You might remember summer camp either from the perspective of a parent dropping off your kids or from being a child and spending time in the company of dozens of other campers. Fond summer memories continue to be made each year in these mountains we love.

In fact, summer camps are a big deal in Western North Carolina. School-age kids from near and far pack into dozens of camps across our area. The overall impact of these camps is huge, as illustrated in a recent study.

The study focuses on 50 camps in four counties: Buncombe, Haywood, Jackson, and Transylvania. The data comes from parents of campers as well as camp directors and staff.

In the four counties surveyed, about 53,000 children attended camps in 2010. These camps typically range in duration from a week to eight weeks. More than 49,000 of attendees came from outside the region. With most parents driving their kids to camp, the average family spent an average of $2,096 while in the area, including camp fees but also including lodging, dining, shopping, and vacation activities.

In addition, camp staffers, about half of which are from outside the area, spent an average of $2,400 locally. Those sums add up rather quickly. In all, an estimated $218 million was spent in the four counties due to camp visits. The indirect impact—the re-spending of those dollars as they circulate through the local economy—was estimated at $147 million.

Jane Murphy, executive director of the North Carolina Youth Camp Association, says this is obviously good news for Western North Carolina and indeed for the entire state. While our area is particularly rich in summer camps, the state as a whole offers more than 200 camps.

You may not have guessed that so many people from outside the area travel here for camps. While advertising and marketing have helped area camps gain the nation’s attention, Jane says the number one way people find out about North Carolina camps is via word of mouth. “People learn about camps from their friends and families,” she says.

Other ways that North Carolina camps have drawn in visitors include social media (especially Facebook), websites for the individual camps, and through brochures and collateral communications such as camp videos.

In addition to the tremendous impact camps have on our area in terms of jobs and economics, they have a big impact on the attendees, too. Adam Boyd is the director at Camp Timberlake (for boys) in Black Mountain along with its sister camp Merri-Mac (for girls). He loves the family atmosphere of camps, which can be a struggle to achieve with so many campers coming through each summer. Adam says Merri-Mac hosts about 750 campers each summer and Timberlake has about 350. The staff for the camps is about 150.

“A camp is a place where outsiders become insiders,” Adam says. “It is inclusive in the same way as a family. Think about your brothers and sisters. Very often they are not the people you would choose as your closest friends. But chances are that there are few people in the world that you love more. That is what happens at a great camp.”

Adam explains that children from all sorts of backgrounds are put together in cabin groups as families. “We are made to live life together, and to be challenged, grow, and succeed,” he says. “Children from all backgrounds have the opportunity to experience the best parts of being in community.”

Camps allow children to develop a sense of adventure and try new things. “We say a child plays a video game, but that is not playing,” Adam says. “That’s watching something we control. Real play engages the whole person—physically, emotionally, socially, and intellectually. You cannot become a friend, or make a friend, sitting in front of a screen.”

Brad Thompson is the Director of Camp Kanuga in Hendersonville. He echoes Adam’s sentiments. “Camps provide children with opportunities to learn how to be better people,” Brad says. “By living in an intentional community, children make friends and memories, while learning about nature, themselves, and their values.”

Brad also understands why camps are so popular here. “Western North Carolina offers some of the most beautiful mountain scenes for outdoor camping,” he says. “With many opportunities for outdoor adventures, it makes sense that camps have found a thriving environment for children to come and learn each summer. Fun is just one mission of camps; by providing healthy activities, safety, great friendships, and structured leadership, campers have the benefit of becoming better individuals while parents have the confidence that they are surrounding their children with great opportunities to learn and grow together.”

While doing all of that, Brad also agrees that the myriad summer camps in the area have a major impact on the Western North Carolina economy. “Kanuga’s campers typically come from other areas to enjoy our great mountain summer camp,” he says. “With many families making arrangements to stay in town, tour Hendersonville, Asheville, Brevard, and other areas, we feel that Camp Kanuga provides many tourists to explore and have memories made here in the mountain community. While it’s probably impossible to estimate a precise community economic impact, with nearly 90 percent of our campers coming from places other than Western North Carolina, we feel it is a considerable impact.”

Check back soon for a full directory of summer camps in Asheville and the surrounding areas.