About Us
About Camp Ma-He-Tu
Camp Ma-He-Tu is a not-for-profit, ACA-accredited residential summer camp founded in 1937. Our small size - only 110 campers at a time - enables our girls to make deep, life-long friendships. Girls feel free to be themselves, to learn and to grow in a picturesque lakeside camp with their new and old friends. Camp Ma-He-Tu is sponsored by the Lutheran Girls' Camp Association (501c3) and affiliated with the Metro NY Synod of the ELCA.
Our Mission & Purpose
Camp Ma-He-Tu empowers young women to become the best that they can be. We provide them freedom from the daily pressures of life so they may grow together in a supportive and fun camping community to develop and embrace their spirituality, appreciation of others, and their value as individuals. We provide a safe and fun outdoor camping experience in a supportive environment that fosters mental, spiritual, physical, and social growth.
Ma-He-Tu Campers
Our campers are girls ages 7-15. We have many first time campers each summer, as well as many who return year after year. For the most part, our campers come from the NY/NJ metropolitan area. Our girls come from diverse backgrounds, but form a close-knit community for each two week session.
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Ma-He-Tu Staff
Each summer our staff is carefully chosen for their enthusiasm, talent, and dedication. They are experts at making camp life exciting. Most of our counselors are former Ma-He-Tu campers, including the director, Alyssa!
Camp Ma-He-Tu is organized by a volunteer board of directors. The board consists of about 40 members who work year-round to improve the camp facility and program. Many board members were once campers and staff members at Ma-He-Tu, and many are current camper parents or guardians.
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Location
Our location within the Harriman State Park System, in Bear Mountain, New York, provides us with many advantages. In a beautiful natural setting, with only other camps for neighbors, our site on Lake Kanawauke is isolated from commercial and private land use. Yet, we have easy access to all the park amenities. Campers enjoy taking trips to the Bear Mountain Zoo, hiking on the network of trails maintained by the park, canoeing through our adjacent lakes, and camping out at park sites. We may even venture a little further and take a trip to West Point or spend a day canoeing or rafting on the Delaware. As part of the park system, we also have the added security of the very diligent Park Police Force.
