Camp Fernwood

Camp Fernwood is a traditional sleepaway summer camp for girls founded in 1921 on the shore of Lake Thompson in Poland, Maine. It runs a single full-season session of seven weeks for campers ages 8 to 15 and hosts a community of roughly 230 campers and 150 resident staff. Fernwood's stated aim is to counter the negative messages girls encounter in daily life and in the media by building a summer around simplicity, inclusion, tolerance and friendship. The camp emphasizes strengthening each camper's sense of self and teaching the value of being strong, healthy and independent so girls return home more resilient. The program covers land and water sports, performing and creative arts, with horseback riding and private tennis lessons offered as optional add-ons beyond tuition.