Retreat Rentals and Outdoor Education
Retreat Facilities at Camp Asbury
Year-round Camp Asbury offers modern retreat facilities and food service for a total capacity of 140 persons. Outdoor program areas, including an archery range, hiking trails, low and high challenge courses, climbing tower, giant swing, and natural waterfront are available. Camp Asbury is an attractive setting for leadership conferences, youth and adult retreats, outdoor education events, and family reunions.
Shaw and Otterbein Retreat Centers
Shaw and Otterbein Retreat Centers each accommodate a
minimum of 25 guests and a maximum of 50 guests. Guest
groups staying in Shaw and Otterbein retreat center enjoy
their meals in Asbury dining hall.
Shaw and Otterbein each have a large carpeted meeting room with a fireplace
and lots of outdoor deck space. An outdoor campfire ring, an
open-air chapel, and an activity field are near each retreat
center. Otterbein retreat center is the closest building to Asbury dining
hall.
Epworth Retreat Center
Epworth retreat center allows guest groups the option of
preparing their own meals in the Epworth kitchen or utilizing
Camp Asbury’s year-round food service at Asbury dining
hall. Epworth Retreat Center accommodates a minimum of
15 persons and a maximum of 32 persons.
Epworth guests have exclusive access to an outdoor campfire ring, a
lighted outdoor picnic pavilion, and an open-air chapel
adjacent to the retreat center.
Leadership and Team Building
Team Building Overview
Camp Asbury offers leadership and team building events through group initiatives, low and high ropes courses, and the giant swing. Our trained staff will tailor your event to meet the needs and desires of your group, and lead you to success! The challenge courses at Camp Asbury are designed to increase a group’s communication, problem solving, leadership, confidence, and more. They provide a safe space for individuals and groups to take risks and push themselves to new limits. Book your next team building event with Camp Asbury!
Group Initiatives
Group Initiatives are a series of activities and challenges that allow a group to work together and overcome obstacles. They increase communication, problem solving, decision making, team work, and much more! Whether you’re a new group meeting each other for the first time, or have been together for many years, group initiatives will help you to come together and successfully achieve your goals. Camp Asbury Staff will tailor the program to fit your needs. Group Initiatives can be set up both indoors and outdoors, making them a perfect event year round.
Low Ropes
Camp Asbury’s Low Ropes Course features 13 different elements, designed to grow your group’s communication, problem solving, and team work skills. Learn to traverse on cables, walk across wooden beams, and trust fall into the arms of your teammates. Camp Asbury staff will tailor the program to fit your needs. Low ropes provide the perfect opportunity to begin to step out of your comfort zone, with the support and guidance of your group behind you.
High Ropes
Reach new heights with Camp Asbury’s 16 element high ropes course! Complete with a 30-foot climbing and rappel tower, power pole, dangle duo, zip line, and more! Trained Asbury staff will customize the experience to fit your group. Camp Asbury’s professionally designed course allows each and every participant to play a role, even if you’re not in the air!
Giant Swing
Enjoy the ride of a lifetime with Camp Asbury’s two-person Giant Swing! Directed by trained Asbury staff, you and your partner get pulled to the top of the 40-foot pole, then release yourselves and swing! Work together with your whole group to pull each pair as high as they want to go! Encompassing communication, team-work, and trust, the giant swing provides your group with a new experience they will never forget!
Outdoor Education
Asbury property includes 450 acres of forest, fields and wetlands within the Eagle Creek Valley. Approximately 80% of the property is wooded. Eagle Creek meanders through the property west to east. The property offers a tremendous resource for outdoor education. A diversity of animal and plant habitats are protected within the camp boundaries. Over six miles of marked trails invite hiking and nature study. In all seasons Camp Asbury is a sanctuary of natural and spiritual beauty. 82 acres of Asbury’s wetland are permanently protected by a USDA Wetland Reserve Program conservation easement.
Asbury has been a certified tree farm since 1981 and is managed with a Forest Stewardship Plan revised every five years with the assistance of an Ohio DNR state forester. Highly selective harvest of standing timber and salvage of damaged timber helps the camp manage its renewable natural resources and wildlife habitats. Best practices of sustainable forestry are followed at Asbury Camp and Retreat Center. A portion of Asbury’s Sugar Maple trees are annually tapped by neighboring farmers. Graded pure Ohio Maple syrup is available at the camp store.
Activities
Asbury Staff Led Activities
- Archery
- Low Ropes (Grades 5 and up)
- High Ropes and Giant Swing (grades 7 and up)
- Waterfront (swimming and boating)
- Fishing
- Guided day hikes and night hikes
- Stream Monitoring and Vernal Pond Discovery
- Wagon Rides
Self Led Activities
- Disc Golf
- field games
- volleyball
- hiking
- sledding (weather permitting)
Food Service
Guests receiving food service eat their meals at Asbury Lodge, the camp-dining hall. A picturesque view of the valley and lake provides a pleasant atmosphere where groups share meals with others at the camp. All meals are served family style and are prepared by year-round staff. Retreat group volunteers assist Asbury kitchen staff to set tables, deliver food to the tables, and help clear the tables after meals. Guests consistently praise Asbury meals as the best quality food they have enjoyed at a camp. Asbury food service is able to accommodate most special dietary requests and food allergies.