DEC camps combine environmental education, sportsman education and outdoor fun. We use a fun, hands-on approach to teach about the environment. You'll learn outdoor skills as well as the essentials of backpacking, camping and canoeing. You'll come away with a life-long passion for nature and a dedication to stewardship of our natural resources. You'll explore New York's diverse habitats, and learn how human activities affect the environment. Campers solve challenges, learn environmental concepts, practice outdoor skills and spend the week immersed in nature. All of the camps offer sportsman education classes, including hunting and archery. Rushford is part of the 4,500 acre Hanging Bog Wildlife Management Area two miles southwest of Rushford Lake in western New York. The Hanging Bog Wildlife Management Area provides a unique and diverse environment for outdoor learning. Campers can explore natural hardwood forests, conifer plantations, fields, streams and marshes and the bog for which the area is named. Camp Rushford is the only DEC Camp specifically designed and built as a conservation education camp. The two main buildings are constructed of logs salvaged from the Adirondacks after the blow down of 1950.