Jameson Ranch Camp

This summer camp is so above and beyond anything you could even be hoping for, for yourself or your kids. I was lucky enough to go for 1 session when I was 10, and then kept going for 2 sessions every summer until I was old enough to be in their CIT program, which I did also! I know that Summer Camp can be a huge expense but let me tell you this is unlike anything else. I hold it as one of the most positive and formative experiences I was able to have. Such a healthy and positive environment, full of adventure. Just incredible. It felt really wild to be there.

Signing up for family camp again this year. My 4, 5, and now six year old had a year’s worth of great memories from just one week. He lights up every time we talk about the time we spent as a family at Family Camp. There are great activities for all ages and lots of time to be independent and come together as a family. The Jameson family is a working, warm ranch family, the staff are all the best you have encountered and the other families have all been great. This is the best summer activity advice that I was ever given by a family who had been there earlier.

I spent ten summers of my life here, as both a camper and employee, and credit the experience as a parent figure in and of itself. Sending a child here is a lifelong and vital investment.

This camp has been the highlight of my year every year for the past 4 years now. To start, the activities at JRC are in abundance. Just to name a few, they offer horseback riding instructed by truly qualified and talented counselors, archery, riflery, and all sorts of fun waterfront activities on their very own lake! The food is consistently phenomenal, and much of the food served comes right from the ranches large farm! The staff at JRC is just about as good as it gets, they have all seemed to master the balance between being fun-​loving and happy as much as possible, while also staying professional and safe with the kids at all times. This camp has seriously been like heaven for me and every year i count down the days until i get to go back to this joyous wonderland.

I cannot put into words what you get out of being a part of the Jameson Ranch Camp Experience. What I CAN do is give you a few reasons why you should send your child or children to JRC for summer camp:
1) The JRC experience teaches youth how to work towards a goal before receiving a reward
2) Togetherness has never played a bigger role than at JRC. In order to truly understand who YOU are, and what YOU are capable of, you must work with others and learn what teamwork is all about
3) Responsibility, and the freedom to make decisions for yourself is definitely a new experience for many of today’s youth. JRC seemed to encourage productive and positive decision making by allowing each camper to explore the boundaries of their individuality in a safe manor
Here is a list of words that can help describe the JRC experience
Healthy, Fun, wet, adventurous, tasty, great, educational, life-​changing, positive, PERFECT, AWESOME, FANTASTIC, FEESHING, ROPE SWING, Great outdoors, mud, animals, beauty, BIG ROCK, oh yah and MOOSE :)

My star rating for this camp sums it up perfectly: As good as it gets. Seriously. There is no place like this in the entire world. The complete uniqueness and fun that I experience there every summer since I was seven is unlike anything I have ever and most likely will ever experience. The friends that I make here are come of the best friends I’ve ever met.
You get these awesome activities that you get your pick of. Here I get to zip-​line, play ultimate frisbee, and run down hills in an extreme fashion. And for the past 2 summers, I’ve done an overnight backpacking trip that I’ve had some of the most fun experiences on. And then of course, there’s a luau, a talent show, a day spent running around in a lake… what more could you want out of a summer camp.
But the thing that really makes this place extraordinary is the people. I’m dead serious. After coming here for so many years (I’ve gone since I was seven and I’m fifteen now, so that’s eight years), the thing that makes it feel like coming home again is the people. The counselors, directors and campers are some of the most special people I’ve ever had the pleasure of coming into contact with. As one counselor says, «we are soul neighbors». And honestly – they’re all my family. I’m going to get reeeal sappy here for a second, but yeah. There’s a certain feeling at the end of the day when the whole camp sits together and sings songs with the amazing Ross playing the guitar. It’s the feeling that everything’s right. When you’re there, you know it’s the exact place you should be at that moment. It’s the most indescribably happy feeling. Seriously, it’s no wonder that I cry every time I leave. (And yes, I do cry. As do half of the other campers and counselors, so it’s really not something that’s unique to me.)
So yeah. I really love this place, and even just writing this review is getting me like super excited for this summer. I can’t wait to go back to my second home :)

Today my family were reminiscing over old times and Jameson Camp came back to us, bringing back a flood of great memories. My brothers, my sister and I all went here every summer for years and we all felt welcomed into a very special sort of family.
I can’t encapsulate in a short review just how much this place meant to me. JRC only BEGINS with the great activities. While I’ll always remember my first forays into rock climbing, horseback riding, trail blazing and so many other activities, these always pale into insignificance against the life lessons that have always stayed with me.
Jameson is a working ranch. Every camper is expected to put in time helping to build and maintain the camp. I helped build a house, repaired barbed wire fences, mopped, swept and even helped to build the dam that created the camp’s lake. Today I look back on some back-​breaking labor with indescribable pride. Jameson keeps a large supply of livestock and the campers help raise it. I fed chickens, slopped pigs and even watched cows being slaughtered (This might seem odd — note that it’s completely optional to attend — but I think that if you’re going to eat meat you should be under no illusions where it comes from. To this day I feel it’s one of the most worthwhile things I’ve ever done.).
Jameson fosters maturity, self-​reliance and responsibility. Kids get excellent attention from the counselors, but they are not molly-​coddled. Parents are (or at least in my day were) welcome to visit once a week, but are discouraged from showing up more frequently. Every camper gets to stand on their own two feet, gets to choose their activities, their friends and their path. They are encouraged to volunteer for work crews and chores. It is up to them to decide to be active or not and most discover new talents and abilities by being given enough room to grow.
I suppose this all sounds like «it’s good for you.» But let me finish with this: it’s fun. Amazing fun. So much fun the kids won’t want to leave. When I was around 14 or so I even broke into my savings and begged my Mom to let me pay for an additional two weeks. That’s the kind of fun I’m talking about.

Oh, JRC. There is not a better residential summer camp in CA, though in my opinion that extends to the world. Counselors are chosen with extreme care, credentials checked and most are home-​grown at the camp itself, returning campers who year upon year yearned for their chance to become the role models they so fondly remembered from their own childhoods.
The activities are numerous, from hike days to talent shows, from theater performances to kayaking, fishing, flying off a zip line or rope swing, and of course the featured horseback riding, which is a JRC highlight.
Hand in hand with teaching independence and leadership skills at the ranch is singing and music. Moods are captured, life lessons learned through the beautiful classical folk songs played at JRC, by the illustrious owner Ross Jameson. His effervescent wife Debby is a nurse and an expert in care of children and counselors alike.
If you question for a moment whether or not to send your child to camp, message me. I was a camper, a CIT, a Junior Counselor, an Assistant counselor, and finally proudly a full Counselor when I was in college. I would not be the individual I am nor as happy and confident in my life as I am had I not attended JRC. I also believe the vast majority of JRC alumni feel the same way. JRC is a magical, wonderful place to be a child and young adult.