About
Elk Trail Outdoor School offers a week long overnight experience that includes both outdoor school field trips and week long residential outdoor school programs. Participants use developed outdoor spaces for physical science learning on soil, water, plants, and animals, and take part in activities such as team building, stream morphology, play spaces, an archery range, low and high ropes courses, gaga pits, and a large group campfire gathering space. The program also hosts a summer camp program, YMCA Day Camp visits, and YMCA Camp Staff Training.
• Ages: 10–12 years old
• Schedule: Week long overnight experience and week long residential outdoor school programs
The Elk Trail Outdoor School project uses an existing school as an outdoor education learning hub called Elk Trail School, with classroom spaces converted into sleeping “cabins,” non-classroom spaces converted into meeting rooms, sleeping accommodations for staff and teachers, and a “dining hall,” and the surrounding property developed into outdoor “classrooms and labs.” The Eagle Point School District 9 and the Rogue Valley Family YMCA have partnered since 2014 to offer programs including youth sports, on-site afterschool programs, Emergency Child Care, and summer Day Camps, and they decided to work together to turn the formerly abandoned Elk Trail School into this outdoor education learning hub. The YMCA states that its mission for Outdoor School is to align with its longstanding focus on fostering connections, strengthening communities, and introducing young people to the outdoors, often for the first time.
The Elk Trail School closed in June of 2012, and the Eagle Point School District 9 and the Rogue Valley Family YMCA have been partnering together since 2014. In March 2020 the School Board voted to give the property to the YMCA, and in July 2020 the YMCA took possession of the school and property. In March 2021 the first of many grants was submitted for Elk Trail renovation, and in April 2021 BSA Scout Troop 7 and American Heritage Girls Troop OR4519 completed a property clean-up and fire suppression project. Caretakers moved onto the property in June 2021, a feasibility study with Pinnacle Architecture, Inc. began in October 2021 and was completed in March 2022, and YMCA Camp Staff Training was hosted on-site for a full week in June 2022. From June to August 2022 YMCA Day Camp used the facility for day trips, in August 2022 an adjacent property was purchased bringing the property to 12 acres, and in Fall 2022 a house was converted to camper housing and the Cafeteria was opened to cook and serve groups. In July 2023 the site hosted its first summer camp program with campers sleeping in tents and the Cozy Elk Bunkrooms, and in Fall 2023 house renovations were completed and the first group was hosted in October. In Summer 2024 the site hosted Outdoor School field trips for the Eagle Point School District summer learning program, a Cafeteria and Kitchen remodel is planned for June 2025 so on-site groups can cook and eat in the new dining hall, a capital fundraising campaign is expected to begin in November 2025, major renovations are expected to begin in January 2026, and the first multiple class Outdoor School program on site using tents and the newly remodeled dining hall is expected for Spring and Fall 2026.
Community involvement has included BSA Scout Troop 7 and American Heritage Girls Troop OR4519 completing a property clean-up and fire suppression project, as well as letters of support from the Jackson County Commissioners and a letter of support for Outdoor School in Southern Oregon. Leadership for the project includes Gary “Flame” Taylor, Associate Executive Director. State funding has been dedicated to make sure that all Oregon 5th and 6th grade students have a residential outdoor education experience, and this funding connects to the decision by District 9 and the YMCA to develop Elk Trail Outdoor School. A capital campaign is planned to fund major renovation work on the Elk Trail project.
Last updated December 28, 2025.
• Ages: 10–12 years old
• Schedule: Week long overnight experience and week long residential outdoor school programs
The Elk Trail Outdoor School project uses an existing school as an outdoor education learning hub called Elk Trail School, with classroom spaces converted into sleeping “cabins,” non-classroom spaces converted into meeting rooms, sleeping accommodations for staff and teachers, and a “dining hall,” and the surrounding property developed into outdoor “classrooms and labs.” The Eagle Point School District 9 and the Rogue Valley Family YMCA have partnered since 2014 to offer programs including youth sports, on-site afterschool programs, Emergency Child Care, and summer Day Camps, and they decided to work together to turn the formerly abandoned Elk Trail School into this outdoor education learning hub. The YMCA states that its mission for Outdoor School is to align with its longstanding focus on fostering connections, strengthening communities, and introducing young people to the outdoors, often for the first time.
The Elk Trail School closed in June of 2012, and the Eagle Point School District 9 and the Rogue Valley Family YMCA have been partnering together since 2014. In March 2020 the School Board voted to give the property to the YMCA, and in July 2020 the YMCA took possession of the school and property. In March 2021 the first of many grants was submitted for Elk Trail renovation, and in April 2021 BSA Scout Troop 7 and American Heritage Girls Troop OR4519 completed a property clean-up and fire suppression project. Caretakers moved onto the property in June 2021, a feasibility study with Pinnacle Architecture, Inc. began in October 2021 and was completed in March 2022, and YMCA Camp Staff Training was hosted on-site for a full week in June 2022. From June to August 2022 YMCA Day Camp used the facility for day trips, in August 2022 an adjacent property was purchased bringing the property to 12 acres, and in Fall 2022 a house was converted to camper housing and the Cafeteria was opened to cook and serve groups. In July 2023 the site hosted its first summer camp program with campers sleeping in tents and the Cozy Elk Bunkrooms, and in Fall 2023 house renovations were completed and the first group was hosted in October. In Summer 2024 the site hosted Outdoor School field trips for the Eagle Point School District summer learning program, a Cafeteria and Kitchen remodel is planned for June 2025 so on-site groups can cook and eat in the new dining hall, a capital fundraising campaign is expected to begin in November 2025, major renovations are expected to begin in January 2026, and the first multiple class Outdoor School program on site using tents and the newly remodeled dining hall is expected for Spring and Fall 2026.
Community involvement has included BSA Scout Troop 7 and American Heritage Girls Troop OR4519 completing a property clean-up and fire suppression project, as well as letters of support from the Jackson County Commissioners and a letter of support for Outdoor School in Southern Oregon. Leadership for the project includes Gary “Flame” Taylor, Associate Executive Director. State funding has been dedicated to make sure that all Oregon 5th and 6th grade students have a residential outdoor education experience, and this funding connects to the decision by District 9 and the YMCA to develop Elk Trail Outdoor School. A capital campaign is planned to fund major renovation work on the Elk Trail project.
Last updated December 28, 2025.
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