Young Rider Horse Camp
Two Sessions in 2026:
June 22-27
June 29-July 4
Ages 8-12
Base Tuition $1400; Restoration Rate $1700
Session Size: 16 campers
This session is designed for our youngest horse-crazy beginner riders, and is an especially nurturing program for campers who may not have spent much time away from home before. Campers will spend time with the horses every day, learn horse handling and riding skills, go on trail rides, practice in the arena, and shower the horses with love (maybe literally, with a Horse Spa!) We’ll also do lots of crafting, music, fun ranch projects, swimming, slip & slide, games, rope swing, kitchen projects, and whatever else inspires us!
Our approach to horsemanship emphasizes the special relationship between children and horses. Everyone spends time grooming and caring for the horses and learning safe ground habits. We ride primarily bareback, especially with beginning riders. 30+ years of experience have taught us that children learn to ride much faster bareback, gain their balance more quickly, develop a more empathetic relationship and better communication with the horse, and are actually safer without the trappings of tack to get tangled in and distracted by.
All riders can expect to get out on our beautiful trails, best seen from between the ears of a horse. All riders will gain balance, rein skills, and learn the gentle progression of cues that we use at Ekone to communicate with horses in a respectful and collaborative way. Some riders may practice trotting, though cantering is not included in this program. This camp is focused on beginner riders—campers with more riding experience should choose an All-Level or Advanced Riding Camp!
All Levels Horse Camp
Four Sessions in 2026:
July 6-11 | All Girls | ages 10-18
July 20-25 | All ages 8-18 *(See Note Below)
July 27-August 1 | Ages 10-18
August 3-8 | Ages 10-18
Base Tuition $1400; Restoration Rate $1700
Session Size: 18 campers
This is Ekone’s most famous program for going on 38 years, with an emphasis on horses and tons of other ranchy fun mixed in. We’ll ride every day, and there will also be crafting, kitchen projects, secret pals, games, swimming in the pond, rope swings, ranch chores, and adventures in the woods!
Our approach to horsemanship emphasizes the special relationship between children and horses. Everyone spends time grooming and caring for the horses, learning safe ground habits, and building relationships with horses from the ground while taking care of their minds and bodies.
As for riding, we ride primarily bareback, especially with beginning riders. 30+ years of experience have taught us that children learn to ride much faster bareback, gain their balance more quickly, develop a more empathetic relationship and better communication with the horse, and are actually safer without the trappings of tack to get tangled in and distracted by. For more advanced riders, we may progress with our wide selection of western and english saddles. We ride primarily in bitless bridles, keep our horses barefoot, and work toward providing the most species-appropriate lifestyle we can for them.
All riders can expect to get out on our beautiful trails, best seen from between the ears of a horse. All riders will gain balance, rein skills, and learn the gentle progression of cues that we use at Ekone to communicate with horses in a respectful and collaborative way. We offer individualized coaching tailored to each rider, balancing challenge, adventure, safety, and comfort for both horses and riders. Many riders will practice trotting; very few will canter in this short week, unless they ride extensively at home (we just don’t have enough time in a week to develop this advanced skill). Advanced riders should consider Wrangler Camp or Advanced Riding Camp!
Campers can expect to spend time with the horses for half the day, and to spend the other half playing, working, crafting, exploring, and adventuring around the ranch. We never know what we’re going to do until we make our Possibilities List on the first night, and see where the enthusiasm of campers and staff takes us!
*Note about Session 5A: All Ages session (July 20-25)
This session is inclusive of our younger riders (ages 8 & 9), but it is important to consider your camper's readiness for this session. This would be a good choice for a younger camper who exhibits lots of independence and is confident being away from home and with kids of all ages, including teenagers. This is a good fit for a younger camper who already has some experience riding. This would not be a good fit for an 8 or 9 year old camper who has never been away from home or who struggles with homesickness. If your younger camper will need some extra support, please consider our Young Rider sessions - they are designed with these campers in mind!
