This camp was not so good!! When my eldest son was in middle school (7th grade) back in October of 2015, he felt like he was in a jail cell due to the beds/ dens not being super comfortable and wasn't able to sleep most of the nights. The food was not good, except the pancakes. My son felt homesick during the week of camp. Also, he returned home with a really bad head cold afterwards. The shower water was way too cold and 2 minutes was not enough time for my son, so he wasn't able to shower at all during his camp experience. My son said he would rather shower in a clean private space (like his own home/ residence) vs a public space like this in a cabin full of other kids. The bathrooms were so dirty and my son found a lot of ants crawling near the toilets. No way he would not ever do this kind of camp trip ever again read more

CAMP CUYAMACA This weekend I attended a retreat with a group at SDSU for the weekend, to relive the space that 6th graders used for this camping. I've done 6th grade camping, so reliving the experience but with a new area was awesome! The bunk beds were extremely creaky, like every second you move, you would wake up every single person there. The beds were also extremely DISGUSTING, I wiped down three times, and it was black every single time, I ended up throwing the blanket underneath because of how disgusting it really is. The cleaning team can definitely do a better job going through it. The activities is what made this review a 4 star, the environment itself is bright and the lodges are all labeled in such adorable details, like "Wood Craft Lodge" or "Fox Lodge". There was rock shaping and wood crafting, really enjoy those parts. The people there were also kind, shoutout to Tim and Monique for being incredible cooks and guides to some of the activities! The food itself was okay, it was not something I'd go for seconds, but it will do the job for you and make you full. The cooks still worked extremely hard to bring everything out and always had no problem bringing more, they were always kind! Overall, the camping space was decent and I'd recommend anyone coming by! read more

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My kid went to camp returning to tell lots of lovely stories: -chicken served pink and undercooked -water was cloudy everyday -plates and cups given out to use still had food on them -cold 2 minute showers- -plumbing smelled like death -70 campers to a cabin -hard old cringy bed-bunks -bed time was 7:15pm meant in bed and NO talking ready for wake up at 6am. Den attendant yells at kids. -eat quickly as you cannot get extra food unless you slam it down and might get lucky -wake up time you have 10 minutes to get ready plus use the bathroom which was a wait time of 20 minutes -not allowed to know or ask what time is it. You will be ignored! Pro: activities were decent and camp guides if you got a good one sent pictures of the kids. Baffled by the high cost and military style camp that is run here. Cheers to camp memories- one my kid will never forget!!!! read more

Some of these reviews are ridiculous. Complaining about the food, showers, restrooms, cabins and bunks? Just a reminder that this is camp not a 5-star resort and spa. If you're on the fence about sending your kid to camp with their school, just do it. Let them disconnect from electronics, let them miss being at home. LET THEM BE KIDS. Yes, some of them might come home with sniffles or a tummy ache- so what?! They'll be just fine. My youngest just came home from camp this afternoon- he had an amazing time playing in the snow, learning new things, and making new friends! Shoutout to Mr. Justin, Mr. Fishy, and my son had the best time with you guys! read more

Camp Cuyamaca - Day Camps Near Me - Julian, California

My child went to this location for 6th Grade Camp. Per my child, each cabin has a center room and four separate sleeping areas with about 16 bunks each. My child said the bunks were metal and a bit rusty with thin mattresses. (I've seen pictures online and they look like prison cell bunks). Just make sure your kid has nice comfy blankets from home. The showers were also like gym ones with very little privacy. My child did not like the food either. Those were the main complaints. But otherwise they spent lots of time outdoors, and did a variety of activities with some free time in between. My child said the counselors and leaders were nice. read more

Camp Cuyamaca - Day Camps Near Me - Julian, California

My child went to this camp and returned sick. There was an outbreak here that is being investigated. No communication at all with parents. Kids were left with fevers and vomiting without parent communication. Extremely negligent behavior. Extremely poor mitigation policies (if they have any at all). I hope the medical staff were all fired. These are kids we are talking about and the adults in charge need to be held responsible. Never would I recommend this camp. Ever. read more

