How Do I Sign Up For Trips?

How Do I Sign Up For Trips?

At Falling Creek, you get to choose your own adventure!

When you arrive at camp for our June, Main, or 2-Week Camp sessions, you will learn about our nearly 30 different activities, and be able to sign up for 6 of your favorites. These 6 activities will make up your daily schedule. You’ll participate in 3 activities after breakfast and 3 more after lunch during every weekday. If you feel like changing anything you’ve chosen, you can adjust your schedule by talking to a staff member who will be outside the Program Office during Free Choice period.

However, even though you’ll have a daily schedule, you won’t be limited to those 6 activities!

Every weekday, you can also choose to sign up for any outdoor adventure trips that sound like fun to you. Whether it’s a day trip to bike the trails at Dupont, an overnight paddling trip down the Nantahala River, a 3-day backpacking adventure to explore the peaks of Panthertown, or an epic 5 day climbing trip to the beautiful Linville Gorge, the choices are up to you!

When you return from your trip, you’ll just plug back into your daily activity schedule, until you decide to go on another trip or do a special signup.

How do I know what trips are happening?

You’ll hear announcements for trips after mealtimes. This happens on the front porch during Morning Assembly, or in the Dining Hall after lunch. Counselors will announce what activity the trip is for, where they are going, when the trip will take place, and where to meet them to sign up.

You can plan ahead for trips by looking at the big trip calendars hanging under the Dining Hall. There is a trip calendar for each outdoor adventure activity (backpacking, mountain biking, paddling, and rock climbing). Special signups like sailing or blacksmithing happen every day, so they don’t need calendars.

Can I sign up for any trip that interests me?

As long as you have completed any necessary pre-trip requirements, yes! There are no limits to how often you can sign up for trips during the session. Some boys in our longer sessions are on trips more often than their in-camp activities!

However, before you go on any trip, you’ll need to participate in a “prep” on-property to make sure you’re informed, prepared, and ready to enjoy the trip. These preps are also announced like trips, and each outdoor adventure activity has one (backpacking, climbing, mountain biking, and paddling). You can learn more about preps in this blog. Preps happen all session, but the majority are held in the beginning of the session to prepare everyone for the upcoming trips. If you think you might want to participate in a trip during the session, knocking out a prep early is a good idea so you can be ready.

Some trips are advanced, so you will need to complete more beginner trips first to make sure you have the necessary skills. For example, if your goal is to go on a multi-day Linville Gorge rock climbing trip, you’ll need to be comfortable on a day trip to Gilbert’s Rock first, and work your way up to the more challenging climbs. If you want to work up to paddling big rapids on the Pigeon or Tuckasegee Rivers, you’ll need to run the Nantahala River without capsizing your boat first.

The counselors will explain if there are any skill requirements necessary to join a trip. Trips and activities at Falling Creek are skill-based, not age-based (with the exception of blacksmithing where you must be at least 10.) This means that if you can demonstrate the skills needed for a trip, you can participate no matter how old you are. If you have a specific trip in mind, tell your counselors! They want to help you work towards your trip goals.

Where do I go to sign up for trips?

Listen well during announcements, since counselors will say where to meet them to sign up. Usually an activity signs up in the same spot each time. For example, mountain biking always signs up by the mountain bike sign near the ping pong tables. If you aren’t sure where to go, just ask a counselor and they can help you find the signup spot.

Signups happen immediately after announcements, when we are dismissed from the Morning Assembly front porch or dismissed from our tables in the Dining Hall. For example, if you hear about a waterfall day hike in Dupont that you want to join, right after Morning Assembly you would go straight to sign up for that trip, before going to your first activity period.

What if the trip is full?

Sometimes a trip is very popular, and there might be a line to sign up. Even if the trip is full, stay in line to give the counselor your name! They will write your name down on a list so you will have the chance to go next time.

In 2025, we started a new method to make sure campers had an equal opportunity to get on trips. If a specific trip doesn’t have enough spots for all the campers interested, we use small chips with numbers on them to make sure the name drawings are random and everyone gets the same chance to join. Names are also added to the interest list based on the numbered chip that is pulled. Staff can then pull from the top of the interest list for the next trip.

Don’t worry if you miss a trip the first time - we take up to a dozen trips every day, so there will be lots of opportunities to join that trip again in the future. For example, we take multiple trips to climb at Gilbert’s Rock every week, so if you miss one there will be another opportunity to join later in the week.

What about my daily schedule?

When you go on a trip, you’ll simply leave your daily schedule behind and plug back into it when you return.

During announcements, trip leaders will read off the names of everyone going on their trip and will tell you when and where to meet, and what to bring. For example, the trip leader of a paddling day trip might remind everyone to bring a water bottle, towel, clothes and shoes that can get wet, and meet at the paddling docks right after Morning Assembly. In that case, you will go straight to the paddling docks (Yak Shak) instead of going to your first activity. The counselors in your activities are notified when you go on a trip, so you don’t have to worry about them wondering where you are.

Later that afternoon when you return to camp, the trip leader will tell you what activity period is currently taking place. If you get back during an activity period, you’ll go straight to that activity and resume your daily schedule from there.

Challenge by choice!

The Outdoor Adventure program at Falling Creek is a great opportunity to challenge yourself and visit some of the most beautiful rivers, rocks, trails, and lakes in the southeast. By choosing what trip you participate in, you get to choose where you want to go, and how much of a challenge you want to take on.

If the process for signing up for a trip is confusing, remember that everyone at camp is here to help you. Don’t be afraid to ask your counselors, an activity leader, or a director if you aren’t sure how to sign up for a certain trip or an activity.

We are here to answer any questions, and want to help you make the most of your summer!