Summer Fun for Everyone
Enjoy Lexington’s 2025 Summer Camp Guide
Whether your child wants to enjoy academics and arts, or sports and athletics camps, Lexington has what you need. Here is a sampling of summer camp options for kids of all ages throughout the Lexington area.
To advertise your Summer Camp or Vacation Bible School in our next issue, call for Rates & Schedule Options.
CAMP ASBURY
Every Camp Asbury residential program is built on an age-appropriate selection of classic camp activities. These classic activities are continually given creative twists by Asbury staff. Some activities every week are selected by camper choice.
The heart of Camp Asbury’s program is small group community experienced with peers of similar age-level. Campers live and participate in camp activities as co-ed family groups. A family group usually consists of the combination of a boys’ cabin and a girls’ cabin or, by age level registrations. In summer 2025, a small group will consist of up to 12 campers with a male and female counselor.
To add variety to a week of resident camp, Asbury adds a weekly theme. No two weeks of summer are alike. Campers in all overnight programs participate in the camp-wide special themed activities of the week. Weekly themes enhance, but do not dominate, a camper’s experience.
Leadership development is the focus of Camp Asbury’s high school programming. Mentoring younger campers, servant-style leadership, outdoor living skills and group facilitation skills are highlighted. Asbury’s senior high programs are designed to help campers grow in self-knowledge, courage, confidence and resiliency. Explore specialized camps that are only available for high school campers like Night Owls, Up to the Challenge, Curtains Up (New for 2025!) and the Counselor In Training (CIT) camp!
Camp Horsin’ Around
Camp Horsin’ Around enriches the lives of children whose health is compromised or who have special needs by collaborating with organized groups to provide an outdoor camp adventure.
Camp Can Do and Camp Buddies & Beyond are currently scheduling for Summer 2025.
Camp Kesem
Camp Kesem is a child’s friend through and beyond a parent’s cancer. Throughout the school year, the Kesem team raises funds to send children ages 6-18 who are affected by a parent’s cancer to a free week-long summer camp. This is a student-run organization that welcomes members from all backgrounds.
Camp Kesem holds a special place in HJ’s heart, as our late designer, Kellee Edwards, was fortunate to send her daughter Kate there to make special memories in the summer of 2017.
Kellee wrote at the time, “Kate calls it cancer camp. It’s Camp Kesem for kids whose parents have cancer. After 10,021 hugs and 27 pep talks (some to Kate, some to me), she’s off, and I’m really gonna miss her. We’ve pulled out all the stops. The list said she could bring a musical instrument. Kate has three: a Mexican drum, a maraca and a recorder. She was allowed to bring a disposable camera. I sent two, plus one for underwater. I sent maze books and stickers and a journal and different colored pens. Thank God the camp prohibits taking snacks. I don’t know how John would’ve carried the mini-fridge up that hill.”
“But I offer no apologies for my overdone behavior. This could be my life’s equivalent of sending my daughter off to college, so it was a really big deal.
Camp Shalom
Camp Shalom was established in 1968 with the goal of bringing together Jewish children in central Kentucky for four weeks of fun through an enriching experience. Themed weeks for July 2024 include Nature Week; Mission Impossible; The Arts; and the Olympics.
Cathedral Domain
“The Domain” is located one and a half hours southeast of Lexington, KY. It covers 800 acres in the mountains of Lee County and is adjacent to the Daniel Boone National Forest.
The Cathedral Domain is accredited by the American Camp Association. Being an ACA-Accredited® camp means the Cathedral Domain meets up to 300 national standards for health, safety, and program quality.
Camp programs include athletics, hiking, caving, arts and crafts, dancing, fishing, rappelling, archery, rock climbing and more.
Frederick Douglass Youth Soccer Camp
The Frederick Douglass Youth Soccer Camp in June is open to both boys and girls.
La Bonne Vie Cooking
Cooking camps are engaging, educational, hands on, and lots of fun. The La Bonne Vie team will be cooking up a storm with your kiddos, and maybe even sending some tasty treats home for Mom and Dad too.
PARKS AND REC
Lexington Parks & Recreation offers a wide variety of summer camps each year (nearly 20) including: ArtKids Camp; Camp Kearney at Jacobson Park; Castlewood Community Center Camp; Equestrian Camp at Masterson Station Park; Golf and Recreation Camp; Tennis and Swim Camp; and more.
UK STEM CAMP
UK’s STEM Camp is for those who are looking to have positive, hands-on experience with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics content. The curriculum focuses on authentic investigations in real STEM settings with STEM professors and their research topics as well as daily computer programming experience through robotics. No prior STEM, programming experience or love for STEM required.
Walnut Hill Day School
Walnut Hill offers summer camps like “Animal Planet,” “Space is the Place,” and “Under the Sea.”
