Guide a 6-Week Expedition in the Pacific Northwest!

Current openings for 2026:

 Unit Leader 

Horseback Specialist

 Expedition Trip Leader

 Assistant Cook

Imagine yourself in the midst of campers who are laughing so hard that tears are streaming down some of their faces. They look to you for advice, friendship, and so much more. Who influenced you in your adolescent years? Now it's your turn. We are focused on the growth of our staff and campers, and after 80 years of operation, we have a strong network of successful alumni seeking young talent.

What Makes Us Unique? 

We are multi-specialty, residential brother/sister camps in Minnesota with distinctive Expedition Programs in the Pacific Northwest, Western States, and Canada. Daily offerings of more than 20+ activities result in Tbird hiring about 100 staff at each camp (20 Trip Leaders) for 160 campers. Staff come from 25+ states and 12 countries worldwide.  You’ll collaborate with some of the most dedicated, fun, and inspiring people you’ll ever meet.

• Our boys’ and girls’ camps are just two miles apart, giving staff built-in social opportunities alongside meaningful work.

• Trip Leaders are hired for a specific wilderness expedition.

• Cabin Staff instruct in one or more activities and help our campers acquire a level of skill that enables them to independently participate.

• Being a part of the "ah ha" moment is one of the most reaffirming experiences. These moments, combined with laughter, bonding with peers/campers, and actively building a community grounded in friendship, acceptance, support, and more, make Thunderbird an unforgettable opportunity.

• Campers can't wait to call you a friend and mentor. Thunderbird is a second home to our campers and staff. Want to learn more or ready to apply? 

Campers join us for 3.5 or 7 weeks at a time, typically starting around 9 and remaining with us as staff members. Whether you are with us for one season or ten, the friends that you make at Thunderbird are the ones you can call on a moment's notice and pick up right where you left off! 

Thunderbird is a residential summer camp with an  Expedition Program for our teen campers. 

As campers grow, they often seek new challenges. These challenges come in many forms: new activities, higher skill levels, or a completely new set of opportunities, such as our Expedition Programs. ​​​​​​

Distinctive Wilderness Programs

Young campers (ages 8-12) interested in wilderness travel can explore it throughout their camp years. These trips typically last one to four days and include biking, climbing, fishing, kayaking, sailing, and canoeing. 

At 13, campers interested in participating in our T-Bird Expedition program launch into our more advanced wilderness programming which involves furthering their wilderness skills and partaking in 3, 5 and up to 9 day backpack and canoe trips to areas such as the BWCA, Quetico Provincial Park in Canada, Porcupine Mountains in Michigan and Superior Hiking Trail in Minnesota. Campers participating in these experiences have the best of both worlds: activities and wilderness trips. 

Tbird Expeditions

Our adventure programming is truly unique. Trips are multi-week. Only Thunderbird offers campers the opportunity to transition into a Teen Adventure Program experience so they never leave their camp friends or community. Campers completing 8th-11th grade opt into these trips out  adventures that start and finish at Thunderbird. You can’t beat the excitement of experiencing new challenges in some of the United States and Canada’s most renowned places.

 Where We Travel To

Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Wyoming, Idaho, and Canadian territories such as Banff and Jasper. Visit our adventure page website to learn more. 

Facilities, Our Lake and More

• Thunderbird sits on a quiet and large lake that is eleven miles around. We own 3+ miles of sandy and natural shoreline. Both camps utilize the entire lake and on a typical day, you will see a dozen boats and half of them are ours.

• Our sites are up to date with central washhouses at boys camp and a bathroom in cabins with central shower houses at girls camp. 

• We are fifteen minutes from the town of Bemidji and three hours from the Canadian border. 

• Our winter work includes assembling a staff committee to make sure that staff needs and mental health are a top priority. 

If you're ready to make connections with other college-age+ staff and have the summer of your life, then Thunderbird is the community for you. Who knows, maybe you will become one of those people who find work for nine months so they can return to Thunderbird for three!

Our staff members are high-energy, fun, nurturing and compassionate. They care about kids and love to have fun and be silly. A camp job is hard work, but our staff are ready to work hard to meet those challenges. They're also great role models; counselors are often like superheroes in their campers' eyes. Most of all, our staff are focused on ensuring that their campers have an amazing, safe and memorable camp experience.

All staff live in comfortable, spacious cabins. Cabin Counselors and Trip Leaders live in cabins with 6-10 campers, but enjoy a separate living space.  All of our cabins have electricity. At Boys Camp, each village has a central washhouse. At Girls Camp, in addition to the village shower house, each cabin has its own bathroom. Staff without cabin responsibilities live in communal buildings in either individual or shared rooms, bathrooms and showers. Older staff, cooks, office staff live either in housing with other staff or on their own with electricity and bathrooms. Internet is available in designated areas and phone reception for most carriers is solid. 

We believe that our staff work hard and therefore should have the time to relax. All staff receive each week: one 7 am-7 am day off, one 5 pm-7 am evening off and one 10 pm-12 am evening out.  In addition, there are opportunities to participate in many of the activities that we offer to campers. And, if you are coming to summer camp to make meaningful connections with your peers AND our campers AND fully experience a camp community, we offer all of that as well! You are our frontline workers and your happiness is critical to our community. Join us!

We offer a shuttle to and from the Minneapolis airport on designated travel days. Or, you are welcome to drive to Bemidji, it is four hours north of Minneapolis.  

Once at camp, we offer shuttles on days and nights off to those staff who need a ride.

At Thunderbird, we believe that staff work hard and need to play hard to stay fresh and engaged. We offer other times of the day when staff can take a break and check in with friends and family, go for a run or sit and read a book. In addition, we offer cross-fit classes, yoga, dodge-ball games, game nights, water fights and other super fun ways to hang out with your peers.