Our granddaughter went to Trackers Camp El Cerrito. Well organized Professional staff Fun activities Very positive experience read more

We've been doing trackers for years. The kids have a good time but I wanted to weigh in on the pricing of late. The price has gone through the roof, but I'm really irked by the timing. Drop off is at 9:30 and pick up at 2:30, so essentially 5 hours (little more than a half day camp). It's already expensive at nearly $750 a week, but then you have to pay substantially more if you want to pick up or drop off at the same time as most other camps. Basically you're getting a half-day camp at more than full-day camp prices. Really annoying to get nickled and dimed this way. read more

My teenage son enjoyed his time at trackers El Cerritos. He really enjoyed spending time with the instructors Nick and Levi and the kids that go there. read more

Amazing organization. My son is 9, every summer break, winter break, etc I put him in something to keep him busy. We've done EC Rec, Monkey Business, KCC, Hanabi Judo, to name a few. They are all great. I think at 9 though, sometimes entertaining him can be difficult. I signed him up for thanksgiving 3 day break camp. He did Dino one day, archery, and martial arts. They spent time playing games, building forts, throwing axes, archery, whittling wood, taking in nature, practicing martial arts and just having an overall great time outdoors. Drop off/pick up is easy and we'll organized. All the staff seem to love being outdoors and sharing it with the kids. There is a wider selection for summer. Five stars and good value. Register early and save some cash. read more

A great camp for older kids, but badly organized for younger kids. Supervision of younger kids is sparse and if they get an injury or get grumpy they get sent home. Since the sites are placed way up in the hills, getting there can be a challenge for a mid-day pickup. I'm not sure why they can't set up an art / craft table for the kids who have a bad day or who still throw tantrums. As it is our week here was a disaster with us watching the phone like hawks waiting for a call to hear that our Kindergarten son had a tantrum and we would have to run and pick him up ASAP in the middle of a workday. They do caution that kids must follow directions or they will be sent home, which is reasonable for 8+, but it is unreasonable to think that younger kids will behave that predictably. read more

~~~TRACKERS ROCKS ~~~ My son has many fond memories. Your kid will love it too. I wish we had this when I was a kid. They are very creative (they know what kids like) and they are very organized. We didn't realize we had a bunch of credit with Trackers after everything got cancelled with COVID. I told them my son is aging out of the camp now and we have no more interest in paying for more camps, so they refunded all our credits back! read more

Trackers Bay has been part of our family for over 7 years. Our kids love it and now, our friends' kids are coming too. We miss our time at Trackers since COVID hit but we will join again once things reopen. Trackers has been amazing to us and we are thankful for the program. Our only complaint is that it doesn't have a location further south of Berkeley in the East Bay. We travel 1+ hrs one way to get there. Talk about dedication! We love it that much. read more

Trackers is an amazing program for children in this day and age! It gets them outside learning about nature and survival skills. They build friendships while working together as a team! My son loves it! read more

This is one of our daughter's favorite camps. She threw axes, she whittled sticks, she hunted for alicorns, she found animal tracks, etc. Every day was a new adventure and it was all outdoors and active play. Highly recommend for any one who values the "classic" camp life: low-tech, high imagination and fun. We'll be heading back next year! read more

If you sign your child up for the Blacksmith camp at Trackers' Camp East Bay Hermes, be aware that there is a reasonable potential that your child will get burned. I don't want to be unfair to Trackers. They offer children, most of whom live in very "safe" worlds, the chance for adventure. But parents should also realize that blacksmithing involves very HOT metal and it is no joke, even if it is being offered in a kids' program. My son received a medium-bad burn on three of his fingertips the first day of camp. Our friend who attended the same day also got burned, but not as badly. No one from the staff met me at the car to tell me anything about the burns, so I had to ask them to come over to give me more detail on what happened after my son showed me his fingers. The counselor told me that it's not unusual for kids to burned. I asked why they weren't wearing gloves. The counselor told me the kids could have gloves if they wanted them. My son said they were not offered gloves. I spoke with a camp administrator later and was told that sometimes more serious injuries happen when kids ARE wearing gloves - i.e. a spark of hot metal landed in someone's glove. They feel the kids are safer without the gloves. I suggested that parents should at least be warned and perhaps the blacksmith