Courtesy Camp Rockfish
Camp Rockfish
[ Parkton, North Carolina ]
Retreat goers enjoy the woods and hills of North Carolina at Camp Rockfish, a retreat center established by the United Methodist church in 1964. This camp goes beyond the typical cabin camping experience both with its variety of accommodation styles (which include tents, tree houses and yurts) and its mix of outdoor activities.
“One of the reasons that people come to this camp is for the activities,” said director David Weber. “We have a wide variety, including canoeing, kayaking, pedal boats, inner tubes and inflatable water toys. We have a small version of a water park, with Tarzan swings and a zip line into the water.”
In addition to the aquatic activities, Rockfish features a number of adventurous outdoor thrill experiences. Its 25-element low ropes course, known as the Group Challenge Course, is a popular activity for church groups. The camp also has an 11-element high ropes course, a 40-foot climbing tower and a 350-foot zip line, in addition to more traditional activities such as volleyball, swimming and archery.
Weber said that the camp can customize a variety of outdoor experiences to help groups meet their goals. The Group Challenge Course is among the most popular options.
“The Challenge Course teaches you how to depend on people,” he said. “You really get connected with people you might not know, or might have known for 20 years. You rely on them, and you learn how to trust someone who’s not a computer.”
Pastors or team leaders often use the outdoor experiences to draw parallels in the teachings that will be happening throughout the retreat.
“Sometimes the leader will go out with the group and do the Challenge Course,” Weber said. “Then they take those real-life experiences and break them down in a Bible study and do a debriefing. There’s a sense that that group has had an experience that no other group has ever had.”
