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Awesome Sleepaway Summer Camps in the Poconos for Kids

All smiles, all summer long. Photo courtesy of Independent Lake camp
All smiles, all summer long. Photo courtesy of Independent Lake camp
3/21/22 - By Liz Baill

Pack your kids' bags for summer camp and prepare for parental freedom. Poconos sleepaway summer camps are the perfect place for kids to unplug, make memories, and take a break from the hustle and bustle of the school year. Whether co-ed sleepaway summer camps, all girls or boys, faith-based or secular, this list has a sleepaway summer camp in the Poconos for every kind of camper.

For more awesome regional summer camps, browse Great Summer Sleepaway Camps in the Northeast. For Overnight camps a little further from home, don't miss the Top Midwest Overnight Summer Camps for Kids and Teens, and Amazing Overnight Summer Camps in California for Kids and Teens. For a complete list of our favorite sleepaway camps in the country, check out our Sleepaway Camp Guide: The Best Overnight Camps in the US.

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Kids enjoy a variety of bonding activities at Camp Canadensis. Photo courtesy of the camp
Kids enjoy a variety of bonding activities at Camp Canadensis. Photo courtesy of the camp

Top Sleepaway Summer Camps in the Poconos

Camp Canadensis

Canadensis, PA
Ages 6-16
With 13 miles of private trails, waterfalls, and private Lake Lenape, Camp Canadensis is an idyllic summer getaway for boys and girls, with all of the summer activities and facilities a kid could ask for. READ MORE

Camp Green Lane

Green Lane, PA
Entering grades 1-11
Located in southeastern PA, Green Lane is just an hour from Philly.  This camp's close-knit community "between the arches" as the campers say, offers sessions ranging from four to seven weeks. READ MORE

Camp Lee Mar

Lackawaxen, PA
Ages 7-21
This seven-week overnight camp designed for campers with special needs intersperses the traditional camp experience with academic, speech, and life skills. The program is individualized for each child, with highly trained staff including speech and occupational therapists and educators. READ MORE

Camp Lindenmere

Henryville, PA
Ages 7-16
Located on 200 acres in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, Lindenmere is a private, coed sleepaway camp with more than 50 activities for campers to choose from, including circus arts, extreme sports, and media studies. READ MORE

Camp Lohikan

Lake Como, PA
Ages 6-16
Situated in beautiful Lake Como, this camp offers more than 65 activities, including paintball, sailing, circus arts, scuba, and spy camp. Kids appreciate the warm community and supportive counselors who encourage campers to try new things and challenge their comfort zone. One-week rookie sessions are offered during the first and last weeks of the regular eight-week summer camp season. Boys and girls of all ages are welcome. Rookie Week is limited to first-time Lohikan campers. READ MORE

Camp Oneka for Girls

Tafton, PA
Ages 7-16
Swim, sail, or waterski on Fairview Lake, Camp Oneka's beautiful waterfront.  After 110 years in operation, this small girls camp of only 125 campers, has that idyllic cozy, woodsy feel. READ MORE

Camp Ramah

Lakewood, PA
Entering grades 2-10
Spiritual education meets the traditional summer camp experience at Ramah, a Jewish overnight camp for both boys and girls.  With locations around the country, the Poconos camp is one of the most popular. READ MORE

Camp Speers YMCA

Dingmans Ferry, PA
Entering grades 2-11
Camp Speers offers one- or two-week sleepaway summer camp programs with lots of options to choose from. In addition to the traditional overnight camp experience, Camp Speers offers specialty sleepaway summer camps including Farm Camp, Rock and Roll Camp, LGBTQIA+ programs, and leadership programs.  READ MORE

Camp Wayne for Girls and Boys

Preston Park, PA
Ages 6-16
Camp Wayne has a girls camp and a boys camp situated on opposite sides of a scenic 3/4 mile private lake. Both camps offer a fun, nurturing enviornment for campers to explore, take risks, and be themselves. READ MORE

