Wilderness Survival I (ages 10-13)
Leave the everyday behind. Build skills. Discover life in the woods.
Make your way to Split Rock, the traditional home of Bryant Pond’s Wilderness Survival programs, and experience camp a little differently. Away from the routines of everyday life, campers spend the week living outdoors, learning new skills, and becoming part of their own small camp community.
Learn to Live Outdoors
Life at Split Rock gives campers the opportunity to do more than practice individual survival skills—they experience what it’s like to live outdoors as part of a small camp community.
Campers make Split Rock their home for the week, typically sleeping under tarp shelters and taking an active role in creating and caring for their campsite. As their skills develop, campers also build debris shelters using natural materials and may choose to spend a night in the shelter they’ve created.
Following the Order of Survival, campers explore skills including:
- Shelter building
- Fire-building
- Wilderness cooking
- Water purification
- Tracking and wildlife signs
- Sensory and nature awareness
- Foraging and plant knowledge
- Tool craft and safe tool use
- Camouflage and silent movement
- Outdoor living and campcraft
Life at Split Rock
Living together at Split Rock is an important part of the Wilderness Survival experience. Campers work together to create camp kitchen and work areas, prepare most of their meals at the campsite, care for their living space, and share responsibility for the routines of daily outdoor life.
While campers still spend some time at the main camp, much of their week revolves around the community they create at Split Rock. Working and living together helps campers develop greater independence, confidence, teamwork, and problem-solving skills.
Evenings around the campfire provide time to relax, share stories, and build friendships with their new community.
And the week isn’t all survival skills. Campers also enjoy canoeing, swimming, and other Bryant Pond activities.
Continue the Wilderness Survival Path
Wilderness Survival I takes the curiosity and introductory outdoor experiences of Black Bear Cubs to the next level, giving campers the opportunity to practice wilderness skills while experiencing what it’s like to live outdoors for the week.
For campers ready to continue developing their skills, Wilderness Survival II offers the next level of challenge and experience, eventually leading to our two-week Bushcraft program for teens.
Dates & Registration 
Ages: 10–13
2027 Program Dates:
Week #1 (6/27/27 – 7/2/27)
Week #3 (7/11/27 – 7/16/27)
Week #7 (8/8/27- 8/13/27)
Cost: $795.00