Advanced Riding Camp
August 10-15, 2026
Ages 10-18
Base Tuition $1400; Restoration Rate $1700
Session Size: 12 campers
This session is designed for campers who ride regularly and are ready for more challenging trails and advanced horsemanship.
NOTE: Applicants for this session must submit a (one-minute-ish) video showing them starting from a stop, progressing to a posting trot, and riding a figure-eight pattern independently. You may send this video directly to jenna@ekone.org.
Campers can expect adventurous trail rides, skill-building in the arena, and games in the playground and obstacle course. We won’t focus on any particular discipline like jumping or dressage, but this program will complement your regular lessons and allow you to build a relaxed and non-competitive relationship with one of Ekone’s amazing horses! We’ll spend intentional time with them on the ground, too, caring for their bodies and minds at the end of a long summer. Campers will be immersed in Ekone’s unique and evolving approach to horsemanship that centers the well-being of our equine partners. And we’ll have lots of adventures, challenges, successes, and fun along the way, and very likely fall even more deeply in love with horses.
For this program, campers may ride bareback or in western or english saddles, depending on rider preference and the best fit of tack for both rider and horse. Campers will be matched with a horse for the whole week; we are very skilled at matching riders with horses based on bodies, personalities, skill level, and the particular needs of both parties.
There will also be all the other fun of summer camp at Ekone, like crafting, kitchen projects, games, slip & slide, rope swings, ranch chores, and adventures in the woods!
Wrangler Camp
July 13-18, 2026
Ages 13-18
Base Tuition $1400; Restoration Rate $1700
Session Size: 12 campers
If you’re a returning Ekone teen and ready for a “stretch” experience of ranch life, riding, and wranglin’, this camp is for you!
We’ll work hard, play hard, immerse ourselves in horses, and go for loooong trail rides. This camp is great preparation for anyone who aspires to be Ekone horse staff in the future, and will build skills, muscles, and capacity for tackling life’s challenges.
All skill levels are welcome, but this camp is only open to returning Ekone campers, so that we can spend less time with orientation and more time with horses and projects!
Campers will be matched with a horse to work with consistently for the week. We’ll learn heaps about horses in general, and will spend lots of time getting to know one horse in particular, relaxing with them, learning & practicing bodywork, groundwork, and riding.
We’ll also do tons of horse service; feeding them, doing fence maintenance, scrubbing water troughs, unloading & stacking hay in the barn, pasture restoration. Wrangler Campers often tackle a big project during this session. Past projects have included building new trails, taking down big sections of hazardous fencing, land cleanup projects, and building new obstacles for the riding playground.
This camp is a good choice for more advanced riders, but all skill levels are welcome and will receive personalized coaching. Wranglin’ is an attitude; we’re looking for hardy teens interested in learning to see what needs to be done and gaining the skills to do it!
Note that speed is never our primary goal at Ekone. While we may work at faster speeds in this camp than other sessions, our priority is always the well-being of the horses, good communication between horse and rider, and safety, learning, and fun!
Horse Connection Camp
June 22-27, 2026
Ages 12-18
Base Tuition $1200; Restoration Rate $1500
Session Size: 12 campers
Are horses just your favorite thing in the entire universe? Do you enjoy whispering “I love you” into their manes? Does spending six days devoted to caring for the horses’ bodies and minds sound like the best thing ever? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, you just may have found yourself in the right place!
This is a non-riding camp; it’s a great choice for any horse-crazy campers in their riding-camp skip year!
During this session, campers will spend the week soaking in all things “horse”: feeding and chores, non-demanding time and scratches while hanging out with them in their paddocks, groundwork in the round pens and arena, bodywork and massage for the horses, learning their language, exercises for both deepening relaxation and building strength, some obstacle practice and trail exploration out on the land, the list goes on! We’ll be devoting our time to tending the horses in ALL the ways we can possibly imagine, and opening the door to connection on a different level than can be found from the saddle.
