Join Crow Canyon for a 1-3 week adventure in this exclusive hands-on introduction to archaeology. Help our team of professional archaeologists at a working excavation site and learn to sort and identify artifacts in our laboratory. At our pithouse and pueblo learning centers, you can try your hand at spear-throwing with an atlatl, making fire with a bow & spindle, and playing traditional American Indian games. Top off the week with a special all-day tour of nearby Mesa Verde National Park! Learn about the different periods of occupation of the ancestral Pueblo Indians and gain a new appreciation for culture, anthropology, archaeology, environmental stewardship, human interaction with the environment, research, scientific methodology, and cultural preservation. Come and get your hands dirty on our 170-acre campus located in the Four Corners Region of the American Southwest in Cortez, Colorado.

Middle school students must be at least 12 years of age; high school students must be at least 14 years of age. Some scholarships are available.

Crow Canyon’s experiential education adventures have won the Society for American Archaeology Award for Excellence in Public Education and the Colorado Historical Society Stephen H. Hart Award for Leadership in Educational Programming.

Three camps are available for teens or families each summer:

Middle School Archaeology Camp, One week
High School Archaeology Camp, One week
Family Archaeology Week—Ages 10 and up with parents and grandparents, two one-week programs

Or, apply for our prestigious pre-collegiate experience in an intensive and engaging three-week program; High School Field School. This is not just a summer camp—it is real science! Work alongside professional archaeologists in the lab and at our excavation site! Weekend lineups include river rafting, hiking the Colorado Plateau, visiting ancient ruins, and exploring the canyons and mesas of the Four Corners area.