Falling Creek Camp

Falling Creek Camp is a traditional summer camp for boys, founded on Christian values. It is located on over 900 private mountaintop acres in Tuxedo, North Carolina. Falling Creek was founded in 1969 by Jim Miller. Sessions range from one to four weeks for rising 1st through 12th grade boys, and Father/Son Weekends are offered. In addition to the classic camp activities, campers can choose to participate daily in a variety of out-of-camp adventure trips, ranging in skill level from introductory to advanced, and from one-day trips to five-day trips.^[1]

Falling Creek Camp
Location	Tuxedo, North Carolina, U.S.
Established	1969

Mission and code

Falling Creek's purpose statement is, "We exist to shepherd the journey of personal growth through love and adventure."^[1]

The Falling Creek Code is the set of values that provide the framework for camp life. The four values are Warrior Spirit, Servant's Heart, Moral Compass, and Positive Attitude.^[2]

History

Jim Miller founded the camp in 1969.^[3] It is located in the town of Tuxedo in southern Henderson County as a brother camp to nearby Camp Greystone - a camp for girls only. The first session was held in summer 1969 with 110 boys.^[3][4]

In 1971, Yorke Pharr and his wife Barbara purchased the camp, invested in programs, new facilities, and acreage as directors for the next 18 years. In 1989, Yorke was convicted in court of molesting children and in the fall of that year, Falling Creek was purchased by Chuck and Jean McGrady.^[5]

Chuck and co-director Donnie Bain operated camp for 16 years. Under their leadership Falling Creek continued to grow, facilities were improved, and more program options were added.

In 2005, former camper Yates Pharr (no relation to Yorke), and his wife Marisa, purchased camp. Yates had led a successful career in commercial real estate,^[6] but considered it a dream come true to return to Falling Creek with Marisa and their daughters.^[7][8][9] As of 2025, Yates and Marisa Pharr are the current directors.^[10][11]

Camp activities and programs

Falling Creek is located on over 900 private mountaintop acres. Sessions range from one to four weeks for rising 1st through 12th grade boys. Family Camp and Father/Son Weekends are also offered. In addition to the classic camp activities,^[12] campers can choose to participate daily in a variety of out-of-camp adventure trips, ranging in skill level from introductory to advanced, and from one-day trips to five-day trips.^[13]

Falling Creek offers nearly 30 activities, from in-camp to out-of-camp programs, and numerous special signup activities.^[14]

Campers can advance through five levels in each activity. Each level has a set of criteria a camper must complete in order to advance in an activity. The levels are skill-based with leadership and service components. The names assigned to each level are Scout, Explorer, Challenger, Ranger, and Warrior.

When a camper progresses through these activity levels, collecting Waypoints^[15] and achieving Warrior in activities, he has the chance to become a Journeyman. A Journeyman is a camper who has attained Warrior - the highest level of a program - in at least three different activities and consistently demonstrates that he lives by the FCC Code. During Main Camp, Journeymen can attempt to earn the coveted status of Keeper of the Flame.^[16]

The camp activities include:^[14] Archery, Arts and Crafts, Backpacking Trips, Basketball, Blacksmithing (ages 10+), Chess, Climbing Wall, Cross Country, Disc Golf, F.A.R.M., Spin Fishing, Fly Fishing (3 period block), Flag Football, Horseback Riding (2 period block), Mountain Biking, Music, Nature, Outdoor Skills Certified, Paddling (canoe/kayak), Pickleball, Pottery, Riflery, Rock Climbing, Sailing (3 period block), Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, The HEAT (Fitness), Theater, Ultimate Frisbee, Woodworking

Falling Creek's outdoor adventure program offers opportunities for campers to experience activities they may not be able to do at home in the areas of backpacking, mountain biking, river kayaking and canoeing, and rock climbing. Campers participate in “preps”, in-camp, for an area of interest to qualify them to be able to sign-up for adventures in and out-of-camp. Adventures may be one day or multiple days with camping throughout western North Carolina and beyond. Campers progress in the adventure activities based on their skill development and trips are designed for different skill levels.

Camp experience

The camp's structure allows campers to do the activities they want to do while still having a manageable and steady schedule, a philosophy known as "structured freedom". The activities campers can experience include regularly scheduled daily activities, two free periods each day, and a variety of outdoor adventure trips ^[17] that they can choose to sign up for. These trips take place off-propertu mountain biking, rock climbing, paddling, or backpacking, and range in length from one to five days. The activities all fall into four categories: outdoor adventure, water, sports, and camp classics.^[14]

During summer sessions, cabins are grouped into Lines by age.^[18] From youngest to oldest, the names of the lines are Sorrel, Tsuga, Robinia, and Betula. The fifth line is named Samara, for staff who don't live in cabins with campers. Each of these Lines highlights a specific value from the Falling Creek Camp Code.^[2] Campers live in rustic cabins of eight boys with two counselors. In addition to sharing the same living quarters, cabin mates eat together in the dining hall and go on occasional overnight outings, but choose the activities and trips they want to participate in separately.

Registration

Falling Creek charges between $1650 and $2000 per week, depending on the length of session chosen.^[19] The rate is an all-inclusive fee, and campers never need to pay for anything out of pocket. A camp store is also operated, where campers can use their "allowances" (accounts set up by their parents when dropping their sons off) to buy necessities.

Time magazine article

The camp received some notoriety when the July 26, 2007, issue of Time featured the camp on the cover with longtime camper Hayden Futch. The article, called "The Myth About Boys" and written by Time editor David Von Drehle,^[20] was researched on-location at Falling Creek in July 2007.^[21]