Camps

About

Give your kids a week of adventures that they’ll never forget! Our goal with RO camps is to foster friendship, confidence, creativity, and an appreciation for Richmond’s urban river and forest. Our adventure camps have been helping kids do just that since 2007.

Sapling, Oak, and Old Growth are all rooted in recreational tree climbing, high-ropes elements, and exploring the James River. Our Whitewater Camps leverage the leadership and expertise of our most senior river guides…they provide an opportunity for kids to reach a new level of confidence with their paddling and river safety abilities. We’re excited to show you the amazing natural resources that we have in Richmond. The James River and the surrounding parks are a huge part of our city’s culture and history. Come join us in exploring this wonderful place we call home! Our camps historically fill up early, so register soon to better ensure your pick of dates for this summer.

FAQ's

• My child is on the waitlist. How likely are they to get into that camp session?
  • I would not count on it. While it does happen from time to time, it is generally unlikely. Please refer to our cancellation and waitlist policy at the bottom of the page.
• Will my child be in the same group as his or her friends?
  • If they are signed up for the same camp (Sapling, White Oak, Red Oak, etc) and the same week they will be in the same group. For further clarification about White and Red Oak see below.
• What is the difference between Red and White Oak camps?
  • Red and White Oak are separate groups of kids with a different set of counselors, but both groups will have the same programming in regards to adventure activities. There is a 15 min difference in drop off and pick up time to reduce crowding in the tree house. They are equally awesome!
• Do you perform background checks on your staff?
  • Yes. We perform annual checks on all of our camp staff through a third party which covers local, state, federal and sex offender registries.
• My child is turning _______ years old on ________. Can you make an age exception?
  • We almost never make exceptions in regards to our age groups. We have built into our camp structure a one year overlap in camps (i.e. a 12 year old could attend Oak, River Shredders or Old Growth).
• I am trying to enroll my child in a camp but I’m not seeing the enrollment options for their age group.
  • It’s most likely that the camper’s age was incorrectly listed upon enrollment. Please email us at riversidecamps@gmail.com if you run into this problem.
• Do you offer extended day programming?
  • Unfortunately, we do not. If you have multiple children in different camps on the same day that have different pick up and drop off times we will allow you to drop the children off at the earlier camp time and pick them up at the later camp time. **Please note- we can not accommodate early drop offs or late pick ups other than in the circumstance listed above.**
• I’ve forgotten my password and when I try to reset it through the website I am not receiving any emails.
  • Most likely, the email you used to initially register your account is no longer current. Your email address is like a user name in our system so if that changes we need to be notified to change that on our end. If you can think of what email you initially received our confirmations from, that is the account to sign in on and book for the summer.
• Will pictures or videos be available for parents/guardians at the end of the session?
  • Yes! We send out an email with the link to our photos the Saturday after camp ends. If you have opted out of marketing emails then you will have to contact us for the link.

**Cancellation/Refund Policy: All payments are non-refundable. Exceptions made at the discretion of our staff. If we are able to fill your camper’s spot through the waitlist, we will refund you all but a $30 per instance processing fee. See our waitlist policy below.**

** Wait List Policy: If we are filling spaces in a camp more than 1 month out from the start of that camp week, we will call one family at a time from the wait list and give them 48 hrs to accept the spot. After 48 hrs we will call the next family on the list.  If we are calling within a month of a camp session, we will call everyone on the wait list concurrently and follow a first come first served policy.**