The Camp Wanapitei experience promotes self-reliance, cooperation, resilience and personal growth, through fun and challenging canoe trips in Canada’s north. Our highly skilled staff has introduced young people from around the world to adventures in beautiful and majestic northern landscapes. An experience with Wanapitei is a life long investment and life long friendships.

The Our Kids review of Camp Wanapitei

For some, the concept of canoe tripping can be a bit daunting, something that Wanapitei director Eoin Wood readily admits. Wrapped up within the concept, at least to the uninitiated, is the need for parents to let their kids get out there, to make their own experiences, and find their own place in the world. Tripping is conducted with those kinds of goals in mind. Member of Parliament Carolyn Bennett, a great proponent of canoe tripping, has said that “kids need to be able to forge friendships and again experience and take risks … Figuring out who you can trust and who you go to with problems, how you sort out who is a leader you can trust.” She notes that the people she has brought along with her, particularly around the development of Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, are the people she has been on canoe trips with. It’s precisely in that spirit that Wanapitei has developed its tripping programs since it was founded in 1931. It’s challenging, and that’s part of it, though the risks are personal, not physical—the leadership at Wanapitei is as good as it gets, and the strength of the program is a testament to that. The experience of being out in nature, far from the noise and bustle of the world, working closely together with a group of peers and leaders is one that can be utterly transformative in the life of a young person.

Eoin Wood and Jennifer Jupp, Director
Over 45 years combined experience

Eoin Wood (Woody)

Summer camp has been an invaluable part of my life. For over 30 years I’ve been involved with children’s camping in Ontario. I’ve been a camper, counsellor, section head, instructor, canoe trip leader, program director and director (including directing Camp Wanapitei from 1997-1999). From 2000 – 2005 I was part of a directing team at Camp Arowhon in Algonquin Park and also the Camp Arowhon Outdoor Education Centre with my wife JJ (Jennifer Jupp) – my Co-Director at Wanapitei. I’ve sat on the  board of directors for the Ontario Camps Association (OCA), presented various topics at OCA conferences over the years as well as at the International Camping Congress in Quebec City.  More recently I have taken a position on the board of directors for the Society of Camp Directors, a collection of camp directing professionals based in Toronto.

Summer camp for me has become a family affair. Our daughter Anna began her camping career at the age of three weeks; she will be 14 before the start of this summer and our son Charlie moved to camp at 4 months old; he will be 7 this summer.  Both JJ and I have been involved with summer camp since early childhood and we have seen first hand the amazing benefits that summer camp can have on children and I am thrilled to be sharing that with my family.

For many people unfamiliar with canoe tripping the decision to send your child(ren) to camp can feel daunting. After all it may be very unfamiliar territory for both you and your child coupled with the general anxiety of being a parent and entrusting your child(ren) to others – we all recognize this as an important thing to do in our child’s development but it doesn’t make it any easier.   The truth is there are few things in life that provide the framework for building the strong leaders of tomorrow than canoe trips.  Without question the life skills that campers acquire by being on a Wanapitei canoe trip are instrumental in developing a strong sense of community, self confidence and passion for the wilderness.   Wanapitei provides fantastic canoe trips, great adventures, highly skilled and compassionate leaders, life long friendships and the tools to succeed in developing caring and compassionate people.  It truly is a place where genders learn to grow up together and respect one another. We are simply passionate about canoe tripping and all that it provides.

See you on the shores of Lake Temagami!

Jennifer Jupp (JJ)

Summer Camp has been the single largest and most consistent focus in my life (personally and professionally) since I was 9-years-old and attended an overnight camp for the first time.  Since that summer, I have literally counted the days from camp’s end in September until camp begins again in the late spring. 2018 marks my 10th summer directing at Wanapitei; I have been directing other Ontario Summer Camps for over 15 years. (Camp Arowhon, and YMCA-YWCA of Guelph Nagiwa).  I am lucky to have attended, and presented at, several professional conferences on a wide variety of topics as the camping profession requires us to have many diverse areas of expertise!  My work as a professional facilitator in the corporate world has focused on diversity training, team building, and work culture transformation.  To this end, I have had the pleasure of working with:  The City of Guelph, Regional Municipality of York, Shared Value Solutions Ltd, Camp Wenonah, and St. Christopher’s Church (Burlington, ON).  I also have a specialized teaching degree in Outdoor and Experiential Education and worked as an outdoor and environmental education high school teacher off and on for 14 years.  I have a deep passion for, and a commitment to, learning and growth in the out-of-doors.

