New Jersey 4-H Camp

Embrace nature, create community, learn from experts, make new friends, and play outside at 4-H Camp at Rutgers Gardens.

New Jersey’s 75-year-old 4-H Camp program has joined up with Rutgers Gardens to offer an exciting Day Camp experience.

The program combines the social/emotional learning of 4-H Camp’s friendly, communal, tech-free experience with the beautiful environment and educational opportunities of Rutgers Gardens.

Campers will bond with their “cabins” throughout the week, as they enjoy a unique mixture of hands-on outdoor education and carefree games played outside.

Days will be spent:

We ask that campers provide their own lunch each day. As a reminder, 4-H Camp at Rutgers Gardens is a nut-free program. Please, do not pack anything that has any peanuts, tree nuts, etc. Snacks will be provided by camp. On Friday, campers will also receive a voucher to pick out a healthy snack from Cook's Market located on-site at Rutgers Gardens.

Click here to see a sample of our typical daily schedule.

4-H Camp at Rutgers Gardens is offering four sessions throughout the month of July for children ages 6 to 14.

2025 Schedule
Session One - The Mini Session: June 30th - July 2nd
Session Two - Eco-Friendly Feats: July 7th - July 11th
Session Three - Fantastic Fauna: July 14th - July 18th
Session Four - Flora Festival: July 21st - July 25th

9am-4pm
Drop-off windows will run between 9:00-9:30am,
and Pick-up between 3:30-4:00pm.

Session One runs Monday through Wednesday.
Sessions Two, Three, and Four run Monday through Friday.

Every week at 4-H Camp at Rutgers Gardens is packed with outdoor education activities, wacky campy events, and time to bond with our cabins and to make new friends.

Depending on which session is selected, during our cabin and expert activity times, there will be a deeper focus on either sustainability, the flora or the fauna at 4-H Camp. None of the expert activities will be repeated between the themes, so we encourage you to sign your camper up for any or all of these great sessions!

Click here for more details on our themes.

We believe every child should have the chance to go to summer camp. If your family is facing financial hardship or difficulties, please call the Camp Office at 973-948-3550 to discuss the details of applying for a 4-H Camp Campership or click here to go to our Campership application.

The program offerings (classes, activities, etc) in the 4-H Camp at Rutgers Gardens will be the same each session. The program is designed for campers to enroll in a single session of camp.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

We are looking for enthusiastic, caring and team-minded day camp counselors who believe in our camper-centric philosophy and have a love for the outdoors.

The camp counselor role is a 5-week commitment beginning with a week of staff training during the last week in June followed by 4 single week sessions running throughout the month of July. Sessions will typically run 9am-4pm daily Monday through Friday with the exception of our shortened mini-session that will run Monday through Wednesday the first week in July. Hours will be no more than 40 hours per week.

Counselors must be 18 or older to apply and enjoy working with youth ages 6 to 14. Counselors will also be expected to complete the entirety of staff training including an overnight training day at our New Jersey 4-H Camp in Stokes State Forest.

We encourage applicants to bring their own creativity and interests as we develop our day camp experience extending from the existing fun and dynamic overnight camp at New Jersey’s State 4-H Camp.

For more information on 4-H Camp at Rutgers Gardens, or if you have any questions about our program, you can contact our Day Camp Director, Shanna Gryder.