• July 20-24, 2026: Wildlife Search & Rescue for ages 7-14 (no prerequisite, best for flexible learners ready to hike with day pack, and adapt to lessons where the birds and animals lead)
• August 10-14, 2026: Advanced Wildlife Tracking (with prerequisite of Wildlife Search & Rescue or family wildlife workshop, or a combination of two other Wolf Camp weeks and/or family workshops)
Give your child the gift of our Wildlife Search & Rescue day camps which are excellent for exploratory learners 7-14. Please Note: New autism spectrum students are encouraged to enroll our Wilderness Survival Craft camp first the week prior, as our wildlife tracking curriculum requires a lot of flexibility as we follow tracks and bird calls, to get used to Wolf Camp a bit before attending this less predictable week.
July 20-24, 2026 Wildlife Search & Rescue Day Camp
Wildlife Search & Rescue is or original day camp theme for ages 7-14 and is celebrating its 30th summer this year as we continue our mission to provide real connections to nature for a new generation of young people who face greater and greater separation through screens and virtual realities. Camp takes place at the wild Clark’s Creek Park where animals hide in their dens during the day before coming out at night to roam the fish hatchery and neighborhood farms.
Each day, we will explore field and forest for wildlife tracks and sign. We’ve found resident bears, watched bobcats hunting rabbits, heard coyotes yipping when catching prey, owls dropping countless pellets, herons and hawks fledging their young from dozens of nests, river otters and beavers going in and out of the creek, weasels hunting rodents around our neighboring farm … and those are just the big creatures.
Every find is a lesson to gain better understanding of who made the track; why it made the track; where it made the track; when it made the track; and what it was doing when it made the track. You will discover what it is like to be a bird or other animal by using sensory awareness skills to interpret what is happening around you. Participants will learn to understand and use the language of the birds and will practice interpreting bird language through a series of experiments.
Campers will work together to make plaster casts of our favorite animal tracks; craft tracking sticks; safely move through the woods; and investigate trails, lays, larders, and other signs of life. This camp is full of exciting, interactive, challenging and cooperative games. Campers will learn to work as a team to develop skills of leadership, cooperation, patience, orienteering, dexterity, and fun. Additionally, our staff, some of whom are Search & Rescue volunteers, will teach you how to navigate in the wilderness.
August 10-14, 2026 Advanced Wildlife Tracking Day Camp (with prerequisite)
Prerequisite: Wildlife Search & Rescue or the family wildlife workshop, or a combination of two of our other day camps or family workshops prior to this week.
Take it a step up and help us survey the wild birds, bobcats, bears and more secrets of Clark’s Creek Park and surrounding neighborhoods. Help with our annual survey of animal dens and other sign as part of a select group of overnight animal trackers, learning skills of the wildlife conservationist while also learning to harness the wisdom of an animal detective.
During this week, campers will learn how to: • design and run a wildlife Survey • set up wildlife cameras in areas with a high concentration of track and sign to capture photo evidence of active use; • document species’ presence, den locations, and movement patterns; • map critical habitat and habitat transition zones. All of our discoveries will be documented on a map overlay of the Clark’s Creek Park area and compared to data from previous years. Over time, day campers that participate in this week will be responsible for the development of comprehensive, analytically-based, documentation of all species known to use the site. This documentation will provide participants with a deep understanding of why they should, and how they can, protect unique habitat greenways in urban areas.
After this week, you will have joined an elite group of animal trackers, elevating your senses to new heights, using your newly found prowess to successfully search for animals, and gaining a deep understanding of the relationships between predators and prey.
Sample Camp Itinerary
Itineraries are subject to some amount of change based upon location, weather, instructor preference, and natural resource availability.
Monday: Awareness, Navigation and the Art & Science of Tracking Morning Session: Awareness Skills, Wildlife Safety, Arts of Tracking Lunchtime: Bring & Eat Lunch from home, then our After Lunch Activities (ALA) include choice of Archery, Chill Time, Sprinkler Games & Swimming (creek wading) Afternoon Session: Animal Families & Forms, Lostproofing
Tuesday: Bones, Skulls, Hides, and Teamwork Morning Session: Wildlife Journals, Animal Families, Hides & Skulls Lunchtime & ALA: (see monday description) Afternoon Session: Teamwork, Hand Signals, Scouting Expedition
Wednesday: Birds, Insects, and Amphibians Morning Session: Language of the Birds, Animal Tracks & Sign Lunchtime & ALA: (see monday description) Afternoon Session: Insects & Spiders, Reptiles & Amphibians
Thursday: Trailing, Scats, and Casts Morning Session: Trailing Animals, Scatology, Scent Marks, Browses, Lay Lunchtime & ALA: (see monday description) Afternoon Session: Plaster Casts, Beaver Dens & Dams
Friday: Human Tracking, Animal Rescue, and Celebration Morning Session: Secret Spot, Human Tracking, Animal Rescue Medicine Lunchtime & ALA: (see monday description) Afternoon Session: Wildlife Jeopardy, Review and Closing Ceremonies.
Daily Camp Schedule, Pick-Up & Drop-Off Directions
Meet at the Clark’s Creek Park – South Shelter, 1710 12th Ave SW, Puyallup WA 98371 located one mile west of the Puyallup Fairgrounds. The best arrival time is 8:45-9:00 am, and the best departure time is 3:45-4:00 pm.