Think about it; nearly all the time we usually spend with horses is demanding something of them. “Come here, do this, let’s go over there, be good, do what I want, keep me safe.” When we take the pressure and risks of riding off the table for a minute, we get to foster a new kind of relationship with these beautiful, sensitive, wise creatures.
Times that aren’t spent directly with the horses will be spent in service to them: feeding, fence maintenance, scrubbing water troughs, unloading & stacking hay in the barn, writing poems and love notes and songs for them, etc. There will be some options for ‘free range’ down-time after lunch, for crafting, pond or slip-n-slide time, reading, napping, etc., but all of our activity times will be horse-centered in some way.
All skill levels are welcome; enthusiasm for horses is the only prerequisite!
Art Camp
July 13-18, 2026
Ages 10-16
Base Tuition $900; Restoration Rate $1200
Session Size: 18 campers
Get your crafty creative juices flowing in the Ekone Craft Area! Anything is possible, from natural dyeing to collage to basking-making to creative writing to painting a group mural together. Our craft area is stocked to the brim with paints, leather, paper-making supplies, lino-cut stamp making materials, beads, tie-dye, fabric, embroidery thread, friendship bracelets, and so many other treasures! As one camper put it: "This is a crafting PARADISE!"
Art Camp tends to include a mix of big group projects, structured teaching time, free-range crafting, crafts to take home, and art that makes Ekone more beautiful and leaves our mark on this special place.
Of course, Art Camp comes with all the possibilities that any Ekone Summer Camp program has to offer, like swimming in the pond, playing on the rope swings, hikes to the canyon, games in the forest, kitchen projects, and wild adventures!
Note: There will definitely be time to hang out with the horses (and make art about them if we want!) but this camp will not be riding.
All artistic interests and skill levels are welcome; enthusiasm for creating is the only prerequisite!
Wilderness Camp
August 10-15, 2026
Ages 10-16
Base Tuition $1200; Restoration Rate $1500
Session Size: 12 campers
Indulge your wildness and get a little feral while learning so much about Ekone land and nature!
We will have a base camp at the Ekone Bunkhouse and meals at the Yummy Tummy Cafe, but will spend most of our days and some of our nights out on the land exploring, learning, playing, and finding all the best secret spots.
Activities will include learning about edible and medicinal plants, wilderness survival skills, tracking animals, sneaking and games in the woods, building shelters, hand crafts made from natural materials, hiking down to the Mermaid Pools to swim, trail maintenance and trail creation, tending to invasive species, learning about forestry and forest management, mapping and navigating, building skills for backcountry adventures, and most importantly, deepening a sustainable connection to the Ekone land.
This is a great camp for anyone who wants to be an Ekone trail leader in the future, on foot or horseback! Wilderness Campers will learn a ton about the lay of the land, how to find their way around this place, and how to observe, watch, and listen to the land and all its beings.
Music Camp
August 3-8, 2026
Ages 10-16
Base Tuition $900; Restoration Rate $1200
Session Size: 12 campers
Music has always been an integral part of the Ekone Summer Camp program. From camp song favorites at garden parties, to Ekone-fying classics to original Ekone-inspired songs, we love making music!
Music Camp gives new and returning campers the opportunity to be inspired by Ekone magic to write, sing and play to their heart’s content.
We encourage musicians to bring an instrument, their voice, creativity and a notebook. Campers will spend time out on the land and in community to help uncover the music they'd like to make during the week. They will play music with the land, and in the process learn about the dance between space and sound, deep listening, and the origins of music.
There will be time to make music together as a full group, break off into smaller groups, and also to work on and perform solo music, if desired. Campers will have many chances to share the music that is important to them, and to share stories, feelings and thoughts about their influences and inspirations!
There will be talented Ekone staff musicians as well as guest stars (musicians with real world experience!) to bring all kinds of ideas to the week. The culmination of the session will be an Ekone-style concert giving campers the opportunity to perform in a supportive environment. If time and equipment allows, we will also try to record some of the music created throughout the week.
Music Camp is a *very* supportive community! All musical styles, instruments, and skill levels are welcome. Bringing your own instrument is not required; we have a selection of instruments to share!