My goal in life is to create an emotionally and physically safe place for children and adults to become and to belong.  I know for sure that canoe tripping is the ideal vehicle for creating this kind of safety.  I believe strongly that the way to make a difference in this world is to positively influence the way we relate to one another.  To this end, I want to create a world where people are highly tolerant of others despite differences – where people lead others with confidence and humility – and where people love and cherish the earth.  I believe that we are doing this at Camp Wanapitei along with fostering a robust, healthy sense of adventure and an impressive, high-level of competence in the out-of-doors.

Sleeping Accommodations

Washrooms Facilities

Sports facilities

Landscape

• Reflections 52 years Later

  Here it is 52, yes 52 years, since i first started at camp with Stan and Laura Belle...we went to their home in Kitchener from Windsor, met up with other campers and continued with the Hodgins on to Wanapitei ...as a small child it was hard the first time, but over the next seven years it was the best experiences of my life. To this day, I remember camp like it was yesterday. It shaped me into the person i am today, and i am forever grateful. We have a cottage,and I still canoe and appreciate all that mother nature has to offer. Thanks again Wanapitei!

• ORCKA Clinic

  Each session our Wilderness Leaders in Training take part in a seven day moving-water clinic run by an ORCKA certified instructor. This past summer our August WLIT group traveled to the Dumoine River, where they had the opportunity to learn new paddling skills. All of the campers worked extremely hard and achieved levels through the ORCKA program.

• Going Bananas

  To mark the beginning of each session, we like to welcome the campers with an Opening Campfire. The Wanapitei staff truly enjoys nothing more than dressing-up in costumes and leading the campers in both new and old songs and skits. Whether a camper is at his or her first or fifth campfire they are guaranteed to have fun.

• Taking in Centre Falls

  This past July, our Temagami campers (ages 10-11) set out on a six day canoe trip in the Temagami area. The group left from Wanapitei and paddled to Diamond Lake, with its ancient pictographs, and into the famous Lady Evelyn Lake. From there they paddled up the south channel of Lady Evelyn to Center Falls. At Center Falls the group took a well deserved break from paddling and the heat. An afternoon of playing in the water at the base of the falls was exactly what the group needed before they began their journey back to the shores of Sandy Inlet and Wanapitei.

• 50 Days in the North

  This past summer a group of 12 Voyageur II campers and two leaders set off at the beginning of July for the Yukon Territories. The group flew to Whitehorse and then took a shuttle to the South MacMillian River, where they began their 50 day adventure. From the South MacMillian, the group began a challenging up-stream portion that brought them to the South Nahanni River. After paddling down the South Nahanni for a few days, they headed up-stream to the Natla River. The group followed the Natla to the Keele River and ultimately to the MacKenzie and their final destination of Norman Wells. The group traveled through two territories, completed two challenging up-streams, and paddled some amazing whitewater. Their stories and pictures of the landscapes they saw are absolutely breathtaking. The trip truly was the experience of a lifetime.

• The Best Summer

  I completed the Wanapitei Leader in Training program and it was the best summer of my life so far. I was having adventures with my best friends, doing worthwhile work and learning a wide variety of new skills that will serve me well in whatever path I choose to follow. Most importantly for me, however, is that I spent almost every day, 24 hours a day, with my friends; creating together, supporting each other and learning from each other. Another thing that made it significant is that I spent time as a counselor and got to share what I love about camp with young children. The only downside was having to go back to school after such a fabulous summer.