Island Lake Camp

Starrucca, PA
Ages 7-17
Island Lake encourages choice and individuality at every turn.  Rather than a pre-determined structure, Island Lake's philosophy includes personalized schedules of "majors" and "minors" geared towards each camper's unique talents, needs, and interests. READ MORE
Harnesses and helmets spell treetop adventures at Pocono Springs Camp. Photo courtesy of the camp
Harnesses and helmets spell treetop adventures at Pocono Springs Camp. Photo courtesy of the camp

Great Poconos Sleepaway Summer Camps in Stroudsburg

Pocono Springs Camp

East Stroudsburg, PA
Ages 7-15
Pocono Springs Camp is unique in its single five-week offer, which all campers attend, creating an especially close-knit community, while accomodating campers from different school schedules around the country and placing value on the other ways campers spend the rest of their summer. READ MORE

Pinemere Camp

Stroudsburg, PA
Entering grades 2-9
Pinemere is a co-ed, Jewish overnight camp for campers entering grades 2 through 11.  The camp also offers younger kids trying out camp for the first time a 3-day "spark" weekend or a week-long "pioneers" week. READ MORE

Mt. Gilead Camp

Stroudsburg, PA
Entering grades 2-12
Mt. Gilead is a Christian summer camp for girls with camp classics like "the blob," archery, and horseback riding interspersed with faith-based activities. READ MORE
Gather by the fire at Camp Timber Tops. Photo courtesy of the camp
Gather by the fire at Camp Timber Tops. Photo courtesy of the camp

Fun Poconos Sleepaway Summer Camps in Greeley

Pine Forest Camp

Greeley, PA
Entering Grades 2-11
This coed camp, beloved since its founding in 1931, has been run by the same family for five generations. PFC is located just an hour and a half from New York City and three hours from Philly, or as the campers and staff say, "up where the sky begins." For first to fourth graders not yet ready to make a session-long commitment, there's the two-day, one-night Explorers Program, which allows them to participate in various activities and hang around the campfire. READ MORE

Camp Timber Tops

Greeley, PA
Ages 6-16
Timber Tops, or CTT as campers call it, is (full disclosure) this writer's alma mater, and the perfect place for a sleepover with your best friends all summer long.  CTT is an all-girls camp, with brother camp, Lake Owego, just down the winding road. READ MORE

Lake Owego Camp for Boys

Greeley, PA
Ages 7-17
One of the oldest all-boys overnight camps in the country, Lake Owego is where campers become brothers, with all the sports facilities and adventure courses a kid could want.  Its sister camp, Timber Tops, is right nearby. READ MORE

Poconos Sleepaway Summer Camps for Kids in Honesdale

Camp Towanda

Honesdale, PA
Ages 6-17
Towanda's not only where (fun fact!) the movie Wet Hot American Summer filmed, it's also been a highly sought-after traditional co-ed sleepaway camp for over a century. READ MORE

Camp Cayuga

Honesdale, PA
Ages 6-16
Head to the heart of the Pocono Mountains for this camp, which is surrounded by wooded trails and a stream-fed lake. There are more than 60 activities for kids to enjoy, including tennis, paintball, horseback riding, trapeze, ziplines, and water sports.  READ MORE
Inflatables on the lake at Camp Chen-A-Wanda. Photo courtesy of the camp
Inflatables on the lake at Camp Chen-A-Wanda. Photo courtesy of the camp

Poconos Sleepaway Summer Camps in Thompson for Kids

Independent Lake Camp

Thompson, PA
Ages 6-17
This summer camp program offers flexible options of two to eight week sessions so families can chose what works best for their camper.  The camp's deep commitment to diversity and inclusion as part of its core philosophy sets it apart from other camps. READ MORE

Camp Chen-A-Wanda

Thompson, PA
Ages 7-16
Nicknamed "Chenny," Camp Chen-A-Wanda has served thousands of campers for over 80 years in the Pocono mountains. This camp is for girls and boys ages 7 through 16 and includes Color War, Olympics, and a camp carnival each summer. READ MORE

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