Harvest Cooking Camp
July 27-August 1, 2026
Ages 10-16
Base Tuition $900; Restoration Rate $1200
Session Size: 12 campers
This camp is for all those who just LOVE everything about cooking, food, edible and medicinal plants, animals, and working with all of those things in the playground of Ekone Ranch and the new Yummy Tummy Cafe!
We’ll get a truly land-to-table experience in this camp, working closely with the bounty of the ⅓-acre Ekone garden, wild plants from the land, and fruits, vegetables, and animals produced by other awesome local growers.
Our possibilities list for this camp will be centered around the meals and dishes we want to cook together and share with the other campers and staff. Campers will have the opportunity to develop and hone culinary skills from basic to advanced, and will work with the skilled chefs who nourish the bodies, hearts, and souls of all those who come to Ekone throughout the year.
We’ll explore how to read and implement recipes, how and when to adapt recipes, how to create original recipes, and how to “cook by feel” using all our senses and our innately human curiosity and creativity. Part of experiencing our relationship to the food we eat is learning how to preserve the bounty of each season, so campers will also get to learn many food preservation techniques, and take home some special pieces of the Ekone foodscape!
This camp is made possible by the new Yummy Tummy Cafe, completed in 2023 and now a cozy, nourishing, delicious hub of Ekone Magic. Our cooks have tons of fun, and campers at this brand-new session will spend lots of time behind the counter in this wonderful teaching space, learning the secret recipes and special ways of our fabulous kitchen team.
Like every Ekone camp, there will also be plenty of time to play together, swim in the pond, sing, craft, sleep in the Bunkhouse or under the stars, make new friends, and have the transformational experience of Ekone community!
Rites of Passage for Teens
July 20-25, 2026
Ages 12-18
Base Tuition $900; Restoration Rate $1200
Session Size: 12 campers
This special session employs the nourishing land of Ekone and the power of community to support teens as they step towards adulthood. Expect this week to be reflective, joyful, and connective!
There will be solo time, group workshops, sharing circles, peer support, and skilled mentorship to explore identity, purpose, and transition.
The week centers around a supported overnight solo on the land. This experience is often a “stretch” for teens; we’ll spend much of the week preparing for this stretch and integrating what we learn from it. (And of course, no one is required to stay out on the land beyond their own personal capacity.)
Marking life transitions can play a crucial role in helping adolescents move into adulthood by providing them with the tools, skills, and sense of identity they need to navigate this important stage of life.
Rites of passage foster:
Identity Formation: Helps us develop a sense of identity and belonging within our community. Symbolic acts that mark the transition from childhood to adulthood help us understand our roles and responsibilities in society.
Self-Esteem and Confidence: Boosts self-esteem and confidence by showing us that we are capable of facing and overcoming challenges. This can be especially important during a time when we may be grappling with issues of self-worth and identity.
Social Integration: By involving mentors, family, friends, and elders, rites of passage reinforce our connection to community and helps us understand our place within it.
Connection with Nature: Spending time outdoors and away from technology can reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. Nature has a calming effect and can help us feel more grounded and connected to the world around us.
This camp includes a family circle on pick up day so teens can be witnessed in their experience and welcomed back into their community with their new gifts.
Teen Leadership Camp
June 29-July 4, 2026
Ages 14-18
Base Tuition $900; Restoration Rate $1200
Session Size: 12 campers
IMPORTANT: This program is a prerequisite to becoming an Ekone intern. Want to work here someday? Or somewhere like it? Sign up for this camp!
This camp is specifically designed for those Ekone teens who are interested in gaining the necessary leadership and practical skills needed to intern and/or work at Ekone someday, or who just generally want to gain a bunch of practical, hands-on skills that could help you in lots of career paths.
