At Camp Highlander, we seek to help young boys and girls develop real-world life skills through healthy and appropriate social interaction with their peers. Doing so in a diverse coed environment helps our campers better prepare for life in an ever-increasingly diverse world. And while all of camp is one big Highlander family, we have three age divisions* (Junior, Intermediate, and Senior) each with age-appropriate programming, policies, guidelines and even camper privileges. These divisions help provide a loving, safe and enjoyable environment for each of our campers.

*Our age divisions are generally Junior (6-10 years old), Intermediate (10-13 years old), and Senior (13-16 years old), but can fluctuate slightly based on the age groups of currently-enrolled campers.

For our youngest campers on the mountain it’s all about getting outside and having fun! Though they won’t experience some of the more challenging off-camp and overnight trips that our older campers undertake, they still enjoy plenty of adventure both on and off camp! From secret tea parties in Girls Camp and sneak-out missions in Boys Camp, to slip n’ slide luaus on the Land Sports Field, our Junior Campers soak up the memories while running and laughing and playing underneath the bright blue Carolina sky!

Our Intermediate campers find themselves in quite an enviable position each summer, having more freedom than Junior Camp but less responsibility than Senior Camp. With most of our Intermediate campers being preteens, our focus is to help them adjust to their heightened awareness of social life through focused programming and unexpected surprises!

It might be a late-night sneak-out in which Girls Camp secretly decorates an iconic part of Old Forge Mountain (the assembly court, for example), or a division-wide Bombardment tournament for Boys Camp to showcase their athletic skills and teamwork. It might be a specially-designed EP, like Highlander’s edition of Cupcake Wars or Survivor, or a “Dive-In” Movie Night at the pool, exclusively offered ONLY to Intermediate campers. Whatever adventure greets Intermediate Camp each day, it’s sure to bring lots of laughs, valuable life lessons and unforgettable memories!

The name of the game in Senior Camp is social interaction. Our oldest campers live in a world defined by social status and interaction. Unfortunately, in our increasingly technological world, this interaction more often involves smart phones and social media apps rather than time spent together in person. As a result, teenagers are finding it more difficult to properly engage each other socially, especially in a coed environment. This is exactly why Senior Camp exists!

Being the oldest campers on the mountain, our senior campers have both the most responsibility and the most freedom to enjoy quality time with their peers. From first thing in the morning, to late night senior socials and amazing off-camp trips (like white-water rafting), our senior camp schedule is loaded with social interaction!

Our senior campers also enjoy the unique ability to impact their own camp experience through special Senior Camp sponsored Evening Programs (where they design and decorate a themed dinner for all of camp) and Senior Camp Shark Tank – in which each Senior Camp cabin presents a proposed change they’d like to see at Highlander. Whether it’s new activities, a change in programming, or an out-of-the-box addition to camp life, Senior Campers can etch their names into the history of Highlander and help shape the CH experience for generations to come!