Programs and activities

During your stay with us, you’ll have access to a wide range of fun outdoor leisure activities including:

• archery
• basketball
• beach volleyball
• bike skills
• bush walking (Silvan Dam is directly accessible from the camp and provides various scenic opportunities for walking. Participants can explore the temperate rainforest of the Dandenong Ranges National Park.)
• bushfire cooking (in a sheltered fire pit)
• campfire (with sing-a-longs, toasted marshmallows and scary stories, our night campfire activity is a memorable experience)
• concerts (traditionally held on the last night of camp, participants perform skits, tell jokes, sing songs and discover the hidden talents of their friends)
• creek viewing (to see the resident platypus, native crayfish and eels)
• eco-warriors (explore our bushland and earn your eco-warrior stripes by tearing out weeds, propagating plants or planting native habitat along the banks of Olinda Creek)
• flying fox (an exhilarating ride down a 100m zip line - open to participants in year five and below only)
• gaga (similar to dodgeball)
• giant swing (fellow teammates haul participants up to 18m high before they swing)
• high ropes adventure course
• hut building
• low ropes
• nature trails
• night walk (participants embark on a fascinating night journey around the camp and discover a range of cool nocturnal animals)
• pump track (for biking)
• swimming (in the outdoor heated pool)
• star gazing
• tennis
• trails through the Dandenong Ranges

Enquire today to find out more about our camp activities.

Please note: some programs incur an additional cost due to external facilitators.

Should you be faced with a rainy day, you can access a range of indoor activities suitable for all types of groups including:

• board games
• indoor initiative challenges (instructors take participants through problem-solving activities designed to encourage teamwork, communication, co-operation and decision-making)
• movies (bring your own)
• nature craft (participants use natural resources to create works of art to take home)
• table tennis
• wildlife encounter (Mt Evelyn is lucky to have its own wildlife room - displaying live and taxidermy animals).

Enquire today to find out more about our camp activities.

Please note: some programs incur an additional cost due to external facilitators.

In addition to YMCA-led activities, teachers or group leaders can also lead the activities (for example if you choose a mid-range option - where some of the activities are led by our camp leaders and others by your teachers or group leaders).

Teacher or group-led activities include:

• bush cooking (participants gather around the campfire and learn all about cooking safely in the bush, on the menu is delicious damper bread)
  
• disco (from vibrant party lights to great tunes, a night camp disco is something that group leaders can run and is fun for everyone involved! All you need to do is speak to us about what music plugs you need to bring for our speaker system)
  
• gaga (similar to dodgeball, teachers or group leaders can run a game of gaga in the outdoor gaga pit)
  
• hut building (construct your own hut in the great outdoors)
  
• orienteering (participants learn how to read maps and develop their orienteering skills in a team environment by finding 15 marks and solving puzzles)
• nature craft (hunt the bush for natural items to make an artistic piece of your own creation).

On arrival or leaving camp, groups are also able to bush walk in or out of camp from Silver Dam.

Want to add some adventure to your day? Enquire today to book your next camp.

About the program

We are excited to be working with schools from across the Yarra Ranges and beyond to facilitate fun and educational camping experiences in the school setting. Mt Evelyn Discovery Camp works with the school to personalise the program to ensure an engaging experience for all ages.

• Schools across Melbourne
• Ideal for first time school campers
• Involves students and parent / guardian
• Overnight
• Activities and catered by the Y staff

When does it run?

We generally run the Camps to School program on Friday evenings, starting at 5:00pm and finishing on Saturday at 10:00am after breakfast.

Activities

Our programmers are experienced in facilitating fun activities for a wide range of ages. No matter whether our campers are preppies or grade 6, we will design fun and engaging programming around their age and ability.

Catering

Each program coordinator can work together with the school to tailor a menu and supply dinner by our experienced cooks.

Age range and group size

We can design a campout for ages ranging from prep through to year 12. For us to facilitate the program, we require a minimum of 15 families to participate.

What to bring

Tent, sleeping mat, sleeping bag or bedding, pillows, camping chairs, weather appropriate clothing (it can get cool at night) and most importantly a sense of fun and adventure! We can supply tents and sleeping mats where required.

Cost

We aim to make this an affordable program for families with pricing starting from $25.00 per person (including dinner, programming and campfire fun) with an additional $12.00 for tent hire and $5.00 per sleeping mat.

If your school would like to get involved in this program, please submit an enquiry.

Don’t miss out on exploring Mt Evelyn Discovery Camp and the greater Dandenong Ranges area. With its fresh air and relaxing atmosphere, the camp provides easy access to a multitude of local attractions including:

• art and craft shops
• Dandenong lookout - Sky High
• Emerald Lake Park
• galleries
• Healesville Sanctuary
• Lilydale Lake
• Olinda, one of the highest villages of the Dandenong Ranges
• Puffing Billy
• Rhododendron gardens
• Silvan Dam
• strawberry fields
• William Ricketts Sanctuary
• wineries.

Enquire today to find out more about our camp activities and local attractions.