Our Mission

The Calvin Crest Outdoor School partners with public, private, and charter schools to bring students into contact with history, geology, science, and wonder of the great outdoors.

Utilizing the trails, forest, streams, night skies, and fresh air our curriculum presents a variety of natural science, environmental education, wilderness skills, and historical topics. Subjects included in the courses and activities are in the disciplines of astronomy, biology, botany, conservation, ecology, geology, history, meteorology, nature study, outdoor recreation skills, and zoology. Curriculum units and all necessary equipment and materials are provided by Calvin Crest for the classroom teachers, who will be the instructors for each course. Calvin Crest staff persons also serve as instructors, which helps reduce class sizes out on the course trails. Students participate in a variety of hands-on learning activities collecting and classifying specimens, observing and recording data, and conducting experiments.


The Calvin Crest Outdoor School curriculum presents a variety of natural science, environmental education, wilderness skills, and historical topics. Subjects included in the courses and activities are in the disciplines of astronomy, biology, botany, conservation, ecology, geology, history, meteorology, nature study, outdoor recreation skills, and zoology. Curriculum units and all necessary equipment and materials are provided by Calvin Crest for the classroom teachers, who will be the instructors for each course. Calvin Crest staff persons also serve as instructors, which helps reduce class sizes out on the course trails. Students participate in a variety of hands-on learning activities collecting and classifying specimens, observing and recording data, and conducting experiments. For a more complete overview of all of our class choices click on curriculum.

Afternoon Activities

  • Boating,
  • Archery
  • Climbing wall
  • High lead (a zip line)
  • Ping pong
  • Foosball
  • Sports like volleyball and basketball
  • Student store (for schools choosing to have the store open)

Evening Activities

  • Singing
  • Astronomy
  • Skits
  • Night hike,
  • Story telling
  • Campfire
  • Quiz game show.

Each evening the program has a different emphasis, but through all the evenings the singing weaves a common thread that reinforces the concepts learned during the courses and activities of the week.


  • Fall: September through the second week  of December.
  • Spring: February through Memorial Day weekend.

Calvin Crest Outdoor School is located about 10 miles north of Oakhurst, and east of Highway 41, midway between Bass Lake and the south entrance to Yosemite National Park. Travel time from Fresno is approximately 1 1/2 hours. Calvin Crest, at an elevation of 5,000 feet, owns 340 acres of scenic, forested land surrounded by the Sierra National Forest, which includes the adjacent Nelder Grove of giant sequoias.