YMCA of Greater Bergen County Camp Programs

Our Site

All of our camps are nestled in the beautiful and scenic woods of Harriman State Park along Lake Kanawauke.  Harriman State Park , New York’s second largest state park, provides 200 miles of hiking trails, 31 lakes and access to the Appalachian Trail  among its 46,000 acres of wilderness.  Thirty miles from Hackensack campers are bused to camp each day from the Y.  Two waterfronts and a fleet of canoes, kayaks, rowboats and paddle boats offer a wide variety of waterfront activities. 

Our Quality Staff

The YMCA of Greater Bergen County Camp Staff is dedicated to provide your child with an exceptional camping experience.  We recruit our summer staff through local colleges and online camp job sites.  All hired have experience working with children and many are seeking college degrees in education and outdoor education.   In addition, we hire international staff for our residential camp in order to introduce campers to other cultures.   Specialists are hired to provide your children with the best progressive and goal oriented instruction for activities such as: boating, arts and crafts, nature, rock climbing/challenge course and archery.  All staff are given background checks and participate in an extensive 4-14 day orientation training.

Our Camp Programs

Our camps are traditional, back to basics summer camps.  Each camp offers an unplugged experience for children to reconnect with the outdoors while being introduced to a variety of activities.  All our programs promote the YMCA’s core values of Caring, Respect, Responsibility and Honesty developing self confident and independent campers.

Day Camp Kahagon introduces the little ones to the camp environment.  The program balances play, art, sensory exploration and hands-on learning.  Each camp group of six will explore, play counselor-led games, learn outdoor skills, go boating, receive swim lessons and have time to splash around on their own.  Just like the other camps Kahagon campers will receive the highest quality swim lessons by qualified swim instructors who use the YMCA Progressive Swim Program.

Many of the activities and games will focus on nature and the outdoors.  Campers will feel, touch, smell, see, hear and even taste their way around camp.  Using their sense campers will discover the animals and plants that live at Harriman State Park.  Frogs, snakes, insects and fish oh my!

Each day at Day Camp Oratam is filled with new experiences and fun.  Each camper is placed in a camp group with his or her peers of the same age and sex.  Oratam counselors and specialty staff create a safe and nurturing environment for campers while providing them with the highest quality instruction and guidance during play and activities.  Campers receive personalized swim instruction based on the YMCA Progressive Swim Program taught by certified instructors along with time for free swim every day.

In addition to the daily variety of activities, each week contains a special event such as Olympics, color wars, predator/prey and egg drop.   Even in rain the fun continues with interactive indoor games, arts and crafts, counselor led activities and just down time for the group to get to know each other. 

The challenge course, a series of obstacles, is always a camp favorite. Some elements test individual skills; others promote teamwork and leadership.  New this year is our Zip Line through the forest!  This is a cable that is run across an incline to allow campers to traverse through the forest.  The course and zip line is run by a trained staff member who teaches proper methods and ensures safety and most of all fun!

Many of our campers take advantage of the overnight offered for the 9-12 year olds once a session.  Campers cook-out, participate in a special program like dance, night hike or carnival night, and get to sleep in our cabins receiving a taste of the overnight experience.

Day Camps

Session Dates for Day Camp