Camp Kuratli at Trestle Glen

If you grew up or have kids in Oregon, you may be familiar with the Oregon Trail overnight program that is run out of Camp Kuratli, about 45 minutes outside of Portland, since a good portion of 3rd through 5th graders in Portland-area schools end up going here.

The first thing to know is that the camp facilities and buildings were built and run by The Salvation Army, and the Oregon Trail program rents from them. This means that the buildings have signs on them of when they were "Dedicated to God's Service" and I believe the food service is also run by The Salvation Army. That said, the grounds, buildings, and other facilities are generally lovely and clean. There's a large gym, two story bunkhouses with wooden bunk beds, a covered campfire, etc. The food service was also very accommodating of different allergies. The Oregon Trail program is not the only program that rents from the campground, and other events such as retreats may be here, but not at the same time.

As an adult chaperone of a 4th grader on the Oregon Trail overnight program, I was bored to tears at the "programming" of the camp. We were there two days (26 hours), and had some great hands-on experiences of churning butter, building cabins, etc., but there were also hours and hours of repetitive instruction. The camp director and all of the camp counselors were incredibly nice, but spent waaaay too much time talking, so much so that there's even a song they sing to quiet the kids for "announcement time." Cut out the 2-3 hours they spent listening over and over to how to properly clear their plates, and the whole experience would have been much better. That said, my son had a blast.