About

Ohio Wilderness Boys Camp is a nonprofit therapeutic wilderness camp for boys in Summerfield, Ohio. The camp describes itself as a long-term residential facility for boys ages 9-15 who need more intensive care than a home or school environment typically provides.

The camp first enrolled boys in 2009 and says it operated as a residential camp permitted by the Noble County Department of Health before receiving an Ohio Department of Job and Family Services license in October 2016 as a private, nonprofit therapeutic wilderness camp. Its outdoor school is listed by the camp as a non-chartered, non-tax-supported school registered with the Ohio Department of Education.

The program is led and supported by conservative Anabaptist churches in Ohio and nearby states. Its model uses outdoor living, peer-group structure, mentoring, letter writing, periodic home visits, and what the camp calls natural consequences; its site gives 18 months as the average stay.