About
Shaffer's High Sierra Camp offers activities such as archery, arts and crafts, performing arts, hip hop, swimming in both a pool and a lake, volleyball, disc golf, and gold panning. Campers also take part in outdoor adventures including hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, a challenge ropes course, shelter building, mountain biking, mountain boarding, horseback riding, lake kayaking, paddle boarding, and whitewater rafting, along with a camp fire and evening program. The camp has no Wi‑Fi and limits enrollment to 120 campers, and it offers specialized program tracks in mountain biking, rock climbing, and outdoor living skills, as well as a leadership training program for returning campers who are at least 14 years old and attend for two weeks or longer.
• Ages: 8–17 years old
• Schedule: For sessions of two weeks or longer, one potential backpack route is a 12 to 14 mile (19 to 22 kilometer) stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail from Jackson Meadow Reservoir to Sierra City.
Shaffer's High Sierra Camp is led by Lisa and Scott Shaffer. The camp is recommended by Outside Magazine and the LA Times; Outside Magazine named Shaffer's High Sierra Camp as one of its five favorite camps in the U.S., and Newsweek listed it among the nation's best camps. The camp has a policy that prohibits unlawful discrimination based on a wide range of protected characteristics. The camp offers pick-up and/or drop-off for campers at the Reno airport, and campers can hike a stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail during the ascent to the top of the Sierra Buttes, where an observation tower offers views of over a hundred miles on a clear day, including to Mt. Lassen; the renowned Downieville Downhill mountain bike route is nearby. Parents in testimonials describe campers returning home asking to extend their stay the following summer, mention activities such as rock climbing, mountain boarding, crafts, hip hop, mountain biking, sleeping in a tipi, and cooling off in mountain lakes, and note that their children met campers from around the world and wanted to reunite with their “camp family.” Testimonials also state that staff are described as supportive and encouraging, that one child with Down syndrome was made to feel welcome with close supervision and enthusiastic staff, and that some families report their children attending multiple summers and wanting to return each year.
Last updated May 11, 2026.
• Ages: 8–17 years old
• Schedule: For sessions of two weeks or longer, one potential backpack route is a 12 to 14 mile (19 to 22 kilometer) stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail from Jackson Meadow Reservoir to Sierra City.
Shaffer's High Sierra Camp is led by Lisa and Scott Shaffer. The camp is recommended by Outside Magazine and the LA Times; Outside Magazine named Shaffer's High Sierra Camp as one of its five favorite camps in the U.S., and Newsweek listed it among the nation's best camps. The camp has a policy that prohibits unlawful discrimination based on a wide range of protected characteristics. The camp offers pick-up and/or drop-off for campers at the Reno airport, and campers can hike a stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail during the ascent to the top of the Sierra Buttes, where an observation tower offers views of over a hundred miles on a clear day, including to Mt. Lassen; the renowned Downieville Downhill mountain bike route is nearby. Parents in testimonials describe campers returning home asking to extend their stay the following summer, mention activities such as rock climbing, mountain boarding, crafts, hip hop, mountain biking, sleeping in a tipi, and cooling off in mountain lakes, and note that their children met campers from around the world and wanted to reunite with their “camp family.” Testimonials also state that staff are described as supportive and encouraging, that one child with Down syndrome was made to feel welcome with close supervision and enthusiastic staff, and that some families report their children attending multiple summers and wanting to return each year.
Last updated May 11, 2026.
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