MARCELLUS — For over 35 years, Baltimore Woods Nature Center has been offering Summer Nature Day Camps that promote outdoor adventure, nature play, exploration, and a connection to the natural world.
This year, the staff put a new spin on the popular “Raiders of the Lost Woods” Voyager camp for kids in grades 5-8 by partnering with Syracuse’s Museum of Intrigue to design a week-long mystery adventure on the preserve.
The museum’s world-famous explorer, ‘Capt. Henry Burton Dollarmain’ reported for duty as camp counselor at Baltimore Woods and campers immediately delved into a mystery that blended the real history of Baltimore Woods with the fictional history of the Museum of Intrigue.
As the campers solved puzzles and completed challenges, they not only tested their creativity and problem solving as a team, but they also learned about natural history and the story of how the Baltimore Woods preserve was protected. In thanks for all the sleuthing assistance and in recognition of all of their hard work, Captain Dollarmain rewarded the Voyagers with passes to the Museum of Intrigue.
Throughout the week, Capt. Dollarmain sent in field reports documenting the campers’ progress in solving the mystery and these were shared with the CNY community through social media posts:
“Undaunted, the crew quickly unraveled a jumble of letters and found that it directed them to a marked stone at the corner of an old wood lot. Using old maps and aerial photos, the investigators were able to determine the area to search.”
“On the penultimate day of the adventure, the team of voyagers recovered the box labeled 1918 and opened it with the code they had cracked the day before. Within the box was another cryptic message, this time written in Morse code.”
“The team quickly translated the message and found directions to a point in an old stone wall. Our investigators hiked out to the area and found the wall. Within the moss-covered stonework they unearthed a jar holding another enigmatic message written in a strange code.”
“Fortunately, our sleuths were up to the task, and were able to make the code breaking look easy. The decrypted message gave directions on how to find a secret spot within the heart of Baltimore Woods.”
Over the years, multiple generations of campers have enjoyed spending as much time as possible outside, in the woods, and on the trails at Baltimore Woods, but no week has been quite like this one before.
With the Museum of Intrigue’s experience with creating immersive and interactive experiences, and Baltimore Woods Nature Center’s commitment to providing children with the opportunity to experience nature firsthand, this group of campers was able to not only solve a mystery but were able to do so outside, with a new team of friends, to create connections that will truly last a lifetime.
One camp parent shared her child’s excitement, saying, “As the parent of a kid who has been attending for 7 years, I can say without a doubt this was hands down the best week of camp [my child] has had yet. The Voyager camp program was amazing, and we are still trying to solve all the riddles she brought home to share from camp!”
Baltimore Woods Nature Center believes that forging partnerships with local organizations, like Museum of Intrigue, brings lasting benefits for the whole community. By sparking imagination, feeding curiosity, inspiring teamwork, and spending time outdoors in nature, we strengthen our connections to the natural world and to each other.