This camp is horrible. Don't recommend never come got pneumonia from this two minute. Showers are awful. I usually need five minutes minimum lots of people barfing everywhere people just overall being weird, bad teachers, and even when I notified the teacher that I had a headache and a fever he told me to go eat some food and drink some water that did not help everything hurt. My back was hurting because of the hikes, especially after the six hour hike we also went down to the creek and there was snakes everywhere. I almost got bit never come overall a zero out of 10 experience. read more

Camp cuyamaca was the best thing for my child (this is her). I keep telling everyone this and will continue to say that the counselors were AMAZING and the hike were both safe and adventerus. We learned a lot about nature and ourselves along the way. The food was good and the activities were on point. The rock wall was the best one I've been on yet and my night counselor told stories every night that were really inspiring. I've been wanting to give a review for a few months and now I finally am doing it! Cuyamaca was an amazing 10/10 experience and I hope every 6th grader gets to have the opportunity to go and have their own special experience. Btw the bad reviews are 100 percent false. read more

The time I went to camp cutmaca was in February and it was cold. But besides the weather the activity's were very fun. We did archery, bouldering, and many hikes. Everything was lovely except the food and sleeping, the food was not my favorite and I lost 6 pounds after. The first night was the best for sleeping, but the others I was awake for multiple hours. The hospitality was great, but they wouldn't let some children call home. read more

In south wind half the people had to leave at night because the teacher Mr.shawn that was in charge of me/ them left all the doors and windows open and halve of them got sick like me also there where kids that got In trouble just for farting at night naturally. This made me really mad because I could not hang out with my friends that left or were sick. And the food was horrible/ we had some ants In Our food and I also had like 20 bugs on my bed and in my water. One food in particular mad 5 kids barf because there was hair in the food. The kids where starving because the food was not enough they give one pizza slice per kid and no condiments or drinks. We had these things called den lineups when ever we where bad or they needed us the will sit us on the floor with the dirt. Thise is also how kids got sick. read more

3.7 stars but i just rounded it up to 4= so camp isn't as bad! like no you aren't going to be chased by a mountain lion and have to hunt your dinner. you do ONE 6 hour hike. and while yes it is tiring it's not that bad! you take breaks and visit cool places (possibly i did it) like Rock Canyon. (thank you ms.claire! you were the absolute best even if we weren't the best to you!) also if you are not in the same cabin as your friends be prepared. i was not and they were all in the same cabin and i felt extremely lonely, especially that you don't get to see them really except the last day and talent show. but (i heard after i left thanks a lot to my friend that you didn't tell me earlier!) you can possibly move cabins. but also it is a good opportunity for new friends but i still would've preferred to be with all of my friends as like i said they were in the same CABIN?!? (tip: i love writing stupid ik! but me and my best friend wrote letters so we can keep contact so if you would like to do that definitely do!) anyway not to spoil too much but ima talk about showers. i recommend practicing like 2-3 times like i did before to be prepared. you get 2 minutes and its not that bad, but i recommend putting shampoo in your hair before the shower so you can just rinse like i did (as a girl with thick wavy hair). also the shower curtains are not all the way to the floor..? like they said it is, (it really isn't!). by the way before concluding all of this, the food was mid. thank you to the cooks though i know they work extremely hard! the best food was pizza, the worst was the enchilada or like the "rice". in total i loved camp but not being with my friends kinda messed up my experience and honestly made me feel lonely as even though i became stronger friends with people when i would talk to others in my cabin they would walk away in the middle of me talking or something (like girl...!) anyway if you are nervous don't be it's a once in a lifetime experience so make good decisions! read more

In camp my hike leader was having mental breakdowns every five minutes and that was because we weren't looking at him when he was talking he and also cried and threw his water bottle on the floor. And my cabin there was people jerking off I don't really recommend this camp but the food was WAYYYY better than school food. read more

It sucks. They have terrible food, tough beds, they confiscate toiletries and beauty supplies, no great protection, you have to bring your own bedsheets and pillows, cabins are overcrowded, and parents must sign the permission slip before any real information. It has been described as a "jail cell". Also, showers are low-quality with no privacy, and bunks have creaky, rusty metal frames with thin, bug-infested mattresses, comparable to prison bunks. There are only two cabins, one for each gender. Toilets are steel and metal. People mess around in the cabins, and lice outbreaks are common. One person said their hike leader "crashed out" when people didn't look at him when he was talking. Overall, no one should visit this place. read more

Yes, even though it rained 3 days out of 5 days, my kiddo came back with fun stories.

