Summer Camps FAQ
Excited about summer camp? We are too! We know that heading off to overnight camp can be a big adventure and we’re here to make it a blast! To help you feel more at home while away from home, here are a few of our most-asked questions. Still have a question? Contact us!
Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont is a not-for-profit, residential education organization that provides 3- to 10-day programs for 90 schools and hundreds of summer campers each year. Tremont has a mission of “connecting people and nature.”
Tremont Institute’s campus is located within Great Smoky Mountains National Park, just 3 miles from Townsend, Tennessee, and a 45-minute drive from Knoxville.
For most camps, your child will be staying in a communal wing of our safe and comfortable dormitory. Start thinking now if you’d prefer a top or bottom bunk! There are separate quarters for boys and girls, as well as separate private bathrooms and shower stalls. The dorm is heated and cooled with central heating and air. During summer programs, Tremont’s faculty chaperone the sleeping quarters at all times.
Girls in Science campers will be sleeping in our tent village, and our backpacking adventure camps will be in the backcountry – of course!
Firefly and Family camps will also use our dorm for sleeping. It is important to know that we cannot guarantee single-family sleeping quarters. Our dorms will allow space for families to physically distance, but please know that you will be sharing space and bathrooms with other households. The bathrooms include multiple stalls, showers and sinks (similar to what you might find at a campground). They are not single occupancy. There may be times when you will be sharing the bathroom areas others.
Tremont has an incredible professional teaching faculty that specialize in teaching outdoors and caring for youth in a residential setting. Many hold graduate degrees in education. All of Tremont’s full-time teachers are trained medical first responders, have passed a background check, live on-site in private housing, and are available to assist participants 24 hours per day. Learn more about Tremont’s faculty.
Please don’t! Food can attract critters, and there are a lot of critters in the national park! Your child will be served 3 hot meals per day in our family-style dining hall. Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options are available – be sure to let us know if you have these or any other dietary restrictions. Occasionally, students will pack a sack lunch to enjoy during an all-day lesson or hike. Learn more about food at Tremont Institute.
We probably have extras! We have a great stock of rain ponchos, sleeping bags, water bottles, backpacks, and shoes/boots available for kids to borrow throughout their stay.
There is no cell phone service at Tremont. If you need to contact a Tremont participant, call our main office line at 865 448 6709. Messages left after business hours will be forwarded to the group the next day. Tremont has landline and internet phones throughout campus that can be used to call home if needed. Typically, Tremont restricts calls home unless there is a behavioral issue or a camper becomes ill – if you don’t hear from us, it means your child is having a great time!
We have areas set aside for the isolation of sick campers. If your camper is showing signs and symptoms of a contagious sickness, we will immediately separate them from other campers and begin the process of getting them evaluated and potentially picked up to go home.
Please ensure you or another emergency contact will be available in case an early pickup is necessary.
Tremont is a great place for exciting wildlife viewing opportunities. We often see river otters, owls, bats, salamanders, wild turkeys, deer, and great blue herons. When groups are out on trails for lessons, we occasionally see black bears in the summer months. Tremont’s faculty is well-trained to help participants respect wildlife and observe safely.
Tremont programs take place outside unless unsafe weather conditions are expected. Lessons will continue outdoors during rain, cold weather, etc. Before each outdoor lesson, Tremont faculty will ensure that each participant has the appropriate clothing and gear for the expected weather conditions. If lightning, high wind, or other dangerous weather is predicted, the program schedule will be altered to keep all participants safe.
Our riverside setting is one of the best parts of camp life! Campers explore the stream’s biodiversity, create rock art, race boats, and cool off in the chilly water during swim time. Because it’s a natural body of water, the river level can rise and fall with rainfall, so we take extra care to monitor and respond to any changes.
We have a river gauge on campus that we check daily, and in times of rising waters, sometimes hourly. We use this information to determine if we should cancel river-based activities or, in very rare cases, if evacuation is necessary.
Tremont’s campus is not in a FEMA-designated flood zone. The dorm where campers stay is well situated in regard to flood waters. The dorm sits on a rise about 40 ft above the river level, and is about 300 feet back from the river.
We are fortunate to have the National Park Service to assist us in any decisions regarding evacuations and closures. We work closely with the NPS and follow their guidance when it comes to responding to inclement weather. We also have internal protocols regarding evacuation and weather-based incidents, and we train and drill on those protocols so that we’re always ready to act quickly and calmly if needed. While evacuation due to flooding is extremely rare, parents and guardians would be notified as soon as all campers were in a safe location.
No. Tremont faculty will always be with your child, and no faculty member will ever be alone with your child. During activities, your child may participate in a ‘solo-sit.’ This is a time when the group spreads out in a fixed area to spend a few minutes sitting quietly and observing nature. During a solo-sit, campers are still being watched over by faculty. During all-day hikes, your child may participate in a ‘solo-walk.’ This is a time when each camper has the opportunity to spend a few minutes walking quietly and observing the beauty of the park. There will always be a faculty member in front of and behind the campers during the solo-walk.
It depends! A parking pass is not required during camp drop-off and pick-up. However, if you choose to do other activities in the park, you may need a parking pass. Valid parking tags are required on any vehicles parking for longer than 15 minutes inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park as part of the Park it Forward program. We highly recommend purchasing your parking tag in advance. Click here to purchase your daily or weekly pass online. All revenue will stay in the park to provide sustainable, year-round support focusing on improving the visitor experience, protecting resources, and maintaining trails, roads, historic structures, and facilities. Learn more about Park it Forward.
We will do our best to process refunds within two weeks of your request.
