Welcome to Highland Retreat
Highland Retreat is a welcoming Christian camp that features a beautiful retreat setting and exciting summer youth camps. Located in northwestern Virginia, Highland serves the Shenandoah Valley, Northern Virginia, the Eastern West Virginia panhandle, and beyond.
Guest Testimonials
Grateful for this ministry to our church. God bless your 2025 summer!
Church Campout in the Lower Campground, May 2025
The quietness was invaluable and the creeks and trails helped my brain to quiet down. The comfy furnishings helped me rest. I leave refreshed, which is an answer to prayer. I truly appreciate all the effort and thoughtfulness [from camp staff]. May God richly bless you just as you need.
Personal retreat in Creekside Cottage, April 2025
Dogwood fits our family very well, and we enjoyed cooking outside over the fire! It was fun to explore together while we had all of camp pretty much to ourselves.
Family getaway in Dogwood Cottage, March 2025
Love having a safe, fun place to come, with plenty of room for our kids to play and adults to connect, too.
Sunday School class retreat in Red Oak Lodge, February 2025
This time away for me has been such a gift. Thank you for your intentionality to provide a place for people in ministry to “get away to a quiet place” — like Jesus did. Blessings on you all!!
Pastor stay in Creekside cottage, February 2025
Your facility is absolute perfection! We had everything we needed . . . and more! Your staff is incredible! May God bless this facility year after year 🙂
Women’s retreat in Red Oak Lodge, January 2025
My annual prayer and planning retreat here is a highlight of my year. Thank you!
Pastor stay in Creekside cottage, December 2024
Great to see Highland in the winter season. The great room is an amazing gathering space with fireplace ambiance.
Family gathering in Red Oak Lodge, November 2024
We had a wonderful time. Creekside was a cozy retreat, and we had fun hiking. Thanks for everything!
Couple staying in Creekside Cottage, November 2024
We loved every minute! Thank you for providing a space for us to gather and for God to meet us. It was wonderful!
Women’s retreat in Mountain View Retreat Center, November 2024
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Some of the other fun things Resident Camp A enjoyed last week include evening rec hour, worship times, and “Night Fair” activities. What a great week! (Post 3 of 3)
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Last week’s Res A campers also enjoyed conquering the climbing tower, playing 9-Square and GaGa, doing crafts, and just hanging out together. (Post 2 of 3)
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In addition to Navigators Camp, last week we also held Resident Camp A, for ages 9-11. We had a great group of campers, and they had a lot of fun! You can see some of that fun in these pictures, where campers are exploring the creek, examining critters, and swimming in the pool. (Post 1 of 3)
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We had two camps running last week, including our very first Navigators Camp! This brand-new camp was designed to be a fun and formative experience for a small group of older teens who have an interest in developing their faith and leadership skills. In addition to the fun camp activities captured in these pictures, the group also benefitted from sessions led by our staff pastors, Ken and Karen Gonyer, where they explored topics like spiritual disciplines and how personalities effect group dynamics. The Navigators campers also occasionally took on a bit of a leadership role with the younger Resident campers during all-camp rec activities in the evenings. Several of these campers will be returning later in the summer to serve as junior members of our summer staff team through the LIT program, as well!
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This lovely couple is Ken and Karen Gonyer, and we are blessed to have them here at Highland for a season of ministry! They have been staying in Green Valley House since March, helping out with a variety of service projects while also preparing for their key roles this summer: serving as summer staff pastors and planning our first Navigators Camp (which took place last week). Their years of service in various settings has prepared them to nurture young adults in areas of Christian faith and leadership. So that makes them perfect for their roles in our summer team! We are so grateful that God worked it out that we could have them here at Highland for this spring and summer. Join us in praying that their remaining months of service here will be good and fruitful ones!
Pictured: staff portrait by the talented Bekah Mongold; working on landscaping during a spring work day; leading a session during summer staff training week.
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Meet our 2025 counseling team! These 8 rock stars are the counselors and SCAs who will be serving our campers for the whole camp season. We are so glad to have each of them with us for a full summer of ministry! (Clockwise from top left: Titus, Keira, Matt, Natalie, Logan, Makayla, Alec, and Megan.)
We do also have a group of returning staff who will be joining them to serve as counselors for a few weeks here and there, and a crew of other summer staff who are serving the full summer in leadership or support roles -- and we are incredibly grateful for each of those individuals as well! But today we are highlighting this crew, who wrapped up their week of staff training yesterday and are getting ready to welcome their first campers tomorrow. Please keep our counseling team in your prayers through the next 7 weeks, as they lead and nurture their cabin groups each week and model Christian faith for their campers.
(Staff portraits by the brilliant Bekah Mongold!)
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