Camp Cuyamaca (aka Cuyamaca Outdoor School) provides high-quality, student centered science education along side instruction of social emotional wellness for 5th and 6th grade students. Staff are highly trained in delivering content and creating a safe community while students are attending. Students are immersed in and engaged with nature, attend classes that include science and recreation as well as team and community building. They get the opportunity to live together as cabin mates and enjoy meals together in the dining hall. It is a program unlike any other and I highly recommend it, and it is a once in a lifetime experience. read more

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I went to Camp Marston early 90s and built it up to my kid as the greatest week ever . My 6th grader just got back from Camp Cuyamaca and it was no Camp Marston . According to my kid the negative reviews were spot on . Sad really. Also a counselor named Brissa should find a new line of work . She doesn't have the right temperament for the trade . read more

I did not enjoy this camp. I went 1/30-2/3 in 2023 It was pretty cold, a kid who should've gotten suspended didn't even though they broke laws!! The food was awful, the showers were not good, it felt uncomfortable and too close together. I was supposed to make good memories, it ended up by giving me regret... so yea read more

when I went there for sixth grade camp my school is a HMS I went there the food was bad the showers were only 2 minutes I did not like that I still had soap in my hair and they took me out. also the beds were so hard and rusty and it smelled as well I wish I can give it a zero star. read more

I also love their hiking. I love to hear that they always keep us safe on hikes and I am glad to hear that they never have incidents were someone got attacked by a wild animal. I also love their activities read more

SEND A SAFETY INSPECTOR PLEASE!! My son came home (along with 50+) students sick. He said that the camp was old and dirty. The food was disgusting and inedible. On top of it, he felt like he was imprisoned for the entire week. I received a phone call from the director, which made me feel uncomfortable as a parent. I tried several times to call back and left 2 messages, however no call back. Now, my son is traumatized from the camp. What went on there is my question?? Please think twice before sending your child. read more

first off i hope parents read this because i read reviews before my daughter went to 6th grade camp here and all of them are true now im going to add mine the kids were greeted with pink colored chicken drum sticks and sun chips . the food was not good my daughters entire class did not want to eat the food only the snacks. all the kids complained about the cleanliness of the camp grounds from the cabins to the restrooms were not kept up overfilled trashcans spilling to the floors and no toiletries in the restrooms. my daughter disliked it so bad her and many of her classmates requested to go home after the second day many of them feeling sick, hungry and homesick . i went to the camp ground myself to see it and pick her up and the nurses office was full of sick kids many with fevers and stomach bugs most likely from the food, my daughter was sick for a few days following her visit the only positive comments she had were for the staff of camp cuyamaca saying they were very nice and stepped in if there was any bullying going on. i should have listened to my gut after reading the reviews but my daughter wanted to give it a shot and she didn't last she made new friends but overall was not a good experience and came home on the 3rd day. read more

Camp Cuyamaca - Day Camps Near Me - Julian, California

terrible - food was awful, beds looked and felt like prison-like. This could be so much better! Disappointing all the way around. Kids said they would never ever go back. read more

This camp was so not worth it you gad 2 min showers and you could not get any space to change lucky my friends where smart people to cover us oh and there's more the food was ok but the milk was expired I'm writing this while sick and the only hike I liked was the power line walk nothing else. And prepare yourself for hot showers they burn so don't expect to have a fun time there read more

This was the worst time of my life. I went in November 2022 and it was terrible. It was cold the food was disgusting the beds were hard the showers were not private and we're very short the kids were jerks the counselors were jerks everything just sucked. read more

