Google Earth North Carolina Location

If you use Google Earth, and you know where to look, here is the view of Rockbrook Camp you’ll see. If you don’t know where to look (hint: western North Carolina, south of Brevard), download this Google Earth location file, and it will “fly” you to the right spot.  Very cool.

This aerial view of camp is looking directly east. You can easily spot the French Broad River in the lower left, as well as all of the horseback riding pastures at the bottom.  This view also makes it easy to see that the heart of the camp is tucked in a valley between Castle Rock and Dunn’s Rock.  You can just make out the rocks in the shadows above the camp (about 11 and 2 o’clock).

It’s fun to see RBC from this perspective.  Go check out camp and this part of North Carolina on Google Earth.  You’ll be amazed.

Ellen Hume Jervey

Here we have a photograph taken sometime in the 1960s of Ellen Hume Jervey (in the foreground), fondly remembered at camp as “Jerky.”  A native of Charleston, South Carolina, she was Rockbrook Camp’s Director following Mrs. Carrier, the camp’s founder. For more than 25 years, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, she ran Rockbrook in the summer while she taught at Ashley Hall, a private girls school in Charleston, South Carolina.  One last interesting fact about her… before directing camp, she enlisted and served in the Navy!

P.S. Here’s a photo of her when she attended Rockbrook as a camper.

Dog Trot Summer Camp Cabin

Where do you stay when you to come to camp?

Rockbrook is a summer residential camp where campers stay in simple wooden cabins. Set with wooden-framed bunk beds, and divided into two sides, most hold 8 campers and 2 counselors. Between the two sides is an area called the “dog trot.” This comes from an early domestic architectural style common in the south where a simple one-room cabin is joined to another small cabin with open space between them, a place for the dogs to trot through. Later this space between the two cabins could be enclosed, given a wooden floor, and an adjoining roof, essentially making one big cabin with two rooms, one to the left and right of a center door. Here’s an article (and photos) describing a dog trot cabin.

The cabins at Rockbrook are enclosed like this. The dog trot area is a place for the campers to hang wet clothes and store things. You’ll always find the cabin broom there for example. It’s neat to think that since the earliest days, Rockbrook girls have been experiencing this little bit of southern tradition.

NC Snow at Rockbrook Camp

You may have heard that here in Brevard we’ve been getting some wonderful winter weather lately. Since it’s so different from the summer, we thought you’d get a kick out of seeing some snow at camp. Recognize this cabin? Yep, it’s Goodwill.

A Camp in the NC Mountains

Rockbrook camp is set in the mountains of western North Carolina on 200 acres a few miles south of Brevard. It’s unique because the main part of camp sits in a gently sloping valley between two large rocks, granite outcroppings, that can be seen quite easily from miles away. The smaller of the two, shown here, is Castle Rock, and the other is Dunn’s Rock. Both rocks are hiking destinations from camp and offer an amazing view of the French Broad River valley when you make it to the top. On Castle Rock, we have several rock climbing routes as well. For both hiking and rock climbing, it’s a great location right there on the camp property.

Camps in the South

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been making our fall travel plans, scheduling Rockbrook Camp parties all over the south. Several are set on the calendar. Chances are we’re coming to your city or some place close by, so check out the schedule here: Camp Party Schedule. If you haven’t come to one of these parties before, they’re great fun. We watch a movie and see some slides from last summer, see each other again and meet loads of new people interested in camp for next summer. We’ll be going to more places in the winter also, so stay tuned!

Kids Camp in NC

Rockbrook is a kids camp in NC, that’s for sure, but we have so many kids that come to camp from other states far and wide. Of course, most are in the south— South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Florida —but campers come from the midwest (e.g. Ohio!) and the northeast as well. Most campers drive to camp with their parents, so being within a day’s drive is the norm. Still, plenty of kids end up flying to camp when they live too far away to drive (like in California!). North Carolina is just a great NC location for a kids camp, even if (and especially if!) you don’t live here.

1-Week Summer Camp Session!

Our final camp session of the summer has opened and we’re very excited to have all of the campers arrive. This session is unusual because we’ve got mostly new campers and it lasts for just one week. Everyone is so enthusiastic, it’s going to be great fun to introduce Rockbrook to these girls, and with everything we’ve got planned, it’s no doubt going to be a great session.