program should be reviewed to ensure that counselors are following the highest safety protocols carefully. If they had mentioned the likelihood of burns on the web site we probably wouldn't have signed up for it. I guess that's what you get when you sign up for blacksmith camp. I just think parents should recognize that this camp does involve some dangerous activities, and that the risk of injury is real. Just because it is being offered to kids in a camp setting doesn't mean the staff has removed risk from the activity, and frankly, they did seem to regard the burn as par for the course, and, from my perspective, seemed to regard the safety hazards of the activity overly casually. My son soaked his hand in cold water all evening and we propped him up so he could soak it until he fell asleep - which wasn't until after 11 pm because his hand was hurting him. He has two blisters and a small cut. He'll be ok, but he decided to skip camp the next day, which reportedly involved hatchet throwing, as one of the activities of the day. Can't say I blame him. Many friends have loved the Trackers programs. They dabble in some dangerous activities, and I'm okay with that, as long as they are doing continuous safety reviews and that their counselors, who appear to often be in their early 20s or perhaps late teens, are trained to be highly vigilant at all times regarding camper safety. Well-intentioned young counselors are still developing good judgement and need constant reminders and careful supervision to ensure this program is safe. My son was excited to do blacksmith camp, but also trusted that I would not sign him up for something so potentially dangerous, and so he was really caught off guard at being expected to handle burning hot metal. Even before the burn, he was pretty intimidated. read more

We've been doing trackers for about 3-4 years. Stealth camp at Camp Hermes is good and my kids like it. Last year we did parkour, of which only one day was parkour anything, and fishing, which involved over 2 hrs on a bus each day plus there was an issue with some boats and one day the kids just walked around lake chabot. Needless to say, both were epic fails. We may do stealth again but would never recommend anything where they bus the kids. Also parkour turned out to be park-not and the kids were so bummed. You can't call a camp parkour if you only have a course set up on Thursday and they only do it once or twice. It should have been every day. read more

We sent our 10yo to Trackers for one day during Winter Break and he loved it so much that we signed him up for their afterschool program. This is a kid who will pitch a fit if you ask him to put down his video games to come to dinner and his first night home from Trackers our new problem was that he we couldn't talk him in from carving his rabbit stick* on the porch in the freezing cold. * No, I don't know what a rabbit stick is. I just know that his involves a lot of whittling. read more

Only basing this review on a singular experience sending our kids to Trackers overnight camp in the summer of 2015. We didn't know that the newly-renovated YMCA Camp Campbell existed at the time and have sent our kids there for the past 4 summers and will continue to do so. Trackers still does overnight summer camp, but not in Boulder Creek like they did in the summer of 2015. That summer, they rented land from the Boy Scouts for the camp. It was a dry, hot, dust-filled patch of land, with 1 main eating lodge and a series of yurts for the kids to sleep in. Rustic would be a kind way to put it. The bathrooms were a choice of port-a-potties or a small building with a few shower stalls and toilets that dated from the 70s. Honestly, it was pretty disgusting. The counselors were nice I suppose, but they all had a very unwashed, hippie-ish vibe. If you're into that, maybe this is the camp for you. As I recall, the website was fairly light on camp activity details, but asked each kid to select from one of 3 "tracks". I believe they were something like homesteading, survival skills and performing arts. As an added bonus, the kids that were there for the "performance arts" track were all in cos-play, as were many of the counselors. Very weird way to kick off the week. All I know is, the camp cost was roughly twice the cost of Camp Campbell and my kids came back looking like PigPen from Peanuts (because the showers were super gross and they only showered once or twice) and they were covered head-to-toe with bug bites. Don't get me wrong, they had a good time. When you're 8 years old and your away from your parents doing fun stuff in the woods, of course you're going to have a good time. I just think it was a tad too loose-y/goose-y for my taste. Example: rather than typical activities like archery etc., my daughters told me that one of the activities was Capture The Flag, but they were told to find twigs and leaves and mud and cover themselves as camouflage. Again, fun for an 8 year old, but not for parents. We literally wanted to burn all of their clothes and sleeping bags when we got home. Example #2: another activity was woodcarving. Great. Although you would probably want to think twice about letting an 8 year old use a large Bowie knife to carve sticks, right? Further, you would think the counselors would have inventoried the # of knives. Nope. Unpacking my daughter's duffel yielded an unaccounted-for, 7" Bowie knife! Now I'm not litigious, so I would never sue the camp, but I did laugh my ass off when this happened. Are you serious!?!? Again, the kids had a great time and great memories of the camp where they had to "rough it", but since then, they've been happy to go to Camp Campbell where it's a bit cleaner and newer and activities are a bit more organized. Take your pick. read more

