Rustic Falls Nature Camp

08/19/2024

We had the best Saturday with our friends from RefugeeOne. This group always brings the sunshine ☀️

08/15/2024

The fair is back! Come celebrate Rustic Falls with our fall festival at the camp! Live music, a pumpkin patch, bbq from and much more!

For more info and tickets just follow the link in our bio 🍁

07/31/2024

A slip ‘n slide, BBQ, classic camp Sunday with our Marillac St. Vincent Family Services Hope Junior family. This day is one of our favorite July traditions. Hope Junior always brings the joy 🤩

06/26/2024

Join us at Coffee For A Cause this upcoming Tuesday at Sketchbook Brewing's Skokie Taproom!

Open Business Networking
Tuesday, July 2nd
8:30am -10:30am
Soul Good Coffee pop-up
at Sketchbook Brewing Company
4901 Main St.
Skokie

Please Register Here:
https://emp.thryv.com/site/LisaKaplan/online-scheduling...

06/21/2024

Wanted to take a moment to share a few words as we enter a new chapter here at Rustic Falls. Sharing the link in our bio and on our story today. We are so grateful for your continued support. Your belief in the mission of Rustic Falls is what makes it possible for us to take it to the next level 💚

06/21/2024

Taking a moment to share a few words as we enter a new chapter here at Rustic Falls

Friends, Family, and Supporters of Rustic Falls, Since the founding of Rustic Falls in 2010, our family has run the camp while working full-time jobs. While we are incredibly proud of our accomplishments in this time, we also know that the camp has grown in many ways that require more focused time

06/18/2024

Summer is here! Kicking off our summer season with our friends from RefugeeOne ☀️ We had a blast with all the best summer time activities. We are talking: tie dye, pizza making, glow sticks, late night marshmallow roasting, catching frogs… we even beat the heat with a trip to the swimming pool and a stop at Dairy Queen on the way back to the camp. All the classics.

RefugeeOne is one of our longest partnerships here at Rustic Falls. When we tallied it up together, we have had the privilege of hosting refugees from 18 countries here at the camp through this partnership. This week, this group of awesome kids are all from Ukraine. We also happened to have a lot of June birthdays on this trip, so we decided to make some cakes to celebrate. It was very cool to hear Happy Birthday sung so joyfully in Ukrainian in the barn on Monday night. Definitely one of those moments where we are reminded how special this place is. Thank you to RefugeeOne for always bringing joy and light to the camp. We feel so lucky for this friendship always ☀️⛱🐸

04/29/2024

A few of our favorites from a fantastic weekend with the girls.
We spent the time celebrating friendships, having important conversations and most importantly, having fun. From tie dying t-shirts to cooking together, from roasting marshmallows to flying kites in the field behind the cobblestone, we are so grateful for the time we were able to be together in this space. Weekends like this feel important and special and remind us how important this place is.

04/08/2024

a little room refresh in Kay's Cottage!

02/22/2024

From Saturday’s night hike with our friends RefugeeOne. Such a great weekend retreat with this crew 🌌

12/28/2023

a note from Rustic Falls reflecting on 2023 and a few updates about what to expect in the new year at the camp. We are excited for this next chapter and hope you continue to follow along with us on this adventure!

11/25/2023

There is never a dull moment at Rustic Falls with 💓 The amount of love and light we always feel from this decade-long tradition is unmeasurable. We are grateful to have days like and to be connected with the wonderful staff, families and kids of RefugeeOne // October 22nd

10/11/2023

Saturday at Rustic Falls with our friends from The Chicago High School for the Arts. A perfect fall day spent painting pumpkins, walking the trails, and enjoying the sunshine. As students get into the full swing of the school year, days like this at the camp are all about bonding and creating positive memories together as classmates and friends. Thanks for spending the day with us!

09/13/2023

Thanks to the Wood Street Bloodhounds for making The Rustic Fair extra special every year!

09/12/2023

Last Saturday we hosted our annual Rustic Fair at Rustic Falls. It was a perfect sunny September afternoon.

We want to thank our volunteers who made the day possible and everyone who came out to join us in supporting The Camp. Rustic Falls is made possible because of your kindness, support, and generosity. The Rustic Fair is one of our favorite days at the camp because it is a celebration of all the joy that happens there year-round.

Check out some photos from the day below!

Miss the Fair this year but still want to support Rustic Falls? Donate Today! https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=86GT73YL68984

09/06/2023

We are all smiles over here gearing up for this weekend's Rustic Fair! We've got live music, BBQ from Drumlin Supper Club, carnival games, face painting, a petting zoo, and much more! A day that's fun for the whole family.

Did you grab your tickets yet? Don't miss out on the fun, grab them here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rustic-fair-tickets-685070212447?aff=oddtdtcreator

09/02/2023

New Rustic Falls water bottles in the works from Skokie Millwork Inc.

These (and lots of other fun items) will be available to purchase in our shop next Saturday, September 9th at our annual Rustic Fair! Hope to see you there!