Want to be a camp staff intern, or a kitchen/garden or ranch intern at Ekone? This program will teach you a literal 10,000 important things, and get you working with your hands and body, developing situational awareness and going all-in on the dusty dirty business of life on a working ranch and summer camp, while also developing leadership skills and tools for building emotional maturity. We’ll be putting safety first and embracing danger, doing something on the way to doing something, and finding the fun in everything as we explore the many aspects of camp and ranch life at Ekone. This camp is also just great for any teens interested in gaining these types of practical skills, even if you don't want to work here ;)
At the beginning of the week, leadership participants will be assigned to the various Ekone staffing positions to get training or shadow the staff in each department, including working as camp staff with the Young Rider campers, working in the Yummy Tummy Cafe camp kitchen, and working in with our facilities staff in the shop or around the Ekone infrastructure. By the end of the week, participants will get to choose which of these areas they'd like to spend more time in.
Just like ranch life, this program will be driven by what most needs doing at the time. Our focus will be on making, fixing, and tending the many aspects of ranch life, while we also tend to our camp community and learn more about how to effectively support each other and gain the support we each need to be compassionate leaders in the varied areas of our lives.
Some potential skill-building projects include: learning safe use of power tools, taking down old barbed wire fence with fencing tools and making a giant Barbed Wire Ball, earthen plaster work, working with tile, basic plumbing and electrical skills, laying waste to bitterbrush (a very satisfying and useful kind of destruction!). Ranch life also involves caring for the ranch animals and plants, so we may also help stack hay in the barn, tend to the chickens and pigs, learn basic veterinary skills, harvest and work in the Ekone garden, and depending on interest, assist with processing chickens for eating.
And everyone, everyone will learn the fine art of running a kitchen clean-up crew and how to teach youngsters to wash dishes.
At the end of the week, each participant will receive a personalized letter of recommendation, highlighting their individual strengths, to be used for job-hunting, college applications, or other leadership opportunities.
Theater Camp
July 6-July 11, 2026
Ages 10-16
Base Tuition $900/ Restoration rate $1200
Session Size: 12 campers
Find your inner Ekone performance artist!
Theater Camp is new in 2026! During this fun and inspiring week, campers will have the opportunity to engage in creative expression through all aspects of the theater process. Campers will spend time on the land, exploring improv games, practicing circus skills, interacting with the natural world, inventing characters, and writing dialogue.
We will work together to create our own performance at the end of the week. Campers will have the choice to act in the performance, design costumes, build sets, or wherever they'd like to contribute to the creative process. Absolutely no experience required!
Like every Ekone camp, there will also be plenty of time to play games together, swim in the pond, eat amazing meals at the Yummy Tummy Cafe, sleep in the Bunkhouse or under the stars, learn new songs, make new friends, and have the transformational experience of Ekone community!
Family Camp
August 20-23, 2026 (Thursday-Sunday)
All Ages! Bring your babies, bring your grandmas!
Base Tuition $350; Restoration Rate $500; per person aged 6+
Bring your whole family to Ekone for a long weekend of forest walks, ponies, rope swings, music night, and delicious meals! “Family” could include parents, kids, grandparents, pals, coworkers—whoever you want to share some Ekone Magic with. (Kids are most welcome but not required! You can also come solo!)
Activities on offer will be casual and fun—guided hikes, music night, games on the lawn, yoga, crafts, cemetery tours, etc., but families can also relax by the pond, enjoy the rope swings and “Narnia” willow forest, go on self-guided walks, and spend some idle time however you see fit. Remember that Ekone is a tech-free experience, so get ready to unplug and enjoy the sunsets, frogs, birdsong, naps and adventures!
All kids aged 0-18 will get a chance to ride Ekone’s wonderful horses, but due to limited time in this short session, adults should not expect to ride. But *everyone* will be invited to spend meaningful time with the ponies!
Family Camp is a great way to introduce younger kids to the Ekone way of life, help nervous kids get comfortable at the ranch in preparation for summer camp, connect with other kids and families in a relaxing and peaceful environment, and get a break from the daily grind of family life (we do the cooking!)
Space is limited to 10 families. Families will share space in the bunkhouse--if you would like your own space, please let us know and plan to bring a tent!
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