How a 90-Year Camp Is Exactly What Today’s Girls Need

In 1936, a small group of women opened a summer camp in the mountains for girls who simply needed space to grow.

They couldn’t have imagined that almost ninety years later, girls would still be walking those trails, swimming in Silver Lake, singing at campfires, and discovering who they are on the same land.

But here we are.

Camp Oh-Neh-Tah — “Silver Hemlock” — has welcomed generations of girls to 400 acres of Catskill woodlands. What started as a summer escape became something much bigger: a place where girls build confidence, friendships, independence, and leadership skills that stay with them long after the duffel bag is unpacked.

In ninety years, camp has had its challenges. But it has endured — and grown — because what happens here truly matters.

A Camp That Becomes Family

Here’s something special.

Former campers still write to us. They send photos. They share stories about their cabins, their counselors, the first time they led a hike or spoke up in front of a group.

Some send their daughters.

Others come back to volunteer, mentor, or simply walk the grounds again.

When a place stays in someone’s heart for decades, that tells you something. Camp Oh-Neh-Tah isn’t just a few weeks in the summer. It becomes part of a girl’s story.

Why Camp Matters More Than Ever

Today’s girls are growing up in a world that never really turns off.

Notifications. Social pressure. Screens. Noise.

Camp offers something different.

Real conversations.

Real friendships.

Real challenges that build real confidence.

Here, girls try new things without worrying about likes or followers. They hike, swim, create art in the Windmill studio, care for animals, read together, laugh together, and learn how to be part of a community.

They practice leadership in everyday moments — helping a cabin mate, speaking up in a group, encouraging someone who’s homesick.

They unplug. They breathe. They grow.

And for girls from underserved communities, access to this kind of space is powerful. It opens doors. It builds belief. It reminds them that they belong in any room they walk into.

Built in 1936. Exactly Right for Today.

Some things never go out of style.

Girls need role models.

Girls need nature.

Girls need community.

Girls need to feel capable.

That was true ninety years ago.

It’s even more true today.

And that’s exactly why Camp Oh-Neh-Tah is still here — and still changing lives.

One day, your daughter may look back on a summer at Camp Oh-Neh-Tah and say, “That’s where I learned I could do hard things. That’s where I found my people.” Ninety years from now, we hope girls are still saying the same. This summer could be the beginning of that story for her.