Weekend Outings 2022-23

Trails for Youth is our newest awesome community partner and shares so much of our passion for getting young people out into nature--but their favorite way to do so is on wheels! They will be leading a dozen of our students on a fun afternoon of mountain bike riding. So grab your helmets, and let's go!

On Saturday April 22, Wilderness Kids sets off to a new climbing spot for our talented climbers and those for whom this will be a first - Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland. Thanks to all our partners -- PATC, ¡Escala! DC, and the American Alpine Club -- for making days like this happen. Climbing is about so much more than the climbing!

On April 29, Wilderness Kids sets off with our partner Calleva to paddle the Potomac River. We are excited to get our students into kayaks and out on the water, where one can see the world from a whole new perspective.

On May 6, Wilderness Kids gets back in the water but this time with a sail, not a paddle. Thanks so much to our partners at the Washington Sailing Marina right here in Alexandria for getting our students out in the water, teaching them to come about and jibe, and enjoy the breeze against their skin.  

Two weeks after our first trip on the mighty Potomac we will go again. To give even more young people a chance to feel the beauty of the water underneath them and to let those who enjoyed it the first time have another go. Thanks to our partners at Calleva!

For our first-ever spring campout, Wilderness Kids will head to the beautiful Burgundy Center for Wildlife Studies (aka, the Cove) to search for salamander, hike to beautiful West Virginia views, jump in a pond, and sleep under the stars! Thanks to Burgundy for this wonderful opportunity!

Just a few weeks ago, we admired Great Falls from Maryland's Billy Goat Trail. On March 4, we stayed on the Virginia side of the river and 18 students and 3 volunteers and our staff enjoyed beautiful views of the Potomac while, hiking the River Trail Loop at Great Falls. We walked over rock and boulder, and through forest and field, enjoying a nice late winter day. 

Wilderness Kids had a great adventure - Greatest Of All Time? - on the Billy Goat Trail on Saturday February 11. Our students marveled at the power and majest of Great Falls and then embarked up, down, and over the many rock formation that make up this greatest of DMV area trails. 

On Saturday, January 21, twenty of our students climbed their way to the top of the walls at Movement Gym - a wonderful partner of ours who enables great introductory climbing experiences for our students. Eight volunteers from ¡Escala! DC, PATC, and the American Alpine Club came out to teach our students new skills. And for the first time, our students learned to belay climbers! Another new skill to notch in their belt!

On Monday, January 16, in honor of the life of service led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Wilderness Kids students gave back to the community through a service project at Dyke Marsh Park. Students picked up trash and cut invasive English Ivy from trees. As Dr. King said,"Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace." Our students were great!

On Saturday, January 7, Wilderness Kids shed our hiking boots, handed over our climbing harnesses, dropped our paddles, and instead laced up our ice skates for the first time ever. We had a fun day on the ice at Cameron Run. Read all about it here.

What better way to say goodbye to fall and welcome in winter than to bundle up and enjoy a nighttime walk with holiday lights. What an evening of winter wonder! Happy holidays to all!

On November 19, we ventured to Gallaudet University for a day of ropes challenges and learning about non-verbal communication in cool, experiential, team-building exercises. And, oh yeah, we also took to the skies on a zipline!

We were excited to return with the girls and women of Space of Her Own, a wonderful Alexandria mentoring organization, to the ups and downs of the scenic Billy Goat Trail on November 12!

On Sunday, November 6, Wilderness Kids ventured to beautiful Riverbend Park and enjoyed a day beside the Potomac. And, rock-skipping (a now favorite Wilderness Kids activity) was most certainly on the agenda!

On Saturday October 29, our friends at South Block quenched our thirst with some yummy smoothies as we offered a chance for those who have never camped to check out what it is "almost" like. We set up tents and hammocks and a clothes line; we played corn hole and roasted hot dogs and smores; and we explored options for kids to join us again on weekends and this summer. Thanks to all for coming out!

On Sunday, the 16th of October we ventured to Carderock and with the help of friends from ¡Escala DC!, the American Alpine Club, and the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, our students scaled the walls of that beautiful park and hiked along the Potomac. Read about how climbing isn't just about the climbing here; and check out what the Zebra Press had to say here.

On Monday, September 26, Wilderness Kids revisited the site of our first ever outing - the beautiful Prince William Forest. This time, however, our students were greeted not with snow and ice but with the lush colors of late September in Northern Virginia. Our students set out for a 5-mile hike, across three trails in the forest and even came across a Copperhead Snake! Some fun wildlife excitement for the day!