I did a one-day adult wilderness survival basics class recently, and loved it SO MUCH, I am wondering if I'm short enough to pass for a kid so I can get into all the other cool classes and camps that Trackers puts on. I don't know. I'm pretty immature. The wrinkles might give me away, but maybe I can show up pre-camouflaged with mud. Definitely worth a shot. Trackers as a group have a definite culture, which I think is summed up by a sentence I heard was in their craigslist post seeking instructors: "Must love the wilderness and the works of Joss Whedon." So. If you would enjoy learning which local trees are suitable for use in the making of ad hoc vampire stakes, you may be a good fit for Trackers. If you think summer camp in the woods is about lagging behind the group talking with your friend and checking Facebook, maybe not so much. Looking forward to adult Zombie Camp, adult Little House in the Post-Apocalyptic Bay Area Camp, and adult I Can Kick Katniss's Ass Camp. read more

As a working mom of a nine-year-old girl, summer has been my nemesis for four years now. Around mid-February, a small kernel of anxiety is planted...summer is coming...and over the next three months, continues to expand and bloom like some sort of mutant plant. By the time May winds down, Audrey III towers over me, demanding to be fed. Summer is not coming; summer has arrived, and it's hungry! For the summer of 2013, I thought I had everything nailed down. Sometime in July, I realized that I had screwed up, and had no coverage for the first week of August. Panic ensued. Concurrent to this, a friend began posting pictures and commentary via Facebook on her son's experience at Zombie Survival Camp (!). Being a huge Walking Dead fan, this piqued my interest, and as I was desperate to cover the first week of August, I started poking around the TrackersBay website: Zombie Survival Camp, Forest Ninja Camp, Hellboy Camp, Archery Apprentice Camp, Little House on the Apocalyptic Prairie Camp...these are only some of the camps listed! The working mom rejoiced that there was space in Hellboy Camp, and the inner nerd seethed with jealousy that my lucky, LUCKY child was going to run around the Bay Area like a lunatic, immersed in a weeklong mystery involving a smorgasbord of mystical creatures inspired by Dark Horse Comics. TrackersBay has taken over the old Marmot store on Adeline, and it's perfect. The Swiss chalet architecture, stained glass windows and peeling paint feed straight into the stories that the instructors weave for their camp participants. Each night, I would drill my daughter for all the particulars of her day, and she would eagerly tell me everything in vivid, amazing detail. Oh to be a child again! The following week had space available for Little House on the Post-Apocalyptic Bay, and my daughter was having such a great time in Hellboy camp, that I decided to shuffle camps around so she could attend. I'm so glad I did. This camp focused less on the story telling, and more on teaching real-life skills and knowledge for surviving in our changing environment. My sweet little city girl now knows how to create a shelter from found items, carve necessary stakes for the shelter, start a fire, and purify water. I realize that the best reviews are balanced with both pros and cons, but I have no cons. The camp themes are engaging, the counselors are enthusiastic and the safety protocols are impressive. TrackersBay will be the first website we check out for next year's summer camp...as well as the adult programs for me! read more

STOP AND LOOK NO FURTHER! This is "the camp" for your kids. We were so excited about this camp/after school care service since we found out about Trackers some years back. My boys are mad keen about Trackers (I mean "every single program" available). As kids these day tend to be somewhat addicted to electronics, Trackers bring them back to normal. My boys see things and understand better value in life through Trackers programs. Furthermore, all the cool stuff they learn is just purely amazing. Archery, surviving skills, carving, fishing, teamwork, first aid in the woods and ...... my list can go on for miles! All the instructions/staff is down to earth, experienced and wonderful with kids. Can't ask for a better place to send your children for camps and/or other specialty classes. We LOVE LOVE LOVE Trackers, and a super big Thank You to everyone at Trackers to make this brilliant place available in the Bay Area. read more

