When I was a kid growing up in Harrison, Maine a familiar sight on a warm summer evening would be to see long, single lines of kids, all in uniform (shorts, short-sleeved shirt and neckerchief), walking alongside the road, making their way to the lakeside village of Harrison. Down Rte. 35 along Long Lake, or on Rte. 117 that curves around Crystal Lake, dozens of kids were hiking the mile or two into town for exercise and ice cream cones.
These youngsters were summer residents of Camp Pinecliff, Camp Ticawa, Camp Newfound and Camp Owatonna. Every summer these, and many other, area camps would fill up with kids from out of state, mostly, sent by their parents to experience the wonder of a Maine summer.
While many of these camps have closed, there are many that remain. I counted 40 in the Sebago Lake area alone. Many camp experiences, both residential and day camps, abound in the Sebago Lakes and western Maine region. The experience of crackling campfires, starry nights, gooey s’mores and lifelong friendships still await the young camper.
Children’s camps have been a Maine tradition for more than 100 years. These camps, located on the likes of Peabody Pond, Crystal Lake, Long Lake, Sebago Lake, Walden Pond, Bear Pond, Moose Pond, Woods Pond, Holt Pond, Panther Pond, Pleasant Lake, Thompson Lake, Tripp Lake and many more, offer a variety of programs and facilities to help children develop skills, make friends and expand their horizons–physically, mentally and socially. Children from all over the world come to summer camps to play and enjoy the natural beauty of western Maine and the Sebago Lake Region.
Here’s a list – hotlinked – to the 40 that I found:
Agassiz Village – Thompson Lake – Poland
Camp Agawam – Crescent Lake – Casco
Camp Arcadia – Pleasant Lake – Casco
Birch Rock Camp – McWain Pond – Waterford
Camp Cedar – Coffee Pond – Casco
Camp Encore/Coda – Stearns Pond – Sweden
Camp Fernwood – Thompson Lake – Poland
Fernwood Cove – Island Pond – Harrison
Camp Hawthorne – Panther Pond – Raymond
Hoop Basketball Camp – Pleasant Lake – Casco
Indian Acres and Forest Acres Camps – Saco River – Fryeburg
Camp Kingswood – Woods Pond – Bridgton
Kamp Kohut – Thompson Lake – Oxford
Kingsley Pines Camp – Panther Pond – Raymond
Camp Laurel South – Crescent Lake – Casco
Camp Mataponi – Sebago Lake – Naples
Camp Micah – Peabody Pond – Bridgton
Camp Nashoba North – Crescent – Raymond
Netop Summer Camp – Coffee Pond – Casco
Camps Newfound/Owatonna – Long Lake – Harrison
Camp North Star – Worthley Pond – Poland Spring
Camp O-AT-KA – Sebago Lake – Sebago
Camp Pinehurst – Crescent Lake – Raymond
Camp Sunshine – Sebago Lake – Casco
Camp Susan Curtis – Trout Lake – Stoneham
Camp Takajo – Long Lake – Naples
Camp Tapawingo – Keyes Pond – Sweden
Camp Timanous – Panther Pond – Raymond
Tripp Lake Camp – Tripp Lake – Poland
Camp Walden – Walden Pond – Denmark
Camp Wawenock – Sebago Lake – Raymond
Camp Waziyatah – McWain Pond – Waterford
Camp Wigwam – Bear Pond – Waterford
Camp Wildwood – Woods Pond – Bridgton
Winona Camps – Moose Pond – Bridgton
Wohelo – Luther Gulick Camps – Sebago Lake – Raymond
Wyonegonic Camps – Moose Pond – Denmark