Girl Scouts River Valleys Summer Camps
Camp Elk River, 10775 237th Ave. Northwest, Zimmerman, MN 55398
About
Girl Scouts River Valleys Summer Camps offers activities such as archery, mountain biking on a trail with a skills course, canoeing, kayaking, and horseback riding. Campers also take part in key log rolling, a low ropes course, outdoor skills, science activities, swimming, and tent camping. Additional activities include building campfires, going boating, hiking, doing arts and crafts, campfire cooking, playing teambuilding games, and making art.
• Ages: 7–18 years old
Girl Scouts River Valleys Summer Camps includes sleepaway (resident) camp for grades 2–12 where campers stay overnight for 4 or 6 nights, troop camp attended with a Girl Scout troop and volunteers with camp staff leading activities and coordinating meals, family camp attended with an adult family member, single-day day camp without overnights, and volunteer-led single-day day camps in various regions. The program’s mission statement notes that camps are backed by expert staff and are described as a safe environment where campers try new things knowing their fellow Girl Scouts and camp counselors support them. The primary summer camps are accredited by the American Camp Association (ACA), and all resident camp locations are ACA accredited, indicating programs that meet American Camp Association, industry, and government standards.
The history of the camp property includes acquisition in the 1960s by purchasing several farms, with day camp held in the Timber Meade Area since 1969. In 1968, Discovery ’68, a regional round-up for Girl Scout Seniors, took place on the prairie for two weeks in June, and in 1979, 1,000 campers and adults attended the Prairie Dog event. In 1985, an Equestrian Center, modern bathhouse, and Tree House cabins were built near the Red Barn to support a resident camp horse program, and the Red Barn was renovated. In the early 1990s, a fundraising campaign provided Timber Meade Area buildings, the Gray Koch Program Building, The Pines dormitory, and Lake Barbara, which opened in June 1993. From 2018–2020, another fundraising campaign added the Whispering Prairie equestrian neighborhood and a 2.1 mile mountain bike trail and skills course.
Lake Barbara is a sand bottom swimming pond with an adjacent large bathhouse that includes a changing area, modern showers and restrooms, and a health/first aid area, and it is surrounded by “The Promise Path,” a brick path honoring and memorializing people and events in Girl Scouting. Whispering Prairie equestrian neighborhood includes a large covered riding arena, a program center, and two duplex cabins. Gray Koch dorms and The Pines offer dorm-style sleeping with multiple bunk beds in each room, and Duplex Cabins (Morgan and Pinto) have seven bunk beds on each side, with all housing including electricity, flush toilets, and showers. Girl Scouts River Valleys Summer Camps use five unique camp properties in Minnesota and western Wisconsin—Camp Elk River, Camp Lakamaga, Camp Northwoods, Camp Singing Hills, and Camp Edith Mayo—for summer camp programs.
Testimonials from campers and a parent include statements such as “If you keep trying, you will reach your goals,” “The best thing was the archery—but I loved all of it!,” and “Even if you’re scared keep going.” A parent noted that their camper had an “awesome experience,” that the camp “pushed her beyond what she was used to,” that she came home “more confident,” and that she made new friends from throughout the region and is planning next year’s experiences with them.
Last updated July 26, 2026.
• Ages: 7–18 years old
Girl Scouts River Valleys Summer Camps includes sleepaway (resident) camp for grades 2–12 where campers stay overnight for 4 or 6 nights, troop camp attended with a Girl Scout troop and volunteers with camp staff leading activities and coordinating meals, family camp attended with an adult family member, single-day day camp without overnights, and volunteer-led single-day day camps in various regions. The program’s mission statement notes that camps are backed by expert staff and are described as a safe environment where campers try new things knowing their fellow Girl Scouts and camp counselors support them. The primary summer camps are accredited by the American Camp Association (ACA), and all resident camp locations are ACA accredited, indicating programs that meet American Camp Association, industry, and government standards.
The history of the camp property includes acquisition in the 1960s by purchasing several farms, with day camp held in the Timber Meade Area since 1969. In 1968, Discovery ’68, a regional round-up for Girl Scout Seniors, took place on the prairie for two weeks in June, and in 1979, 1,000 campers and adults attended the Prairie Dog event. In 1985, an Equestrian Center, modern bathhouse, and Tree House cabins were built near the Red Barn to support a resident camp horse program, and the Red Barn was renovated. In the early 1990s, a fundraising campaign provided Timber Meade Area buildings, the Gray Koch Program Building, The Pines dormitory, and Lake Barbara, which opened in June 1993. From 2018–2020, another fundraising campaign added the Whispering Prairie equestrian neighborhood and a 2.1 mile mountain bike trail and skills course.
Lake Barbara is a sand bottom swimming pond with an adjacent large bathhouse that includes a changing area, modern showers and restrooms, and a health/first aid area, and it is surrounded by “The Promise Path,” a brick path honoring and memorializing people and events in Girl Scouting. Whispering Prairie equestrian neighborhood includes a large covered riding arena, a program center, and two duplex cabins. Gray Koch dorms and The Pines offer dorm-style sleeping with multiple bunk beds in each room, and Duplex Cabins (Morgan and Pinto) have seven bunk beds on each side, with all housing including electricity, flush toilets, and showers. Girl Scouts River Valleys Summer Camps use five unique camp properties in Minnesota and western Wisconsin—Camp Elk River, Camp Lakamaga, Camp Northwoods, Camp Singing Hills, and Camp Edith Mayo—for summer camp programs.
Testimonials from campers and a parent include statements such as “If you keep trying, you will reach your goals,” “The best thing was the archery—but I loved all of it!,” and “Even if you’re scared keep going.” A parent noted that their camper had an “awesome experience,” that the camp “pushed her beyond what she was used to,” that she came home “more confident,” and that she made new friends from throughout the region and is planning next year’s experiences with them.
Last updated July 26, 2026.
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