My son who is now 11 had previously done summer day camps through Trackers in Berkeley. This was always one of his favorite day camps and what he learned while hiking and exploring really interested him. So it was not a big step to consider the sleep-away summer camp this year. The sleep away summer camp was called Homesteaders I believe. My son desperately needed time off the screen and this camp was absolutely perfect. The mix of activities, chores, group interaction and bonding was well throughout out. They learned quite a bit about plants, even made balms from the herbs and wildflowers. One day they visited a nearby goat farm. He even (willingly) kept a journal and thrived on the enthusiasm of the leaders and other kids in his group. Getting out of the city and away from the computer and iPhone was a real blessing for him. And I would recommend this camp to anyone considering screen detox for their pre-teen. read more

Programs are OK, although often less impressive/ambitious in reality than they sound--and charge for. The real problem is super-disorganized office staff. Not friendly to working parents. read more

What a great camp for kids ! My twins just finished their week and absolutely loved it ! They got to learn stealth ( which I am planning for them to use around the house ), archery skills, (not so much for that one around the house) , outdoor skills, and generally got dirty had fun and were kids !!!! The young people running the groups were great, friendly , warm , fun ! Could not recommend this enough for people wanting to get their kids outside, see something else apart from preppy perfection in a counselor, and get some wind in their kids hair ! read more

So many friends and their kids love Trackers. We really wanted to love it, but the camps AND the afterschool programs weren't the right fit for our family of physical, excitable, talkative, energetic boys. The tasks/skills they instruct are pretty impressive and provide a challenge: serious knife skills, net making, etc...but the generally chaotic atmosphere of attempting to keep a lid on a large group of excited kids learning to do semi-dangerous (not in a bad way, but in an age appropriate but still likely to result in a doctor office visit if your kid doesn't take it seriously way) was unsuccessful combination for our guys. They got sidelined, pulled out of activities, and passive aggressively managed. Not the fun loving camp experience one would hope for their child. Both of our sons' were in tears and told us they had felt excluded and lost ostracized by their counselors most days at pickup. Since all the reviews in our circle were so glowing - we were shocked and disappointed but our experience. So thought I'd share in hope of sparing other families who are more like ours the grief/upset/disappointment. read more

My son loved the summer camp and so we decided to do the apprenticeship program once a month. He is excited to go for the day. They explore all around the Bay Area and learn some super useful skills. Excited to continue this program and recommend for others as an alternative to sports sports sports. read more

I did the Adult Wilderness Survival Course. It was the best class! It was 6 hours long but it flew by. Our instructor, Jeremy, was super knowledgable and patient. He is a really good teacher. I'm a super girly girl but he made me feel comfortable. We learned shelter making, fire starting, edible plants around us, traps, and getting safe water to drink. read more

My daughter has been to Trackers and loved it. Out of all the camps she has been to - Monkey Business, Sees the Day, etc. - Trackers has been her favorite. The instructors are knowledgeable outdoors people, fun, and help children gain confidence through learning survival skills. Some of her favorite activities were wood carving, archery, fire building, fishing, and more. Each camp also has a different theme: school of magic, Wilders (a pioneer skills camp based on the Little House books), fishing on the dock of the bay, fire and knives, blacksmithing, and more. There are no words to describe how much my daughter loves Trackers. She can't stop talking about it, or take off her Trackers hat for that matter. When she grows up , she wants to be an instructor at this amazing camp! read more

My son LOVES this camp. He will be in second grade this fall and did the trapping camp as well as the fishing camp over the summer. We have been trying to foster a love of the outdoors, but hiking is always met with whining... until now! The leaders were so inspiring and knowledgeable... our son said he wishes this is what school was like. We signed up for the year long Ranger's Apprentice program and can't wait to become more involved in this community. read more

