Outdoor Recreation Club

The Outdoor Recreation Club (commonly referred to as ORC) is a club dedicated to having fun and learning about nature through outdoor exploration.

Goals

• Providing students a means to experience the outdoors
• Bringing a group together to participate in various outdoor activities
• Expanding the knowledge of nature and basic survival skills
• Creating a sense of community and learn from each other while on camping trips and excursions

At least once each term, the club goes on an excursion outside of Knox and Galesburg to explore a new campground or try a new activity.

Past outdoor activities have included:

• Spelunking (cave exploration)
• Horseback riding
• Wall-climbing
• Hiking
• Canoeing
• Biking

The club was revived in 2006 after being dormant for a few years. Since then, ORC has set up several large excursions open to any new members who are interested, including:

• A bike trip, in which students planned their own route to bike 38 miles one way to a campsite for a weekend, then bike back
• A trip to Rice Lake, near Peoria, Illinois
• Perhaps one of the most notable trips, a voyage to Shawnee National Forest, also known as the Garden of the Gods, where students spent a weekend hiking and bouldering in one of the most diverse recreational parks in the area

ORC welcomes all students, realizing that everyone can offer some knowledge or skill while camping, whether it's campfire cooking, setting up tents, identifying wildlife, knowing knots, or predicting weather. One of the greatest things about going on excursions with ORC is the lifelong knowledge about the outdoors that you'll gain from your fellow explorers.