Brothers Matt, Nick and Alex Markoff founded Calleva camp three decades ago. Today, with hubs in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, Calleva has expanded to better address its mission to “get all people outdoors.” This month, Markoff’s Haunted Forest — an annual scarefest they started to raise money for their camp dream — takes center stage at Calleva Farm. Photo by Martin Radigan Photography

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Imagine living your whole life at summer camp. That’s what the Markoff brothers — Nick, Alex and Matt — have been doing for 32 years.

The co-founders of Calleva, based in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, are “living the dream,” said Matt Markoff, executive director of the beloved area institution that buses kids to day camp to learn to kayak, go whitewater rafting, rock climbing, mountain biking and paddleboarding.

Since the Markoffs founded Calleva, the camp program has expanded to include an equestrian center, sustainable farm, river school, store and outdoor restaurant.

How it began

The brothers, now in their 50s, were accustomed to spending summers outdoors at their family’s day camp in Colesville, Maryland.

“We grew up at camp under the guidance of our parents and grandparents, who founded Valley Mill Camp back in the 1970s,” said Matt Markoff.

“We knew from early on that we wanted to think out of the box and try our own approach to summer camp.”

Their mission: to get people outdoors for safe, educational, challenging experiences that promote personal growth, teamwork and leadership skills.

With a dream of building a camp of their own, the brothers knew they had to raise some seed money. On a late-summer drive from Utah to Maryland in an old bus, they had an idea for a fundraiser: transform the bus into a haunted house on wheels and charge admission.

Four years later, they moved to the 168-acre Calleva Farm, where Markoff’s Haunted Forest became a popular annual activity, scaring kids and adults every September through November.

Nowadays the site, which has been featured on the Discovery Channel and Travel Channel, is so popular that 2,000 brave souls walk its spooky mile-long trail every night (including the Obama family several years ago).

“We spend all year building people’s confidence in the outdoors and one month tearing them back down,” joked Nick Markoff, who oversees the “the haunt,” as he calls it.

With fundraising money in hand, the brothers were able to purchase canoes, paddles, lifejackets and climbing gear and open a small summer camp.

Their mother suggested the name “Calleva,” which means “place in the woods” in Celtic. With that, the Markoff family established Calleva as a licensed nonprofit educational organization.

“Our friends, family, neighbors, and faith community really turned out those first few years to enjoy a few October scares and support our summer camp dreams,” Matt Markoff recalled.

“We could not have made it through those first five years without a steady stream of creative volunteers and passionate outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen,” he said.

Inspired by uncle

One such outdoorsman was Tom McEwan, the Markoffs’ uncle. He’s known in the whitewater kayaking community for his first descent of Great Falls in 1975 and his 1998 National Geographic expedition to Tibet.

“We all joke that Uncle Tom was born in the wrong century and should have been on the Lewis & Clark expedition,” Matt Markoff said.

“He was always on an adventure or had one planned. As kids we were awestruck from his stories. We have all shared some sort of kayaking adventure with ‘Tio,’ whether it was in Canada, Mexico or in our back yard.”

McEwan still lives in Maryland and has taught at Calleva’s River School. “He continues to this day to embody adventure, and we try to draw on that same inspiration for our own campers,” said Alex Markoff, director of Calleva Farm.

Returning campers

Thirty-two summers have come and gone, and thousands of kids have passed through Calleva, gaining outdoor skills and confidence.

It’s hard to overstate the camp’s impact. Two counselors who met at camp, for instance, got married at Calleva Farm three years ago. Former campers and counselors keep in touch — and keep coming back year after year.

“Our alumni live all over the country, but they seem to find each other wherever they go,” said Matt Markoff. “We’ve got a whole enclave of Calleva alumni in the Denver area, a few in NYC, and a whole slew living out in Idaho.

“We are so proud of the community that’s grown up around our mission. It’s absolutely the best part of this work.”

One camper, Shon Kaganovich of Potomac, Maryland, attended Calleva for 10 years and worked as a counselor for two more.

“Calleva was part of the family that raised me. I spent all my summers there, and that was a big part of my upbringing,” Kaganovich said.

“The question wasn’t, ‘Do you want to go to Calleva?’ It was, ‘How many weeks in a row do you want to go?’”

During his dozen years at Calleva, Kaganovich got to know the Markoffs well and noticed their willingness to roll up their sleeves and do whatever was necessary to help. Matt drives the bus, Nick fills in as a ghoul at the haunt, and Alex pinch-hits as a counselor.

One summer, when one of the camp leaders was absent, he remembered, Alex “just stepped in and pitched in instead of canceling” the outing, Kaganovich said.

The Markoffs’ dedication could be part of the secret recipe that keeps people like Kaganovich returning for generations.

“We see some of our first campers that became staff and directors travel back to the D.C. area so that their kids can participate in the camps that they remember so fondly,” Alex said.

Expanding its footprint

Over its 32 summers, Calleva has expanded its reach. It has two locations in Maryland — at Riley’s Lock on the C&O Canal and at a farm in Darnestown, which has a year-round equestrian program.

In 2022, Calleva opened a Virginia campus on the Potomac River on the Madeira School’s 250-acre grounds in Great Falls. Its West Virginia program offers rugged, multi-day overnight expeditions at its location on the South Branch River in Romney.

Calleva’s empire of outdoor education also extends to an island in the Potomac River — dubbed Adventure Island — where day campers can canoe out to play in its creeks, make survival shelters and fish.

“Camp has been the foundation of everything that we do, but Calleva has sort of grown up organically over the years as we have expanded our capacity and skill sets,” Matt Markoff said.

Now, he said, the nonprofit offers programs for “adventurers of all ages. All people — regardless of age, experience, or risk-taking capacity — can jump into Calleva and try something new.”

Adults can take evening or weekend kayaking lessons at the Calleva River School, no experience required. Families can visit the farm for Friday Pizza Nights, where adults can eat while their kids ride on the zip line.

For a fancier touch, there’s a farm-to-table dinner called Tastes of Calleva, a moveable feast made from local ingredients at their farm. Six unique tasting stations are set up throughout the farm, Alex explained.

“Guests roam the farm at their own pace, meet Calleva staff, participate in fun Calleva activities (zip line, pony rides, archery and more), and enjoy a series of delicious small plate dishes.”

With a working sustainable farm and apiary, Calleva also sells its honey, farm yields and baked goods at the Calleva Farm Store in downtown Poolesville.

At all four of Calleva’s hubs, you’ll see busy counselors, happy campers and maybe a Markoff brother or two, carrying on their family’s tradition of embracing the great outdoors.

“Taking inspiration from our family’s love of nature and spirit of adventure, we dreamed up a new way to do camp,” Matt Markoff said.

What’s next? “Well, of course, more adventures,” he said. “More positive experiences, more friendships, more failures, more successes, more ticks, more campfires, more singing — and less screen time!”

Markoff’s Haunted Forest opens on Sept. 27 and runs through early November. For more information, visit calleva.org.