This is the best camp I've ever found. My son has been attending the summer camps, spring break camps, winter break, and no-school day camps since he was six. He loves the story-based themes, as well as the hard skills (knife-safety, fire building, stealth, archery) that the patient, super-fun instructors teach. He comes home happy and muddy. The first summer he attended every session because I had to work. While I was commuting into the city to sit in an office, I felt so happy that my son was being whisked off into the forests of Oakland and Berkeley. The instructors at Trackers go above and beyond to help your child succeed, have fun, and stay safe. Jess, the director is flexible and enthusiastic. Duncan is a kind and knowledgeable instructor I'm so glad to have my son around. Heidi kicks butt (she can make fire glow different colors with her MAGIC), and it's so great to see that the female instructors (including Cassie and Lynn) are just as hard-core (if not more so) that the guys. My only criticism, and this isn't really about trackers, and more about it's customer-base, is that I wish there were more girls at the camps. There are a good handful, but I wish more parents would send their girls off hiking, exploring, and wandering in the woods. read more

If you are looking for nature programs for kids or adults this is the place to be. For free, you can join "Nature Nerds Anonymous" or pay on a sliding scale rate for more in depth learning like the wild edible plant classes, bowmaking and survival. You will meet up with people who are passionate about being immersed in nature. read more

My child attended a week of the tracker camp held at Rudgear Park in Walnut Creek this summer. She had an amazing time, and while doing so, discovered a passion for the outdoors. I was very impressed from the first check-in by the caring and calm disposition of the camp leaders (apparently many are college students, some PhD students). I like how careful the counselor was at check-in to ensure the kids had enough water (we were looking at some 100 degree days for that week), and how respectfully the counselors spoke to me and to my child. My kid had SO many stories of fun games and adventures to beaches, etc. at pick-up. She learned to safely use a carving knife too! I had a little trouble later in the week with adding someone to give permission for pick-up (despite me calling the office and changing my kid's online profile), because they keep one printed out sheet for the entire week. This is a very minor issue, and really the only thing I can say that is even remotely negative about this camp. I only wish we could send her all summer, but it's a little pricey (worth it, but still pricey)! We've signed up for the year-round program in Berkeley. Love the mix of counselors with having both young men and young women. Really happy with this camp, and I would recommend it to anyone! read more

The instructors are amazing. The female staff are empowered and knowledgable and amazing role models. This place is magical and creates magical experiences for kids! :) read more

I sent my son to a week long overnight summer program. He came home so ill, he had to be HOSPITALIZED! I don't blame Trackers for my son getting sick, but I was appalled by how they handled the situation. I was never notified that my son was ill until he got off the bus and he himself told me that he had been ill for two days. When I attempted to contact a supervisor, I was referred to one of the counselors whom took no responsibility for any neglect. I am writing this to warn parents of Trackers poor staff training and protocols. read more

My daughter went to Trackers summer camp last year. She had a good time and learned a lot.

I would give it no stars if I could.... we had the EXACT same experience as the woman below, Ani- was told the same thing, "just like me as a kid", which was indeed not a compliment. I am a seasoned homeschooling mom of 14 years with 3 boys and this has been, by far, the worst experience we've ever had with an organization. This is not the healthy, loving, nature experiencing program it claims to be. Not even close. We are now driving 1 hour each way to a different nature program where our son can actually enjoy his day outside instead of being made to feel bad for not being good at what the instructors insisted he do and he couldn't be happier. Found what we were looking for and so appreciative after the horrible experience with Bay Trackers- We appreciate their response to our review, however it does not properly reflect what we experienced by any stretch of their imagination. They did not try to make it a good fit, we did not have expectations that were unrealistic and I spent many hours communicating our concerns to the instructor and his supervisors and that too is documented by them and us. I won't go into details but please know, unless your child fits into their box of expectations, you could be embarking on a really difficult path that involves situations that are just horrible. I will give them this- they try hard and refuse to believe that their way is not the best way as I was contacted after I insisted they change the incorrect info in their response, very kindly by Jess I will add, but more power to them, as our experience with them was dreadful. It's nonsensical to us how our son can be a productive, happy, welcomed addition to another nature program but was such a problem for them. read more

This camp is great! It's creative and fun outdoors. And they were incredibly helpful and flexible when plans changed and we needed to rearrange. Thank you for making a parent's life easier! read more