More information and tickets available here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rustic-fair-tickets-685070212447?aff=oddtdtcreator

08/22/2023

Year two in the books with The Free Root Operation 2023 Bloom Cohort. This past weekend Rustic Falls hosted this wonderful group of women for a retreat at the camp. The weekend centered on team building activities, cooking and sharing meals, and enjoying the space together.

Bloom is a wellness program addressing the root causes of gun violence by investing in singles Moms and Women. We are grateful to be able to work with this incredible organization and look forward to growing our partnership for years to come

08/11/2023

one of our favorite days of the summer!

Our Youth Program made waves at Rustic Falls Nature Camp this summer. A day trip allowed refugee youth and their families to relish the beauty of nature with friends and make unforgettable memories — like this giant slip n' slide! 🌳☀️🏕️

08/07/2023

Stay in the know about all things Rustic Falls Nature Camp!

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07/24/2023

Mark your calendars! Join us at the camp on Saturday, September 9th for our 11th annual Rustic Fair! A day of fun for the whole family. We hope to see you there!

For more information and tickets visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rustic-fair-tickets-685070212447?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshwebdesktop

Sep 9 12:00 PM12:00 The Rustic Fair 2023 Saturday, September 9, 2023 12:00 PM 5:00 PM 12:00 17:00 rustic falls nature camp (map) Google Calendar ICS join us for the 11th annual Rustic Fair at Rustic Falls View Event →

07/13/2023

A great day at Rustic Falls with our Marillac St. Vincent Family Services Hope Junior family. Hope Junior was the first group to ever visit the camp when we opened our doors in 2010. It's always a joy to have this group back for our annual summer slip-and-slide, bbq day!

06/02/2023

We are excited to announce that Rustic Falls was chosen as the recipient of the 12 Months of Giving Initiative from The Grand Foundation.

The purpose of the Grand Foundation is to provide funds to organizations, groups, and individuals to foster growth and opportunity especially concerning youth, education, and our local communities. Grand Appliance and the Grand Foundation were built on the foundation of helping others.

Here at Rustic Falls, we wanted to take a moment to thank the Grand Foundation for their generosity and incredible support of the camp!

04/30/2023

Kay’s Cottage 🦋

04/26/2023

Today would be Eric’s birthday. And since Rustic Falls is all about celebrating life, today we celebrate his! Eric built Rustic Falls to give kids and families a space to gather, have fun and take a break from the pressures of everyday life.
His vision and drive not only brought Rustic Falls to life, but created a space that continues to inspire.
One of Eric’s favorite things to say was, “Always leave a place a little better than you found it.” And that, he most certainly did.

03/23/2023

Join us on Saturday, April 15th for a spring clean up day and help us get the camp ready for our busy outdoor season! Lunch will be provided for all participants. For more information and to register, just sign up here:

Calling all team players, change makers and lovers of the outdoors: Join us at Rustic Falls on Saturday, April 15th for a spring clean up volunteer day. Help us get ready for our busy outdoor season! Lunch will be provided for all volunteers. Event Details: Saturday April, 15th 10am- 4pm

11/11/2022

What a joy it was to host the day before Halloween❤️. It has been a full decade working along with RefugeeOne and every year we leave the day with our cups so full. We are incredibly grateful for this long term connection and the many moments of joy & stories we have been able to share with this group. Special thanks to high school students from for joining us in the day. Looking forward to the years to come ❤️

11/07/2022

Happy Monday! We had the best weekend with the ladies from the BLOOM cohort from The Free Root Operation

From their website: The BLOOM Cohort is a 6-month program that picks up where many leave off by deepening Black and Brown women’s relationship to self-care, self-love, and nourishment so that they may be transformed. As these women are provided with new, leisurely, and luxury wellness experiences, they expand their capacity to confront and defeat the barriers that have held them back from being active agents and changemakers for themselves, their families, and their communities. During the program, the women engage in intimate educational wellness workshops, adopt new practices, build sisterhood, embark on excursions, and work with a social worker through counseling to set and attain goals.

We want to thank the ladies of BLOOM for sharing their time, stories, positive energy and group hugs with us. It was an eventful weekend of reflection, arts and crafts, shared meals, good conversations and joy. We learned to make pumpkin pies from scratch, painted Christmas decorations for everyone to take home and tried our hands at floral arranging. We finished out the weekend with brunch on Sunday before heading back to Chicago. The biggest thank you to The Free Root Operation for partnering with us to make this retreat happen. We are so grateful for the connections made this weekend and look forward to a continued friendship with this amazing organization.

10/27/2022

Fall is in full swing over here at Rustic Falls and we are loving it. Thank you to our friends from the District 219 Bridges Program for spending their Friday with us. These days are all about getting out of the classroom, enjoying the fresh air, soaking up the sunshine, spending time with friends and just feeling free. We all need those just really good days! So that’s what we are in the business of over here, making the good days 🌞

10/08/2022

Another perfect autumn day at Rustic Falls in the books with our friends from Niles West high school and Niles Township District for Special Education (NTDSE). The sun was shining, golf cart rides were in full swing and the pasta salad was a hit. What else could ya ask for?