8:30-9:00 Check-Ins & Morning Care (no early check-ins available)
9:00–9:15 Songs, Stories, Stretches & Late Check-Ins
9:15-11:45 Morning Lessons with snack break at 10:30
11:45-1:15 Lunch, Games & Archery
1:15-3:45 Afternoon Lessons with snack break at 2:30
3:45-4:00 Best Pick-Up Time
4:00-4:30 Aftercare & Late Pick-Ups
Camp Leaders
Camp Director Kim Chisholm directs this week with staff instructors at our hallmark 6-1 average student-teacher ratio that’s critical for safe and profound outdoor experiences. Read our FAQ’s for more details and check out camp testimonials dating all the way back to 1997.
Day Camp Tuition in Puyallup/Tacoma
$495 is our full tuition rate in Puyallup including any applicable taxes and fees, and we operate on a sliding scale, turning no one away from being able to attend at least one week of camp due to financial reasons. Just email us and let us know how much you can contribute to the cost of camp, or to apply for financial aid from the Conservation College via the Max Davis Scholarship fund, click here and submit answers to their 8 simple questions. If your camper has physical disabilities that make other camps inaccessible, please call to discuss the accommodations we have available and register over the phone at literally any contribution level. To contribution to the Conservation College – Max Davis Scholarship fund, click here.
You will need to pack a healthy lunch, water and substantial snacks every day. Tuition includes t-shirt at your first camp with us, then in subsequent camps a choice of orienteering compass, recommended field guide, firesteel and other outdoor essentials depending on number of camps attended, age and availability.
Registration Options
STEP 1 – Reserve your spots in camp by making $100 deposit per camper per week (or $50 if requesting scholarship or reduced tuition) via one of the following methods:
• Zelle using our email address with that extra “e” on skye plus try to add a note including camper name/age, camp start date/theme, plus your CONTACT INFORMATION (phone number is fine if system doesn’t allow sharing email) if we don’t already have your info since Zelle doesn’t automatically share that with us;
• Or use Venmo to @Chris-Chisholm-13 or • CashApp to $wolfschool but again, try to add your contact information, camper name, program theme and dates, or follow up right away with that via email;
• Or use Credit Card or Apple Pay by clicking here;
• Or call us between 9am-9pm at 425-248-0253 ex 1 with a credit card to register over the phone;
• Or use PayPal system appearing below….
STEP 2 – If this is your camper’s first year with us, complete our once-in-a-lifetime Registration Form within one week of making your deposit, otherwise we will have to refund you and give your spot(s) to others. We’ll also email you Word/PDF versions of the registration form in case you’re having trouble downloading or making a copy of our Google Doc form which you can send or share back to our email address for review within one week to maintain your reservation. If your camper has attended Wolf Camp in the past, a new registration form is not needed, but we will may email a questionnaire for your camper to submit as application for this year.
STEP 3 – Pay balance before or during your summer camp weeks. We’ll email you an invoice this spring with camp prep info and balance payment options that can be done in advance or during your first camp week. All payments are non-refundable unless we refuse your registration. However, if you cancel (at any time for any reason is fine) we will save your payments as credit for you to use in future years, or you can choose to have us move the funds into our scholarship account if you prefer. The best practice is to make the minimum deposits to register, and then wait to pay the remaining balances during summer.
Refund Policy: Payments are not refundable unless we don’t accept your application. If you cancel for any reason, you may receive a full credit good through the following calendar year on appropriate and available programs listed on our schedule, although an additional deposit may be needed to secure your spot in the future program. If a program you sign up for is canceled and not rescheduled at a time you can attend, you may receive a full refund except in cases of natural (weather, geologic, wildfire, etc) disasters, grid failures, epidemics, government shutdowns, conflicts or curfews, or other unforeseen emergencies making it unsafe for staff and/or attendees to reach or use program locations, in which case all payments made will be held by us without expiration date for your future use in appropriate/available programs of your choice. Reasons include the expenditure of funds (property rentals, advertising, materials, admin staff time, etc.) long before programs take place, i.e. deposits make it feasible for Wolf Camp to schedule programs in the first place, but our mutually understood agreement is that Wolf Camp will run the program at the safest available time in the future. Finally, no refund, nor credit, is given if a participant is a no-show without prior notice, or asked to leave a program for inappropriateness as determined by our kids, youth and adult agreements for participation.
Day Camp Preparation: Agreements, Packing List, Health Protocols and FAQ’s
Day Camp Agreements for Participation
Hygiene protocols will remain the same as last year as long as there’s still little evidence of Covid/Cold/Flu transmission in the outdoors with room to spread out. To start each day, campers must pass our health screening. If there are reports of group participants who came in contact with an infection, we may provide n95 masks to wear when less than 3-6 feet from others. As before the pandemic, we require hand sanitizing when sharing tools and materials, before entering toilets, and we train campers with proper hand washing after campers exit toilet facilities with doors left open between uses to ensure ventilation.
Full vaccinations are strongly encouraged – we follow the scientific consensus – with tetanus shot (usually given as part of the normal Tdap vaccine series) considered the most important in the field of outdoor education. Otherwise, we know that due to our 100% outdoor setting, combined with health screenings, contact tracing, supervised hand washing, bathroom ventilation, mask use when exposure has been reported in a group, and individual/family style tenting at overnight camps, the risk of disease transmission has been negligible at Wolf Camp, so other vaccination records are not required.
Read our FAQ’s for more details and register asap to give yourself or a loved one the gift of camp! Or email us to be put on our our list for this program in the future. We always keep your information absolutely private, and will never share it.