Teens' Camping Tour of the West Inc was born from the dream of C. Peter Cole to take teenagers to see the wonders of the West and use the adventure of travel to guide young people down the path of self-discovery. TCTW took its first trips West in 1967 in VW Busses. From the success of that summer, and years of labors of love by Peter Cole, and current director Doug Gill, TCTW has expanded to the age of mini-busses, customized trailers and an informative websites. TCTW has accepted participants from all over the world, but finds its main draw from Virginia and the Carolinas.
In 1998 TCTW inducted its second director, Douglas C. Gill. Through the years TCTW has molded its program to embody six significant principles: love yourself, love others, appreciate nature, realize that you have been given unique gifts, recognize that it is your responsibility to use those gifts to make your corner of the world a better place, all while giving praises to our maker. It is these six principles that we hope all participants will come to embrace and practice throughout their lives.
Our goal is leadership and spiritual development for teenagers with the notion that raising up spiritually strong leaders is part of building a better world. TCTW with over 4,000 past participants has proudly been engaged in this mission for 44 years.
