Honest reviews and deep dives on specific summer camps — what they cost, what they offer, and whether they're worth it.
OMSI is the most recognizable name in Portland summer camps. It's also the most expensive, with programs ranging from $550 to $2,260 per session. And because it's OMSI — the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, a Portland institution — parents often assume that the price reflects quality without asking whether it actually does.
Denver has three museum-based summer camp programs that are worth the premium price.
In 1910, the Camp Fire Girls organization was founded in the United States as one of the first nonsectarian, multiracial youth organizations in the country. Camp Fire Columbia has been operating in the Portland area since the early days of that movement.
The YMCA vs. private camp debate comes up in every Denver parent conversation about summer.
There's a camp in Southeast Portland, on Milwaukie Avenue, that teaches kids to make fire with sticks.