Colorado Rockies Intro to Backpacking for Elementary School
Join a group of young explorers for an introductory wilderness experience that builds comfort and confidence with backcountry living skills while developing strong, fun, and inclusive teams.
Over four days, you will experience a variety of learning real backcountry skills such as backcountry cooking, map and compass use, leave no trace, group initiatives, and sleeping in tents or handmade shelters. We’ll learn about the natural environment, exploring the mountain, forest, and water ecosystems. and make lifelong friends.
In addition to learning about plants and animals and how to survive alongside them in the wilderness, you'll experience fun low-ropes activities and other on-the-ground challenges. Practice your Leave No Trace camping skills and become an ambassador to help protect natural areas for the next generation (that’s you!).
This course is great for learning skills for future wilderness adventure, like a big family trek or a longer Outward Bound expedition. Plus, you’ll have great stories to share when you go back to school in the fall!
Leaving the Comforts of Home
For some younger students, Outward Bound is the first time away from home, which may bring up feelings of homesickness. Thus, each student group is a maximum of 12 students and is accompanied by an experienced staff team to increase the care, supervision, and guidance for each student. We design our courses to set students up for success no matter how much experience they have with wilderness travel and independence.
Please note: CCK2-911 is for male-identified students, and CCK2-914 is for female-identified students.
Request a call from a course specialist
UPCOMING COURSES
This course is closed for the season. 2020 courses coming soon.
Hiking
This course includes lessons in basic travel and camping techniques. Students will carry small backpacks from campsite to campsite as their heavier equipment is shuttled by our staff. This allows students to learn fundamental backpacking skills while keeping the level of physical challenge appropriate. Along the way, students learn Leave No Trace techniques, map and compass navigation and camp craft as they get a feel for the human and natural history of the area. The simplicity of hiking gives students the opportunity to be active and to focus both internally on their own thoughts and self-reliance, as well as externally to connect deeply with others as they talk, sing, play games and spend time together without distraction.
Getting Started
If you are ready to enroll on a course click the enroll button next to the course you wish to select or you can enroll over the phone by speaking with one of our Admissions Advisors (toll-free) at 866-467-7651.
To secure your spot on a course you must submit an enrollment form and $500 deposit that is applied toward the total cost of the course and includes a $150 non-refundable enrollment processing fee.