I went to this camp when I was in the 6th grade back in 1967. I'll never forget it. The rustic cabins were memorable. I enjoyed being there and found the scenery and the activities to be fun and interesting. I remember going home on the bus and wishing we had been able to stay longer. I don't recall anything about the food so it must have been okay. read more

DO NOT SEND YOUR KIDS HERE!! horrible conditions and counselors. Contact me directly and I can give you more insight. I wish our school would chose another camp school and not this one. What a shame, ruined my child's experience. Very eery and something off about it. Spare / save your child from this place. read more

This camp was terrible. It felt like hell the entire week my class stayed. The food made my friends and I throw up and I found a squirrel in the toilet. read more

the food was good.the pizza is super good over there. Some hike leaders were mean and some were nice. I recommend mr sam hes nice and makes you feel like you at home. i wish the showers were longer only 2mins for a shower. read more

I went 6/5-6/9 in 2023 and I would do it again if i could. The 2 minute showers and the food aren't that bad, most of the 1 and 2 star reviews are either over reacting or just happened to have a bad experience. The beds do look like they're from a prison but if you bring a sleeping bag they're not uncomfortable (they do squeak if you move at all and there's a chance your pillow might fall off the bed.) Most of the hikes are pretty cool but that really depends on your hike leader/group and you definitely need to bring a water bottle on hikes. There's a lot of really cool activities like rock climbing, archery, geocaching, carving/sanding wood, and probably a few others. Even though I overall liked it i do have a few complaints; there is literally no privacy at any time, you have almost no free time/rest, i've asked some of my friends and everyone agrees that for some reason you're just tired the whole time that you're there, the video lies you only get to eat during meal time or if your hike leader brought something so no snacks, might have been just me but a lot of times i would still be hungry even right after eating, sometimes the hikes/activities just suck and you can't do anything about, if you get Ms. Dona/Donna as your night time counselor i'm so so sorry for you. Tip: if it looks/smells/tastes weird or you think its expired DO NOT EAT IT especially if its milk nothing happened i just dont trust the milk, or the meat for some reason. also trust the bunk bed graffiti unless its about bugs read more

worse experience I could ever imagine, the food was terrible, the instructors were mean, the activities were boring an instructor touched dung on the middle of the hike then yelled at me for looking away and everyone in my cabin incluing me got extremely sick. SEND A SAFTEY INSPECTOR read more

I went there and it was not good the adults there were completely unfair and mean they let the girls do the stuff well the boys had unfair treatment read more

Its not good, it sucks a lot and its really boring. I would not recommend it. It was honestly prison but for kids.

I went here for 6th grade camp. Worst experience I had in middle school! The hikes were terrible, some counselors were so rude for no reason. and the cabins had terrible beds. I was feeling homesick, and asked to talk to my parents. The whole time I was there, they wouldn't let me talk to them. I wasn't even able to talk to my siblings, who were in different cabins. There was one counselor who actually kept me sane. Audrey! read more

Worst 6th Garde experience I was here from 11/14 - 11/17 with Greg Rogers Elementary (Which was my school) also with Hillcrest Elementary and the time I was there was the worst experience literally almost the whole boys cabin had to go home (including me) and they left because they were throwing up (including me) and all because a kid named Abel. Abel was the first kid to threw up it was Monday our first day then our cabin leader didn't send him to the nurse like if he never threw up and I pretty sure he spread the stomach flu to all of us. Tuesday more kids threw up. Then Wednesday even more kids threw up. Wednesday night going into Thursday was complete hell for me I couldn't sleep at all due to all of kids barfing their brains out and hearing the sound of liquid splashing on the floor. In the morning I threw up then threw up again at 1:30 PM I got picked up I was crying the way home because I wanted to do the all day adventure. I really hope Camp Cuyamaca gets shut down. read more

WORST NIGHTMARE!!!!!!! My worst 6th grad camp experience. had to leave on the second day of food poisoning. vomiting every minute. Absolute WORST experience of my LIFE!!!WARNING: DO NOT EAT THE CHICKEN QUESADILLAS!!! read more

i went here in like 2020 and i would do it again honestly, yeah the food isn't the best but that's why you only eat certain things #toughitout. those tarter tots were actually so good. the camp leaders were nice and same with the activities. it wasn't a bad experience , it was really fun. i will always remember my spot during that one hiking activity. we were supposed to remember the spot as a place were we could take our mind and relax. 10/10 would do again oh and JENNA IS THE BESTTT will never forget her read more

I went to camp last month and it was amazing! The activities were so fun and the food was amazing!

