Summer Camps

Environmental Health professionals at the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) work to protect the health and safety of campers at Virginia’s overnight summer camps.  Efforts focus on the provision of safe drinking water, sufficient sewage disposal, effective vector control, proper ground maintenance, and swimming pool safety.

As defined by the Code of Virginia, an overnight "summer camp" means any building, tent, or vehicle, or group of buildings, tents, or vehicles, if operated as one place or establishment, or any other place or establishment, public or private, together with the land and waters adjacent thereto, that is operated or used in this Commonwealth for the entertainment, education, recreation, religious instruction or activities, physical education, or health of persons under 18 years of age who are not related to the operator of such place or establishment by blood or marriage within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity, if 12 or more such persons at any one time are accommodated, gratuitously or for compensation, overnight and during any portion of more than two consecutive days.

All Virginia overnight summer camps must be permitted by VDH and are inspected annually by staff from local health departments. If you would like to apply for a permit to operate an overnight summer camp, or have questions about overnight summer camps, please contact your local health department.