Wildfire smoke, heat disrupt summer camps across US

Camp Widjiwagan submerges canoes as wildfires force evacuation

The summer of 2026 has brought extreme weather that is disrupting summer camps across the country. In northern Minnesota, Camp Widjiwagan evacuated in July as wildfires approached. The camp, which hosts over 700 children each summer, submerged 19 of its historic wooden canoes in a lake to protect them from the flames, according to Ben Hoffman, the camp’s executive director. “We have never sunk canoes at camp,” Hoffman said.

Eleanor Pitts, a 17-year-old camper who had just completed a 26-day backpacking trip in Willmore Wilderness Park in Alberta, Canada, said her group learned the day before their planned return that wildfire smoke would force them to miss the traditional homecoming celebration at base camp. “We all just started crying,” Pitts said. She described the moment as bringing the reality of climate change “before my eyes,” noting that her counselor had pointed out flooded rivers in Canada caused by extreme heat melting snow runoff. “Going forward, trips are just going to be different because of this climate change situation,” Pitts said. “It hasn’t affected me until I’m seeing it right now and I’m just like: now it’s too late.”

At Beauvoir Summer Camp in Washington, D.C., the pool sat empty during a scheduled free swim day this summer because hazardous air quality from wildfire smoke forced campers indoors, said Drew Mackay, the director of auxiliary and summer programs at Beauvoir School. Earlier in the summer, heat also forced campers to reduce outdoor play time, Mackay said. “For us, it’s a new reality,” he said.

Seven-year-old Penelope, a camper at Beauvoir, said the conditions “changed my summer a lot.” She described climate change as “the areas around you are just, like, changing all around you all the time.”

For families, the disruption extends beyond camps. Lauren Smith of Pennsylvania told NPR that extreme heat disrupted activities at a soccer camp, with temperatures reaching almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit on a large, treeless field. Then wildfire smoke kept the family indoors. “The summer is just like a waiting game — just waiting to do some stuff outside,” Smith said.

Henry DeHart, CEO of the American Camp Association (ACA), which provides resources and accreditations to hundreds of camps nationwide, said camps have always had plans for extreme weather, but the frequency of such events is now noticeable. In the past, DeHart said, “A camp might have had three or four or five days with the heat index over 105 [Fahrenheit]. Now they may have eight or 10.”

Ellen Watkins, who directs Miakonda Day Camp in Ohio, said that when wildfire smoke filled the air, the camp moved inside, offering dry-land swimming exercises and an inflatable archery set. She said parents thanked her staff for finding a way to keep the camp running. “Was it stressful to have campers inside of buildings all day when they would rather be outside? Yes. Did it stress our program? No, we were fine,” Watkins said.

DeHart said the skills children learn at camp — independence, problem-solving, and teamwork — will equip them for the future, especially in an increasingly AI-centric world. “Kids need camp now more than ever,” he said.