The 4-H Camp & Learning Center is located in the Lincoln County community of Alamo, about 100 miles north of Las Vegas. The 72-acre property was previously used as a conference/retreat facility, the main building contains approximately 17,000 square feet with guest rooms, conference rooms and a commercial kitchen. The current layout contains 17 rooms that accommodate 72 guests, and has a variety of outdoor recreational amenities. For day use, the property can accommodate more than 200 guests.
Extension and its partners in southern Nevada recognized that a large portion of Nevada’s youth were having only limited opportunities to camp experiences, with over 70% of the state’s population residing in southern Nevada and Clark County being the fifth largest school district in the nation. They say the need for such opportunities is greater than ever, as the pandemic continues to leave its mark on young people, with rising mental health issues, suicides, isolation, loss of learning and decreased school engagement. Extension and its partners say high-quality outdoor education programs can help reverse these trends.
The programs at the camp in southern Nevada will be run by trained professional staff, as well as enlist the help of skilled adult and teen volunteers, who will develop and implement programs, and supervise campers. The 4-H camps will develop important life skills such as leadership, responsibility, communication, problem-solving and critical thinking, while introducing youth to research-based activities within the fields of science, natural resources, robotics, agriculture and health, to name a few.
It has been challenging not only for Clark County youth to attend previous 4-H camps held in South Lake Tahoe, NV, but also for youth in other rural communities in the southern part of the state. The new camp in Alamo will make attending 4-H camp much more doable for many youth. For example, Lincoln County’s Caliente, Panaca and Pioche communities are only about 50 to 80 miles northeast of Alamo; White Pine’s Ely is about 150 miles north of Alamo; and Nye County’s Tonopah is about 150 northwest of Alamo.
