A bright green meadow below a pine-covered hill under a blue sky with white clouds
Summer camp in the Idaho Palouse

Where the hills roll and the memories grow!

Welcome to camp

Days spent outside

Camp La La Palouse-a is a summer camp in the Idaho Palouse, with meadows, a pond and tall pines all around. Campers spend their days outdoors, learning real skills, making real things and earning merit badges along the way.

Campers in matching camp T-shirts under a "Welcome to Camp La La Palouse-a" banner strung between pine trees
Merit badges

Every activity counts

There are five badges to earn. Finish the activities a badge asks for and it's yours.

Campers looking at their merit badge cards in a grassy clearing among the pines

Earn your merit badges

Nature

Three activities from: Building Earth, a papier-mâché globe; Days & Seasons, on time zones, the solstice and why the sun is up so early; a Bird Feeder; Constellations; and Plant ID.

Survival Skills

Four activities from: CPR; Basic First Aid, to stabilize a break, stop bleeding and call for help; Knot Tying; Firewood Gathering, driving with a trailer; Changing a Flat; Compass Orienting; and the Compass Treasure Hunt.

Arts

Four activities from: Daily Camp Songs; Friendship Bracelets; Kintsugi; Hosting your own talk show; Photography 101, 201 and 301; and the Fashion Show, to show off the garment you made in sewing.

Marksmanship

Two activities from: Archery, with safe archery skills; Shooting Safety; and Shooting, with a slingshot, BB rifle or 9mm pistol and safe technique.

Homesteading

Four activities from: Campfire Cooking with Tom; Dough 101, the basics of bread; Mud Oven Fire and Mud Oven Baking, wood-fired; Raised Bed Garden Building; Sewing 101 and 201; and the Solar Water Project, pumping water with solar power.

Long projects

Build something real

Long projects give campers time for the bigger builds, like a raised bed garden made from logs beside the pond, a mud oven for wood-fired baking, and pumping water with solar power.

Campers building a raised garden bed from logs beside the pond
KP duty

Everyone pitches in

Campers help out in the camp kitchen, and learn to cook over a campfire and bake bread in the mud oven.

The camp kitchen, with a stove, counters and shelves of food

A day at camp

Days have a rhythm, with time to learn, time to build and time to just be outside.

Activities

Short sessions through the day, each one a step toward a merit badge.

Long projects

Deep-focus time for the bigger builds, like the raised bed garden and the mud oven.

KP duty

Everyone pitches in at the camp kitchen.

All-camp meet-up

The whole camp comes together, with daily camp songs.

La La Live!

Camp's own talk show, hosted by the campers.

Campfire

The day winds down around the fire.

All together

The whole camp, every day

Each day the whole camp comes together for the all-camp meet-up and daily camp songs, and the day winds down around the campfire.

Campers of all ages gathered around the campground sign, with a tent behind them

Getting ready for camp?

Here's everything to bring, from socks to sunscreen.

See the packing list