field trips, presentations, and more!

Family Nature Camp is designed to offer a balance of structured activities and ample free time. Each day, families will participate in guided activities including the following:

• An orientation and geological introduction to Acadia National Park  
  
• Naturalist guided ecology hike
  
• Tide pool walk
  
• World of Bats presentation with COA's bat expert, Bruce Hazam
• Beaver habitat exploration
  
• An evening with Tony Sohns, the "Bug Man"
• Diver Ed's Dive-In Theater cruise
• Bass Harbor Nature Cruise
• Nature arts and crafts for the artist in your family
• Visit COA's Dorr Museum of Natural History anytime you want!
• Opening and closing activities

In addition, when you arrive at COA, you'll have the option of signing up for additional activities, all included in the cost of registration:

• Sunset visit to the top of Cadillac Mountain
  
• Early morning bird walk with a local ornithologist
  
• Organic farm tour at COA's Beech Hill Farm
  
• Assemble the bones of a real minke whale skeleton
• "Catch and release" insect hunt

All of the field trips, presentations, and boat cruises listed above are included in the cost of your Family Nature Camp registration.  For a more detailed description of each of these field trips and presentations, please click here. 

Free time can be spent socializing with other families, visiting Bar Harbor or exploring other areas of Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park.  You may use your own vehicle or the Island Explorer, a free, island-wide shuttle making daily stops at the College of the Atlantic campus approximately every 15 minutes.  If you and your family plan a day-long outing, the dining hall will make sure you have a delicious bag lunch to take with you. 

A la Carte: Additional Boat Trips
If you wish, you may complement the scheduled field trips with up two additional boat trips, offered to you at special discounted rates through Family Nature Camp. These included guided kayak tours, a schooner cruise on the Margaret Todd, a whale-watching expedition with the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company, and more.

For more information, click below to download the following:

A Typical Week at Family Nature Camp - PDF file

A Full Description of Field and Boat Trips - PDF file

Frequently Asked Questions - PDF file

2012 Returning Families Week
(July 29 through August 4)
- now FULL and no longer accepting registrations -
For the second year in a row we are offering a week specifically designed for families who have attended Family Nature Camp in the past and are looking for new trips and experiences.  Most families who attend Returning Families Week have been to COA multiple times.  If this is your family and you want to experience exciting and new field and boat trips, this is the week for you! Some of the activities we are developing will likely include:

•    A full-day excursion on the Osprey, COA’s new research vessel.  A naturalist guided tour, you will sail around Great Duck Island and stop on Gott’s Island (photos) for a relaxing hike and picnic lunch before returning to the COA campus.
•    At registration you will have the option of selecting a second boat trip - either venturing out on Diver Ed’s Starfish Enterprise, or kayaking around Frenchman Bay with naturalist Rich MacDonald
•    Entomology, Ornithology, and Owl programs
•    Unique field trips guided by Acadia National Park rangers and/or a local naturalist

 If you would like more information on the programs we are developing for Returning Family Week or any other family week, please contact the Summer Programs Office at summer@coa.edu or call 1-800-597-9500.