We provide educational, leadership development, therapy, and recreation opportunities for adults and youth through our unique program areas. You can jump to an area of programming using the following links. A general list of Activities available to guests (with appropriate booking) is also available below.
Recreation Therapy Camps
Our Recreation Therapy department has been creating amazing camp experiences for children and adults with chronic illness and disabilities since 1955. We strive to give each camper a unique experience through therapeutic activities like archery, arts and crafts, basketball, canoeing, music, scuba diving, swimming, waterskiing, and low- and high-ropes courses, while focusing on building confidence, breaking barriers, and creating life-long friendships.
Camp Riley serves campers with a variety of diagnoses in our camps, including Down Syndrome, Autism, Sickle Cell Anemia, Cystic Fibrosis, Spina Bifida, Muscular Dystrophy, Craniofacial Anomalies, and other conditions.
The Recreation Therapy department also operates the Beyond the Woods Mentor Program, which pairs youth with disabilities with a mentor with similar life circumstances. Participants and mentors meet weekly online and throughout the year.
If your child is in a medical camp with us this summer and you need to get in touch with us during their stay, please call our camper hotline at 765-349-5122 and leave a message. Our Leadership Team regularly check this voicemail during camp sessions and will get back to you.
Camp Riley
Bradford Woods is home to Camp Riley, which operates eight sessions each summer for children with physical disabilities and other medical conditions. Camp Riley is supported by Riley Children's Foundation.
Partner Camps
We partner with other organizations to provide specialty and medical camps for a variety of populations, including MDA, CHAMP Camp, Easter Seals Crossroads, Little Red Door, Camp PossAbility, and more.
Adult Camps
Adult Camps offer a camp experience to adults of all ages with a physical disability or other medical condition - many campers have been attending our week-long or weekend adult camps for decades!
Camp Riley allows our child to have a wonderful camp experience, full of fun, physical and mental challenges, new friends and outdoor adventures. As her parents we know she is having a great time and is surrounded by caring staff who will ensure she is safe and well cared for.
– Parent of Riley 3 camper
School Programs
For more than six decades, students have visited Bradford Woods to engage in hands-on learning in our unique outdoor classroom. During these programs, our instructors teach students about the relationships that connect us to our surroundings and to each other.
The programs are designed to be an extension of the classroom combining academic, recreational, and social experiences in a fun, camp-like atmosphere. Our environmental education curriculum units align with state standards and give students the opportunities to reinforce their learning in a hands-on fashion. Whether collecting aquatic insects for the biotic index, learning about each other through teambuilding activities, or writing a poem about a soaring bald eagle, students see their learning come alive.
One-, two-, and three-day sessions are available. We also offer seasonal opportunites for families, parents, students, and teachers to familiarize themselves with Bradford Woods and our programs.
The programs presented are always full of information that we will take back and use in the classroom. Lessons were invaluable as this is a once in a lifetime experience for several of our students.
– Parkside Elementary teacher
Teambuilding and Facilitation
We provide innovative leadership development and team building programs for businesses, schools, teams, or other groups. Our professionally-trained instructors can help your group achieve outcomes in communication, interpersonal reflection, leadership, teamwork, and more. Programs are designed to follow a sequence of activities that will provide a fun, progressively-challenging, and safe experience.
Our challenge facilities provide accessible accommodations for small and large groups. We offer:
- Amazing Race
- Alpine tower
- Climbing tower
- Ground-based initiatives
- Low ropes courses
- High ropes courses
- Pamper Platform Leap
- Swing-By-Choice
- Zipline
Military and Family Therapy Programs
We offer innovative therapeutic outdoor programming to achieve a variety of outcomes for families, military veterans, and youth – including rehabilitation, reintegration, diversion, and more. Through our own programs and in collaboration with partners like Wounded Warrior Project, STARR, and the Indiana Department of Children's Services, we serve hundreds of at-risk youth, military families, and veterans each year.
Family Battle Buddies weekend retreats aim to enhance family to family support and resiliency through shared recreation. Project Odyssey helps veterans overcome combat stress through outdoor, rehabilitative retreats that connect nature, peers, and trained counselors. Project Wolf is a 20-week course for youth and their legal guardians to build competencies within the family structure.
Contact us if you're interested in hosting a therapeutic outdoor program with us.
Equine Therapy
Our non-profit partner, Agape Therapeutic Riding Resources, is located on-site and provides equine-assisted learning, professional training, and therapeutic riding for our campsa and to the general public. They also support various leadership and teambuilding programs in conjunction with our program staff.
Trainings and Workshops
Bradford Woods hosts periodic trainings, workshops, and special events on our 2,500-acre campus. Most trainings and workshops have registration that is open to the general public. You can read more about these trainings below. For a list of specific upcoming dates, visit the events calendar.
Activities
During your stay, you are welcome to enjoy, explore, and hike the property.
The following activities require the use of our lifeguards and/or staff and must be arranged at least four weeks prior to your event. Each member of your group must complete our Participant Agreement form to participate. Minors must have the release signed by a parent/legal guardian. Guests will not be allowed to participate in any activities if we do not have a completed Participant Agreement form on file.
While participating in our activities, all participants must wear closed-toe shoes. For water-based activities, sandals that stay on the foot or water shoes may be used.
We have a 10-person minimum requirement for these activities.
Staff will be on hand to belay and supervise participants.
We provide the equipment and instruction at our archery range.
A lifeguard and a staff member will be on hand to assist you.
Staff will be on hand to belay and supervise participants.
Our outdoor instructors are well versed on the ecology, history, and nature of the area and will lead you through the property.
Tour around the lake with one of our staff members. Group size is 10–12 people.
Our pool is open from May through August. We provide a staff member and lifeguard to assist you.
Take a ride on our 375-foot line that reaches 60 feet above the forest floor.