Caritas Creek
CYO Camp and Caritas Creek Alumni
OUR PROGRAMS
Environmental Education
Young people engage in a 5-day inquiry-based program to explore the natural world, build community, and develop self-reflection and communication skills. Working in small trail groups through a carefully crafted, experiential curriculum, students are empowered to share their discoveries with one another and return home with a deeper understanding of their responsibilities as ecological stewards and peacemakers.
A dynamic team of professional staff administers the comprehensive Caritas Creek curriculum to school groups at the CCCYO Camp and Retreat Center, nestled in a 215-acre mixed redwood forest complete with meadows, streams, and Lake George for canoeing and water exploration. Students sleep in modern, heated cabins, while teachers stay in comfortable townhouse accommodations. Located just 65 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge in West Sonoma County, the camp is easily accessible from across the Bay Area.
7th Graders from St. Peter's Catholic School reflect on their Caritas Experience
Our campership fund offers financial aid for the Caritas Creek Environmental Education Program to qualifying schools. Applications are available upon request. Please contact us at info@caritascreek.org or visit our Contact Page to learn more.
Caritas Creek at CYO Summer Camp
Since 1946, CYO Camp has been a cherished sanctuary in the redwoods—a home for generations of campers who hold deep, lifelong memories of their time here. In the mid-1980s, Paula Pardini was invited to bring Caritas Creek’s year-round outdoor education vision to CYO’s summer program. That partnership established a rich, decades-long tradition: bringing the heart and spirit of Caritas Creek into the joyful, iconic setting of CYO Summer Camp.
While our school-year curriculum focuses on structured day-long hikes, hands-on environmental science, and formal cabin-group challenges, the summer experience adapts that core mission into classic camp fun. Campers build lasting connections through swimming, canoeing, archery, arts and crafts, campfire songs, and beach trips. Integrated into every day are moments of reflection—like our "Serendipity" circles and "Soul Food" discussions—grounded in the Song of Caritas: inviting youth to discover deeper connections to self, others, nature, and God.
Today, our outdoor education program operates under Catholic Charities CYO (CCCYO), with many of our dedicated outdoor education staff returning each season to lead the summer camp community.