Prospective Families
The West Experience
Timber Lake West is a traditional, co-ed short session sleep-away camp. Each of our four week sessions provides a well-rounded and complete experience with a beginning, a middle and an end. We power pack a full summer of fun into two shorter sessions. This allows our families flexibility without compromising on tradition or camp spirit. Each of our sessions includes athletic programming, Intercamp tournaments, waterfront activities and a robust elective program. Each session has a Visiting Day, a color war, and closure activities inevitably ending with tearful goodbyes and lifelong friendships.
Located in New York’s Catskill Mountains, Timber Lake West is just over 2 hours northwest of New York City and 3 hours from Philadelphia. Set on a mountaintop, its 380 secluded acres features its own private spring-fed lake and an outstanding array of summer camp facilities.
Our Mission
We teach children the skills of making and keeping friends, while building their self-esteem, self-confidence and resilience.
Be Your BEST at WEST
At Timber Lake West, we foster the values of integrity, responsibility and respect in a friendly, safe and fun environment. Our camp community is dedicated to making each camper and staff member feel seen, valued and important. The skills and relationships that campers develop with us travel with them through young adulthood. Our ultimate goal is that our campers return home with a newfound sense of independence, meaningful friendships and memories that will last a lifetime.
Our unique STARFISH values program encourages character development and highlights the importance and impact of small acts of kindness. Click here for more information on this program.
Our Staff
Unique to Timber Lake West, and an integral piece to the puzzle, is the role of our Leadership Staff at camp. Each group has a Head Counselor and a Friendship Coach who act as the liaisons between parents and their children throughout the course of the session. Mature Division Leaders are the direct supervisors of the campers and counselors in their group and assist with all activities, bunk issues, and staff performance/evaluation. The role of the Coach is actually very similar to that of a parent. The Coach will provide attention and care to each camper by paying close consideration to the relationships and interactions they have with other campers and staff, monitoring that all special needs are being met, and serving as a compassionate and empathetic adult figure.
The key to your child’s great summer camp experience has everything to do with the quality of the staff. At Timber Lake West, we adhere to a simple formula: we want the BEST staff, at the BEST pay, trained to do the BEST JOB. With a 1:2 staff to camper ratio, we work to ensure the best possible care, instruction and supervision for our campers.
Our staff salaries are the highest in the industry, ensuring a wider pool of quality applicants (college sophomores start at a $3,000 base). Our full-year training program, which employs the services of top psychologists and experts in the child development field, provides our staff with the proper “tools” to work with campers to achieve our goals of building relationships and enhancing self-esteem.
Our in-bunk general counselors are chosen based on several interviews, reference checks and background checks. Our “specialty” counselors go through the same screening process, but are also all professionals in their fields. Our lead instructors come from winter jobs at esteemed private schools, universities and athletic facilities.
Additionally, our counselors are evaluated by their supervisors throughout the summer and are eligible to earn an additional $600 in cash bonuses. This Evaluation Program has evolved over the years and is one of the reasons that our staff grow so much throughout the summer. This means NO TIPPING for parents on Visiting Day or at any other time of the summer.
