The purpose of Camp Quest is to provide children of freethinking parents a residential summer camp dedicated to improving the human condition through rational inquiry, critical and creative thinking, scientific method, self-respect, ethics, competency, democracy, free speech, and the separation of religion and government guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.

Camp Quest was first held in 1996. The idea for the project originated with Edwin Kagin. From 1996 until 2002 Camp Quest was operated by the Free Inquiry Group, Inc. (FIG) of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Since that time it has been operated by Camp Quest, Inc., an independent 501(c)(3) educational non-profit. Edwin and Helen Kagin served as Camp Directors for the first ten years of the original Camp Quest, retiring at the end of the 2005 camp session. Six Camp Quest summer camps currently offer programs across North America. Camp Quest, Inc. operates the Ohio Camp Quest, and works to coordinate with and support the other independently governed Camp Quest programs

Camp Quest is the first residential summer camp in the history of the United States for the children of Atheists, Freethinkers, Humanists, Brights, or whatever other terms might be applied to those who hold to a naturalistic, not supernatural world view.

No. Campers at Camp Quest are encouraged to think for themselves and are not required to hold any particular view. We do emphasize critical and scientific thinking over faith though.

Our 2010 session was held June 19th - 26th, 2010. Please watch our website for next years dates!

We are hosted by the wonderful folks at 4-H Camp Graham in Clarksville, Ohio. It is in between Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio. This camp ground has a swimming pool, nature trails, activity center, playing fields, and a pond and stream, among many other amenities. Campers also take field trips to nearby locations to go canoeing, and do a high-ropes course. A long term goal is to acquire land and establish a permanent home for Camp Quest. Contributions are sought and welcomed.

There are other Camp Quests that use the name with permission, are also focused around skepticism of the supernatural and have a very similar program to Camp Quest Classic. For information about the dates and activities of the other Camp Quest locations please check out their websites listed below:

• Camp Quest of the Smoky Mountains
• Camp Quest West (Calif.)
• Camp Quest Minnesota
• Camp Quest Ontario
• Camp Quest Michigan

Children ages 8 to 17 are welcome at Camp Quest Ohio.

See our registration page for prices and registration information.

You can pay with a credit card using the secure online payment system in the registration section of this web site. You can also mail a check to our PO box.

We never want financial concerns to prevent a child from attending Camp Quest Ohio. We are very happy to work with parents to find a rate that is within their reach for their children. In 2008, twelve campers had either full or partial camperships. If the cost of camp is holding you back from registering, please let us know. We are happy to work with you discreetly.

The campers are given activities such as archery, astronomy, aviation, biology, campfires, canoeing, challenges, chess, computers, cooking, crafts (binders, drawing, bracelets, paper making, woodworking), creative writing, dancing, field trips, fossils, high ropes courses, horseback riding, nature centre, outdoor camping skills, overnight campout, photography, ropes challenge, scientific method and critical thinking, singing, song writing, sports (basketball, volleyball, soccer), story telling, swimming, theatre, tie dying, trolley walk & other cooperative games, tug of war, wall climbing, water balloon / sponge fights. You might also want to check out the pictures on our web site to get a visual feel for the experience.

There are some other important activities that we do every day but only take a few minutes at a time. After every other meal we do "famous freethinkers" where a counselor gets up and talks about two or three famous people (either living or dead) that were or are atheist/agnostic/humanist/skeptic/freethinking. Examples include Lance Armstrong, Isaac Asimov, Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, Ted Turner and Alice Walker. At meals where we don't do that, we cover world religions/philosophies.

One of our counselors is working on a Ph.D. in religious studies and she gives the kids five minutes or so on whatever religion or philosophy they are interested. The lessons, while fun and aimed at kids, are academic and have a focus on tolerance and understanding. These are not "this is what is wrong with what these people think" sessions--that said, we do occasionally use examples from religions when talking about errors in critical thinking.

Attendance runs as low as 25 some years to over 60 other years. In 2008, Camp Quest Ohio held its largest camp with a total of 64 campers! Campers range in age from 8 to 17--they are fairly evenly distributed throughout that range. There is about a 2:1 ratio of girls to boys.

Despite the fact that we have an all volunteer staff, we have a wonderful group of returning counselors. In 2008, we had 29 staff members from a variety of backgrounds including a high school biology teacher, a physician, a software engineer, a learning specialist, three nonprofit activists, and several graduate students. We also have several college-age counselors, many of whom are former campers.

We have a staff application form on our web site and anyone is allowed to apply. Because we have so many excellent returning staff, we typically only accept one or two new staff members a year. We have accepted parents as counselors in the past, but we're very reluctant to do so. We feel campers get a lot more out of the experience if mom and dad are not at camp.

Yes! We do criminal background checks on all staff (new and returning) every year.

Yes! Either send us an e-mail or fill out the information request form and put in the comments that you'd like to contact some past campers or parents.

Camp Quest Ohio is near the Cincinnati (CVG) and Dayton (DAY) airports, with Cincinnati being the closest. We recommend checking both of them to find the best price and times. We are happy to do airport pick-up and drop-off for campers. Please give us the flight times and numbers as far in advance as possible.

There are two main ways to help out Camp Quest Ohio. The first is to donate. Donation money goes to help provide full or partial camperships to children who want to attend Camp Quest Ohio but need some financial assistance.

The second way to help is to volunteer. At Camp Quest Ohio we have a fairly full slate of returning volunteer counselors, but it doesn't hurt to fill out a staff application to see if we might have need of your particular skills at the 2010 session. The other Camp Quests located in other parts of the country may also need volunteer help. You can get to their websites by following the links at the bottom of this page. Contact them directly if you want to volunteer at any of the Camp Quests other than the Ohio camp.

Another option for volunteering is to do little things throughout the year--write a letter to the editor about Camp Quest, pick up kids from airports, helping raise funds, helping with promotion or any number of other "off camp" tasks.

Please email ohio@camp-quest.org if you are seeking information about Camp Quest Ohio for media or publication purposes. If you are seeking information about all of the Camp Quest programs, please email camp@camp-quest.org. Amanda Metskas, the Executive Director of Camp Quest Inc., would be happy to talk with you, or put you in touch with others who can give you the information you are looking for.