Walter Scott Camp & Learning Center (CCIW Disciples Summer Camp)

Walter Scott Camp & Learning Center (CCIW Disciples Summer Camp) hosts overnight and day functions in a camp setting that includes access to disc golf. The program uses a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces, including a lodge, cabins, yurts, and shelters, along with outdoor fire pits, a playground, and a waterfront and lake. Groups using the camp follow specific equipment and check-out procedures, such as returning recreation equipment like disc golf gear, balls, hula-hoops, water guns, lifejackets, and paddles to designated storage areas after use.

The camp has been in operation for 63 years and was founded in 1962. Its mission statement is “Planting wild seeds in people for the future of Creation.” It functions as a campground open to all and welcomes people and groups of all faiths or no faith, including churches, faith communities, non-profits, educational groups, governmental agencies, families, weddings, businesses, schools, and clubs for overnight and day functions. It is a ministry of the Christian Church in Illinois and Wisconsin, and CCIW-sponsored youth camps run seven to eight weeks during the summer months while rentals to families, churches, and other organizations happen year-round. Volunteers are described as incredibly important to the camp, with the facilities, lake, and dam originally created by volunteers and thousands of volunteer-hours every year maintaining and improving the campgrounds.

The camp can comfortably sleep up to 50 people in indoor bunks or 100 people in all sleeping spaces and can host day groups up to 150 people. The retreat house has four rooms, each with three twin beds, one full bed, and a full bath with a walk-in shower, for lodging up to 20 people, plus a communal space with seating, a kitchenette, outside seating, and a fire pit within 50 feet of the camp’s playground. Cabin #1 is divided into four rooms with twin bunk beds and a roll-out trundle option to sleep a total of 12, with communal bathrooms that have five showers and six toilets and a central gathering room with comfortable seating for up to 8. Cabin #2 is divided into two bunkrooms, each with four bunk beds for a total capacity of 16 people, and each bunkroom has its own communal bathroom with 2–3 showers and three toilets, plus a gathering area at the front for groups up to 10. The lodge serves as the main building and contains the kitchen and dining hall, loft and basement meeting and recreation spaces, camp offices, an infirmary, and direct access to a campfire area, and it includes an accessible basement and main floor dining hall, upstairs conference rooms, an 8-bed loft sleeping area, a basement activity and meeting space, and fiber powered WiFi. Two yurts each provide a single circular room with four sets of bunk beds to sleep 8, are equipped with electricity, and are cooled in summer through a built-in ventilation hatch and adjustable windows. Eight shelters offer rustic camping, each sleeping between 12 and 16 people with a mixture of wooden structure and canvas tarps that can be opened and closed depending on the weather.

The campground is described as a learning center and sanctuary and allows pets on the grounds on a leash. It is a smoke-free environment for tobacco, marijuana, vaping, and similar products, with possible designated smoking areas and times set by the caretaker. Alcohol consumption is allowed in sleeping structures and adjacent fire rings under specific policies and a facility usage agreement. Guests may stay for a maximum of 7 consecutive days before being away for at least 7 days, excepting paid staff and volunteers or interns. Non-CCIW groups are required to sign a facility use agreement, non-CCIW large groups are invoiced for at least 50% of the quoted stay unless cancelled 6 months in advance, and a non-refundable security deposit of $200 is required for all groups. The waterfront is available at guests’ own risk, and life jackets are required anytime a person is in a watercraft.

Recreation equipment must be returned to designated storage areas after use, and groups are responsible for leaving the facilities as clean as possible. Broken equipment, physical damage, or deep cleaning as a result of a group’s stay may be added to the group’s final invoice. The check-out procedure includes returning furniture to its original position, returning camp linens to the laundry room, returning all dishes to the kitchen collection window, returning cots to their storage area, returning and reorganizing sports equipment, games, and crafts in their proper places, removing all recycling, compost, and waste to proper containers, and checking out with the caretaker unless other arrangements have been made.

Testimonials from past participants and families describe personal experiences at the camp. Pamela Logan Larrick states, “Great memories at a beautiful location for me and my daughters!” Christy Toler states, “The best place to bring you closer to God and meet a lot of wonderful people that you will never forget :).” Zack Mapes states, “Words cannot describe how Camp Walter Scott will impact you. A great place and always great people. A must for all youth!!!” Mark Akers states, “I have many good memories of Camp Walter Scott as a camper and counseling wonder groups of kids. It is and always will be a special place for me and my family.” Charles R. Payne states, “Awesome place! Special place to the Payne family.” Ed Taylor states, “As a camper, counselor, and director over the years, my appreciation of Camp Walter Scott has only deepened. Consecrated by the lives joined in Christian community and God's unfolding creation, this space continues as a witness to hope. Personally, I am excited for the new energy in developing sustainable creation care and genuine hospitality.”

Last updated January 9, 2026.