Ready for an Outdoor Adventure?
Need More Outdoors offers outdoor adventures and activities for young people
Our programs include Learn-to-Kayak camps for aspiring whitewater kayakers, EcoSplash Camps for nature lovers, and Leadership Camps for those looking to develop confidence and leadership skills as a young person. We can also work with you to develop custom programs for a group of individual young people or a whole school program. Our focus is on young people from the 828-area code of western North Carolina, but we welcome interest from all young people who might find their outdoor self by spending some time here in western North Carolina.
ADVENTURES
Learn to Kayak Weekend Camps
Our weekend camps are for young people in the 828 region who want to learn to kayak. Learn-to-Kayak camps are day camps that start at 9AM and finishes at 4;30PM. This is an opportunity to be introduced to whitewater kayaking, to the rivers of western North Carolina and to meet other young people who share your inspiration to spend time outdoors. All equipment, instructors, meals and snacks are included. All you need to do is come with a great attitude and desire to learn how to kayak!
Eco Splash Camps
EcoSplash Camp is all about getting outside! Our goal is to engage young people’s curiosity in stream ecology and in spending time on the river. Our 2-day camps split each day between rafting/kayaking, followed with environment education that allows kids to do fish counts, learn about salamanders and more fun.
We also offer custom camps for schools and youth programs that can be tailored to your program’s needs.
Nantahala Kids Club
Nantahala Kids Club is open to all young people in the Western North Carolina area to come together and enjoy kayaking. It is an opportunity for beginners to learn about kayaking, while advanced paddlers can work on skills, rolling and more advanced moves. NKC is the opportunity for kids ages 7 – 14 to meet other kids here in the #828, and parents to network as well. The bi-annual events consist of 4 Monday afternoon sessions and one full day weekend session. NKC includes all gear, professional instructors and qualified volunteers.
Advanced Kids Camps
Join us for any of our 2-day advanced kids camps this summer! Our camps for experienced kids include intermediate and advanced camps, as well as our favorite – Kids Leadership Kayak Camp – orientated for all levels of paddlers – from beginner to experienced. Each camp offers the opportunity to improve on skills, paddle more of the rivers here in the #828, and spend time with more kids out on the river.
Day at the Barn Camp
It’s a Day at the Farm with Need More Outdoors and Otter Creek School
Farm. Meet and learn about horses, explore trails and creeks on 50 acres, hear
about the environment and learn about fossils, enjoy lunch from local produce,
and create art.. What’s not to love?
Are you a school group, camp, special youth group?
After-school programs and custom programs are available.
Suggested Ages 8-12.
Be on the lookout for new Need More Outdoors programs and activities in the future.
Testimonials
“Eight years ago my husband and I relocated our then 10, 8, and 6-year-old kids to Bryson City. We wanted them to grow up in a small town with lots of space to play. One of the many reasons we chose this area is because of the abundance of outdoor activities.
Once we arrived, I started looking for ways to become part of our community. Since our children were not interested in traditional sports but more interested in finding salamanders, hiking, and swimming, I started to search out local activities to support them. I found kids’ whitewater kayak instruction through the Nantahala Kids Club and haven’t looked back. The NKC has been the most amazing program for my family. The patient and highly qualified volunteers of this program have taken my children under their wings and have helped me raise three amazing humans who value the outdoors, value friendship, understand their worth, and have given them skills to use throughout their life. The outdoors is their happiness, whether they are kayaking, fishing, hiking, or biking. Through the programs offered by Need More Outdoors, I have strong, confident kids who take great pride in themselves and who know they can do hard things. At some point in their journeys each one of my kids has hit a mental block, a situation they thought they wouldn’t be able to handle or conquer. And each one has had a friend, confidant, and/or instructor they met through Need More Outdoors to stand with them until they were ready to move forward.
As every parent knows, raising kids and teenagers isn’t easy and while it is a temporary phase of life it is one of the most challenging. Thankfully, there is a Need for More Outdoors (NKC and ASK). They teach so much more than river skills. They have helped my teens learn important life skills that will help them navigate the world around them. They have given my teens a safe outlet to spend their free time. My kids are choosing to spend their time together on the river or together camping, coming home with smiles on their faces and confidence that they have accomplished something new.”
-Lisa Monnat, Parent