I'm wondering if the negative reviews have been removed somehow...this camp was not all it's website is cracked up to be. My kid joined one of his friends for Wizard Camp and after the first day, I was told he and his friend were "too slow" and busy talking...at.summer.camp....in.the.WOODS. One of the very young counselors told me that my son reminded him of himself at that age--and it turns out that wasn't a compliment. Nice. The kid felt nagged beyond belief and the counselors (did I mention they were young?) seemed more concerned with getting to all the activities than about the kids having fun. You know--since they were supposed to be wizards in the woods. We took him out midweek and got a refund, since a week-long camp is not worth the argument. I should have listened to my friends from last year who said that the counselors yelled at the kids. And guess what? He's back at another camp where they "love having him" and "he is not slow at all". Hmmm. Edit: In response to the answer below, the kid was six at the time. There was absolutely no conversation with "both parents" since I am the primary contact for camps, and we were not told of any punching incident (ridiculous to accuse a six-year-old and horrendous to slander a kid and their parents because of a negative and honest review.) We've had no other issues at any other camps or at school. read more

Okay, those of you who have ever read my reviews before knows that I am very stingy with the 5-star rating. I don't like giving them out too easily because then they don't really mean anything. Trackers Bay deserves these 5-stars and more. If I could dream up the perfect summer camp, this would be it - except that I would make it for my age group instead of my kids. These super smart super groovy people dream up camp themes for each week that are creative, fun, engaging and tach at the same time. My kids are sci-fi/fantasy nerds so they love the "School of Magic" theme and "Middle Earth" theme but there are themes for the less geeky too. My kids have also enjoyed the "Little House" themes and are super stoked about "Evil Secret Agent" week coming up. They go out to different regional parks every day and learn about outdoor wilderness skills while role playing in awesome adventure stories. This has given my kids a lot of confidence out in the wild and so so much joy. My younger daughter, who used to be very persnickity about getting dirty, came home with her face painted with mud (and a giant smile) after they'd learned about camouflage. The counselors are super engaged and creative about how to keep the kids busy and entertained and on theme. They are so dedicated and dress-up and really care about the story telling in addition to just having fun. The admin staff is very responsive and helpful and addressed any logistical issues we had (which were all minor) with speed, grace and success. This camp may not be for every kid but they are also really good at giving you information to make that decision. That being said, I was really nervous about sending my younger child last year because she hated dirt and bugs (like pathologically) and was kind of shy. But I gave it a shot and she had a really terrific time and couldn't wait to go back this year. Sorry to go on and gush but I LOVE TRACKERS BAY. read more

My son has done a bunch of Trackers camps over the last 4 years and has enjoyed them greatly. When he describes his day it is in bits and pieces and I am always curious what a day of camp is like. I recently got to see first hand what a great camp Trackers is. After a week of fishing camp we purchased a crab net and took it to Paradise Beach in Tiburon. It was a weekday and the Trackers campers were there. What I enjoyed seeing was how relaxed the environment was. Everyone was hanging out, fishing and talking. When someone caught a fish or crab, kids would gather around without pushing or arguing. The counselors explained what they were doing and directed the kids without a fuss. Kids that did not want to fish played on the grass with other counselors (having an acrobatic counselor helped). As far as I could see, everything just rolled along, nice and easy. I don't think it is easy, but they sure make it look that way. read more

My daughter attends the home school class here. We started in January and we've been very happy with the experience. The leaders are very competent, kind and great at keeping the kids in line with patience and respect. My daughter loves the field trips and all the cool stuff she learns. The place is a real treasure for home school parents looking for some great outdoor education and social time for their kids. read more

My 12 year old daugher has attended many camps, and Trackers camps (both the day camp and the residential) has been her favorites. She came home every day (and at the end of the week for the sleepover camp) all smiles. They offered a perfect combination of fun, skills-building and respect for nature. The counselors were consistently wonderful. As my daughter said, even in between the activities, they kept lively conversations going among the campers, building real comraderie among them. read more

Both my children LOVE the Trackers programs and so do I. Top notch organization and people. The staff is engaged and super-educated. They open up new opportunities and access to nature for children, and adults. I highly recommend them. read more