Camp Runoia
Be yourself! Try new activities! Build skills in activities you already like! Make friends and keep them for a life time! Sail a boat! Camp with your friends! Take a walk on the nature path or read a book in the Look Out Tower! Canter a horse! Imagine your summer being a mixture of playing and working hard, relaxing and enjoying days with friends by a pristine Maine lake with caring adults who are there for you and help create great summer moments. Silly times, fun times, good food, learning and playing making you so tired at the end of the day and making you yearn for the next day to begin. There are times in your life that become part of you. Times you treasure, adore and grow from, as well as times you carry in your heart each and every day. At Runoia you create these times. Camp Runoia is fuller than just any camp. It's a place you belong to and that belongs to you.
Summer Address
PO Box 450
Belgrade Lakes, ME 04918
207.495.2228
Winter Address
PO Box 450
Belgrade Lakes, ME 04918
207.495.2228
Camp Reviews — Memories from Real Camp Families
Read these stories from our camp community and
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Julie said... |
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We arrived and felt immediately at home. After taking care of paperwork, we made my daughter's bed and tacked up a few photos on her wall. Having been at Runoia for all of 20 minutes, my daughter (a first-time camper) then bid me a "Toodle-Oooh" from her top bunk. A quick hug followed, and I shambled back to the car, a mixture of worry and sadness. Needless to say, she thrived for 3 1/2 weeks. She is eager to return, and I'll know not to stress over whether she is enjoying herself. |
Kate said... |
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I was only a camp counselor, never attended over night camp. My daughter is an only child living in NYC. Not the best place to be in the summer and to be at camp, a sisterhood for a girl that loves to be with other kids is heaven. |
Gavriella said... |
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Playing tetherball between every camp activity with friends. Who knew playing tetherball could be so fun.
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Kathleen said... |
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My daughter fell in love with summer camp in Maine when we first went to tour Camp Runoia. That first summer she jumped in with both feet doing every activity camp offered. She continues to look forward to Runoia every summer and has fallen in love with Maine as she begins to have opportunities to explore Maine - most recently hiking Mt Katahdin.
There are many happy memories of Camp Runoia but my most special memory of her camp experience began with some family sadness. This particular summer began with my mother finally succumbing to her 10 year battle with Alzheimer's Disease. She was in Hospice care when it was time for Grace to leave for camp. Grace said her good-byes with mixed emotions. The plan was that we would pick your up for the services. Grace also decided that she wanted to know when Grammie died. Pam Cobb supported Grace in this decision and provided the love and support that she needed at a difficult time. What I remember most about this time is when we brought her back to camp after a difficult wake and funeral for a 9 year old girl. She ran back to loving staff and friends like she was coming home. This is why my husband and I have worked so hard to provide a summer camp for all our children. Camp provides a safe, supportive and loving environment allowing children to develop confidence, independence, resiliency which will carry them far in life. |
Melissa said... |
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I have had two girls at Camp Runoia for the past several years. I send them to camp so that they can experience living outside of their comfort zone: challenging activities, friends from other parts of the country (and world) and no parents! They come back home to me better off for having had the experience; more independent, confident and a bit more comfortable in their own skin. |
Amy said... |
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Sailing a boat by myself on Great Pond at the age of 10. Liberating and empowering for a young girl! |
Kathy said... |
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Receiving all her camp letters last summer, written almost daily, filled with details of all the activities and friendships. |
Janet said... |
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I remember sitting on the "singing steps" after every meal at my camp when I was 7 to 9 years old. I couldn't wait for those meals to be over to spend the time with my friends, singing camp songs that I still remember! |
Grace said... |
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On my way to camp I was bursting with excitement and nerves. I, being the youngest in my family, had watched my two older brothers leave for camp every year, and it was finally my turn! After three hours of driving, I could see the camp gate. There was lots of movement as trunks were pulled out of cars, campers and their families being guided away from the parking lot, and counselors rushing around overseeing everything. I became very nervous looking at just how big Runoia was. We pulled up to the first counselor who told us that I would be in first shack. We parked and then had to go to the health shack to get my head checked for lice. I got so scarred because i was afraid that i wouldn't be aloud to go into camp if I had them! After finding out that I was clear, we headed down to my cabin. My stuff was already there so we began to unpack. That's when it really hit me. I was going to be living in a cabin with no one I knew for three and a half weeks. I became more and more nervous. Outside, people were playing games and singing songs I didn't know. My mom told me to go join them but i didn't want to. One of my counselors came over, talked to my parents, and then reassured me that i was going to have a great time here. She pointed out girls who were going to be in my cabin and helped me learn all of the games. my nerves ha died down a lot as I realized how friendly everyone was. Girls were laughing and playing, and they let me join them. I said goodbye to my parents, and was ready to have some fun at camp.
After 5 years at camp Runoia, I have grown and changed immensely. I've made friends from around the world that I will never forget and gained the confidence and independence to go out and do whatever my minds set on. Camp has been the greatest gift I've ever had and I hope to never forget a single moment of it.
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Kathy said... |
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The hardest part about summer camp is letting go of her. But when I saw her happy face and independence at pickup, I could tell that she had the best time of her life. |
Jen said... |
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Over the past two summers Runoia has become a second home for my daughter and me. The directors are caring and know each girl. I teach horseback riding at camp as well as my daughter attending camp. I love the sense of community and look forward to many summers on the shores of Great Pond. I would recommend Runoia to any family looking for an amazing, traditional camp experience for their daughter. I have more memories than I can count, but watching all my horseback riders grow and learn, and accomplish their goals on horses, in and out of the show ring, has been the highlight of my experience. |
Lisa said... |
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My daughter started at Camp Runoia in Maine when she had just turned 10. This is her 6th summer and she begged us to send her for the two sessions and we caved in and agreed. From the first time we saw Camp Runoia we knew it was the camp for Olivia. It is physically one of the prettiest camps I have ever seen. The cabins seem to fit into the natural habitat as though they grew there like the trees. The waterfront is breathtaking. Maine has always been a special place for our family and therefore, sending our daughter to a Maine camp was a no brainer. She took to Camp Runoia like it was a second home. The directors are fantastic and they are all so involved in the daily routine. They do not sit on the periphery and just watch. I am so glad to have found this camp for Olivia and I know that she will be connected to Runoia for the rest of her life. She already talks of sending her own daughters someday! |
Jody said... |
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I started at Camp Runoia at age 8 and was a camper and then a counselor until my last summer at age 21. In large measure, all those summers in Maine impacted my ultimate decision to move to Maine and raise my family here. It's a decision I've never regretted. I sent my daughter to Camp Runoia when she was 8, and last summer, at age 27, she was an assistant director. Both my sons went to camp in Maine as well.
I find that my kids share with me the unique experiences that came from having been part of Runoia and part of Maine camping. We all learned at an early age how to play well and live well with others. We learned skills that schools are unable to impart, so that now we are all adept in a canoe, in a sailboat, on a tennis court or on a camping trip; we all agree that many of our closest friends are still our camp friends; we all make a heck of a campfire and know every single camp song there possibly is to sing around it; but best of all, we all got our self esteem, our respect for the outdoors, our confidence and our positive spirit from being at camp. Next to my kids, Runoia is the best part of me....what's better than that? |