Pack your bags and get ready for an adventure! Adventure Camps at Camp Ondessonk are geared towards campers who are looking for an exciting new alternative to traditional camp. Campers are challenged to learn new skills, explore new places, and experience new things. Adventure Camps range from backpacking through the Shawnee National Forest to spending the whole week surfing in Charleston, North Carolina.

Adventure Camps

There is an Adventure Camp for every interest. For more information about the Adventure Camps that are still available this summer, visit our webpage. There you will find more details about how to register, what to bring, and more.

Beginner Adventures

Our beginner Adventure Camps are Horse Camp and Hike, Bike, Paddle, and Climb. Horse Camp is perfect if you love horses and want to spend the whole week learning how to care and groom your horse, develop your riding skills, and endeavor through pastures and trails. Spend your evenings doing your favorite Camp Ondessonk activities. Hike, Bike, Paddle, and Climb offers a sampling of our more advanced Adventure Camps. Spend the week hiking, biking, paddling, and climbing! All Adventure Camps include the extra gear you will need.

Intermediate Adventures

There are lots of Adventures to choose from! With Shawnee Backpacking and Zipline Adventure, explore the beautiful Shawnee on the ground and through the air! In addition to backpacking for two days, enjoy three different zip-line experiences throughout Southern Illinois. In Horse Adventure Camp, explore the beautiful Shawnee National Forest while building horsemanship and outdoor skills. It is preferred that campers have participated in Horse Camp as a prerequisite before attending Horse Adventure. Climbing Adventure campers spend their days on the rocks, learning techniques and climbing skills. One day is dedicated to learning to ascend a rope high into the forest canopy with a professional tree-climber. The Mountain Biking Adventure program entails learning all about bikes and then putting those skills to the test with some challenging rides off-site on some of the best mountain biking trails the Shawnee National Forest has to offer. And last but not least in Camper vs. Wild, campers learn how to survive primitively in the wild with skills like backpacking, outdoor cooking, map and compass navigation, fire building, water purification, and so much more.

Advanced Adventures

Our Advanced Adventure Camps are great for campers to use the previous knowledge and skills they gained in Beginner and Intermediate Adventure sessions or on their own. River Adventure takes campers off-site to Missouri’s Eleven-Point River. There campers will spend their days paddling and their nights camped out under the stars. The Smokey Mountain Adventure is for high school aged campers only. Campers will spend the week in Nantahala Outdoor Center in North Carolina ziplining, biking, kayaking, climbing trees, and more. Our new Adventure Camp is Surfing Adventure. Go to Charleston, North Carolina to surf with professional surfing instructors as well as kayak, hike, and paddle-board.