the dean by an adult listed on their registration form.
We are an electronics-free community. Cell phones, iPods and other electronic devices should be left at home. Please talk with your child about this before camp, and help us create this important space for the campers to thrive away from their electronics.
If your child has medication that he or she needs to bring to camp, it must be in the original bottle and must be checked in with the nurse at the beginning of camp. The nurse dispenses all medication during camp. For more information, please see the health information page on the registration form.
Check out the American Camp Association’s Healthy Camps Update for ways to keep your child healthy before and during camp!