My child had a terrible time here. He broke his glasses on the first day and no one would let him call home and tell us. I did get a call that a female student slapped my son in the face while hiking because he tried to step in and help a student up a rock and this girl slapped him and told him "she was already helping her up!". The camp assured me they handled that incident so I let it go only for my son to be sent home the evening before the very last day at camp because he made a fart joke! A 6th grade boy making a fart joke at camp, Imagine that. Upon picking him up we learned the girl who had physically assaulted him earlier in the week was allowed to stay at camp! It truly sounded like they had very low tolerance for boys of this age group in comparison to girls and the boys were treated pretty unfairly. My nephew went here also and my sister was also called several times for very minor things. A couple boys at his school call it prison camp. Seems like they had similar experiences. Save your money and take your child on a weekend camping trip instead. read more

I went here this year and it was pretty fun but the showers were way to short didn't feel like to 2 minutes and I felt like my den needed to set boundaries with each other , also the food was pretty good. read more

I went to Camp Cuyamaca as a 6th grade kid. We went shortly after the wildfires in 2003. It was my first time away from my family ever, and yes: I got homesick, I cried once, I was afraid of the dark, etc - all the things you're afraid of as a kid who has never really left home for a week. I was encouraged to not call home, and now looking back that was KEY. I learned to figure out my separation anxiety and leaned on my friends for support. This not only brought me closer to my friends, but taught all of us a little empathy. These girls I leaned on at camp are still friends to this day and we are all in our late 20's. I remember getting muddy, scraping my knees/hands on hikes, learning about the nature, and appreciating the environment after seeing such severe damage (there was a lot of burned nature around still when we went, about 8 months post fire). We got to be kids here. And that's the point of going to camp. We sang songs and told stories, laughed, cried, got scared, but also had some of the best memories of our little lives. I remember the bus ride home sitting with new friends and singing songs when our parents were waiting for us at pick-up. We talked about camp for weeks and all really wanted to go back. I did not have a cellphone or social media back then, none of us did, so there was nothing really to "un-plug" from except our TV's. Yeah, there were times I didn't like the snacks or the food options, thought I needed more time in the timed showers, or wanted to sleep in a little more in the mornings but that's all part of the experience! We weren't the cleanest kids 24/7 but that's because we played in mud and got dirty. We weren't always chipper in the morning but that's because we stayed up all night whispering stories and jokes. We weren't always stoked for the meals but we ate anyway because we burned so much energy doing all the exciting camp things. We had to take turn doing dishes and that wasn't an issue because the majority of us did dishes at home. We made it fun by singing and throwing soapy water at each other. I had a gluten allergy in 2003 (before it was even a thing) and I was allowed to bring bars and things to keep me going if the meals weren't always ultra accommodating. There were times we were tired, uninterested in learning or the specific game being played, got annoyed of other kids around us, wanted to take a nap but couldn't because of the chatter in the cabins, but looking back every little thing we did was essential to learning in general. We had to learn to get along, sleep with noise around us, be patient during an activity that we maybe didn't enjoy, learn to recognize when someone around us was homesick and comfort them, etc. On the first day every kid is reluctant to some degree, side by side with their friends, cautious, maybe a little scared. When the busses took us home, we had scabs with funny stories behind them, new songs in mind, inside jokes, a ton of dirty laundry, new secrets, new friends.. Camp is a week of your young life. A WEEK. I begged and begged not to go, and camp ended up being one of the few vivid memories I have from 17 years ago. Encourage your kid to go. Work with their teacher if they are scared or need special accommodations for diet or anything like that. Pack hand sanitizer, wipes, a laundry sack, and love notes. CC is worth it! Hope they have a good time! read more