Typical Day at Camp
Purposeful mornings, spirited afternoons, and all-camp evenings — with plenty of room to just be a kid.
A day at Susquehannock has a comfortable rhythm. Mornings are for skill-based clinics and instructional swim — real coaching in a small group, so campers make genuine progress at what they love and try things they never have.
Afternoons turn spirited with the season-long Orange & Blue competition and daily free-choice time where campers pick their own fun. Evenings bring the whole camp together for campfires, games, and traditions — and a rest hour and staggered lights-out make sure everyone recharges. Sundays start a little slower, with a later breakfast and morning chapel.
Hour by Hour
Hill Camp (Boys) and Lake Camp (Girls) run on their own daily schedules. Take a look at each.
- 7:30 a.m.Wake-up bell
Rise and shine to the morning bell.
- 8:00 a.m.Breakfast
A hearty family-style breakfast to start the day (8:30 a.m. on Sundays).
- 8:45 a.m.Cabin cleanup
Campers tidy their cabin and get set for the morning.
- 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.Morning meeting, instructional swim & specialty clinics
The camp gathers to kick off the day, then two things run side by side: level-based swim lessons at the Tripp Lake waterfront, and a morning clinic for everyone else — skills coaching, Run Club, a workout, sailing, or chapel on Sundays.
- 10:15 a.m.First clinic — fields & courts
Coached instruction in one sport. Basketball, soccer, lacrosse, hockey, tennis, baseball, volleyball, ultimate — on rotation.
- 10:50 a.m.Second clinic — something different
A different sport, deliberately. Campers get real breadth rather than one thing all summer.
- 11:25 a.m.Third clinic
The last before the whole camp heads to the lake — and often where the week’s coaching finally clicks.
- 12:00 p.m.Camp swim
Most days the whole camp heads down to the lake together before lunch, lifeguards on duty. On the other days this becomes a fourth clinic.
- 1:00 p.m.Lunch
Cabin inspection, then lunch together, family-style.
- 2:00 p.m.Rest hour
The middle of the day slows down — an hour in the cabin after lunch to read, write home, or do nothing much, before the afternoon starts.
- 2:40 – 3:55 p.m.Orange & Blue
The camp-wide team competition — leagues, games and officials, running all session long.
- 4:05 – 4:45 p.m.Free choice
Campers pick their own: gaga, frolf, spikeball, sailing, archery, the Art Barn, bird watching, or a book in the shade.
- 5:00 p.m.Free swim
Open swim and waterfront fun on Tripp Lake.
- 6:00 p.m.Dinner
Dinner together, then get ready for the evening.
- 7:00 – 8:15 p.m.Evening program
Most evenings the Orange & Blue competition carries on — flag football, angleball, hockey, soccer, volleyball — with campfires, cookouts and counselor sports in between.
- 8:30 – 10:30 p.m.Lights out
Wind down and lights out, staggered by age group.
- 7:30 a.m.Wake-up bell
Rise and shine to the morning bell.
- 8:30 a.m.Breakfast
A hearty family-style breakfast to start the day.
- 9:05 – 9:20 a.m.Morning meeting
The whole camp gathers to kick off the day together.
- 10:15 a.m.First clinic — fields & courts
Coached instruction in one sport. Soccer, netball, street hockey, lacrosse, tennis, basketball, field hockey — on rotation.
- 10:55 a.m.Second clinic — something different
A different activity, deliberately — from field sports to archery and an afternoon in the Art Barn.
- 11:35 a.m.Sports & free choice
The first of two free-choice blocks — campers pick what they want to do.
- 12:15 p.m.Free choice
A second free-choice block: free swim, frolf, giant Jenga, a waterfront intro, or something quieter.
- 1:00 p.m.Lunch
Refuel together, family-style.
- 2:00 p.m.Rest hour
The middle of the day slows down — an hour in the cabin after lunch to read, write home, or prepare a cabin skit, before the afternoon starts.
- 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.Orange vs Blue
The camp-wide team competition — leagues and games that run all session long.
- 4:15 – 5:00 p.m.Free swim
Open swim on Tripp Lake with lifeguards on duty.
- 5 o'clock5 O'Clock Somewhere
A named late-afternoon block of its own: ping pong, giant Jenga, molkky, boccie, knockout, or letters home.
- 6:00 p.m.Dinner
Dinner together, then get ready for the evening.
- 7:00 p.m.Evening program
The whole camp comes together for something different every night — campfires and singalongs, cabin skit night, square dances, cookouts, an overnight. Across a session, nothing repeats.
- 8:30 – 10:30 p.m.Lights out
Wind down and lights out, staggered by age group.
What They Play, and What They Pick
Most of the day is coached and scheduled: campers rotate through sports by division, which is how they end up trying things they would never have picked. Twice a day they choose for themselves — a skill to work on in the morning, and free choice in the afternoon.
Coached, on rotation
Scheduled by division — the breadth, not the choice
Three coached sports a day, chosen for them — plus swim and the Art Barn.
- Basketball
- Soccer
- Lacrosse
- Hockey
- Tennis
- Baseball
- Volleyball
- Ultimate
Morning specialty clinic
Campers pick one — about three offered each day
A skill to work on, rather than a whole sport.
- Tennis serves
- Hockey goaltending
- Baseball pitching
- Soccer dribbling
- Golf swing
- Run Club
Afternoon free choice
Campers pick one — about four offered each day
Forty minutes of whatever they feel like.
- Gaga
- Frolf
- Fricket
- Archery
- Sailing
- The Art Barn
- Reading
- Den building
Games your camper will come home talking about
Angleball · Buffball · Home Run Derby · Fricket · Frolf · Gaga · 9-Square · Roofball · Nukem · Quidditch · Battleships · Gigantus Ball · Gentoos · Run Rabbit · Sardines · Molkky · Kan Jam · Giant Jenga
Signature Moments & Traditions
Roughly in the order a session meets them — from the opening days through to the last night.
The Susquehannock Combine
Hill Camp (Boys)
A skills showcase where campers try events across the whole program and set the tone for the session.
Orange & Blue
The camp-wide team rivalry, and the spine of the summer — a draft, a pep rally, a Game of the Week, daily afternoon leagues in both camps, and a decathlon along the way.
Evening Campfires
Songs, skits and stories around the fire, plus cookouts, square dances and cabin skit nights.
Independence Field Day
First session only
A camp-wide field day of games for the Fourth of July.
Jim Steen Memorial Regatta
First session only
The first session's day on the water, and it is the playful one — games and races on Tripp Lake rather than a scoreboard.
Serengeti
Second session only
An all-camp day big enough to need its own set-up day beforehand — and a rain date, because it is not one to lose.
Jon Kulp Memorial Regatta
Second session only
The second session's regatta, and the formal one — a swim-meet-style competition on Tripp Lake with heats and results.
Capture the Flag
Second session only
Not a twenty-minute game here. It takes a whole afternoon and most of a campus.
The Hootenanny
Lake Camp (Girls)
How Lake Camp closes a session: the awards and superlatives ceremony in the chapel, and then the Hootenanny — a dance practiced for weeks and set up by the leadership campers on the day. Hill Camp closes with its Orange & Blue Awards Banquet.
Orange & Blue Awards Banquet
Hill Camp (Boys)
The close of the season, and the night of the Chicken Feed — fried chicken and jelly sandwiches, served at camp for longer than anyone can remember. Then superlatives, awards, and the Orange & Blue result at last.
As campers grow, so does their role — our oldest campers step into the CIT/LIT leadership program, learning to lead the very days they once looked forward to.