Not all Boy Scout camps are created equal. Sure, each offers a terrific program to entertain and challenge Scouts, but every Scout camp has unique program elements that make it special. Scouting magazine has scoured the country to find some of the coolest Scout camps around. Check them out, and be sure to leave a comment if you’ve visited one of these Cool Camps.
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- Camp Kern, Southern Sierra Council
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- Camp Parsons, Chief Seattle Council
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- Lost Lake Scout Reservation, Great Lakes Council
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- Sid Richardson Scout Ranch, Longhorn Council, Bridgeport, Tex.
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- Base Camp, Northern Star Council, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
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- Claytor Lake Aquatics Base, Blue Ridge Mountains Council – Radford, Va.
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- Buffalo Trail Scout Ranch, Buffalo Trail Council, Midland, Tex.
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- Camp Geiger Shooting Range, Pony Express Council, St. Joseph, Mo.
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- Camp Tuckahoe’s Cub World, New Birth of Freedom Council
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- Entrada High Adventure Base, Utah National Parks Council
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- Broad Creek Memorial Scout Reservation, Baltimore Area Council
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- Crystal Lake Scout Reservation, Samoset Council, Wisconsin
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- S-Bar-F Scout Ranch, Greater St. Louis Area Council
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- Okpik Adventure, Northern Tier High Adventure Base
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- Bert Adams Scout Reservation, Atlanta Area Council
Camp Napowan in wild rose wisconsin is amazing!!!!!!
it is run by northwest suburban council and just celebrated its 65th anniversary. i have gone to this camp for close to 10 years now both as a scout and a staff member. i have gone to several other camps but Napowan takes the cake. you will be hard pressed to find a more dedicated staff anywhere. this camp has become a second home to me and every time i leave i count the days till i return.
Thanks for your comment on Napowan. We are in Milwaukee and are considering it for 2013 after spending years at another great camp, Camp Gardner Dam, in White Lake, WI
Camp Napowan in wild rose wisconcin is amazing.
Trekking at Camp Hi-Sierra (http://ow.ly/9XCpQ) leads Scouts on a multi-day series of excursions as they rappell, sail, mountain bike, and chill at the Clavey River pools. Check out the YouTube video: http://ow.ly/9XCGg
Every summer troops from all over the U.S. come to the Denver Area Council camps, Peaceful Valley and Tahosa. PV has Camp Chris Dobbins and the harder-core-scouting Courtland Deitler sharing outstanding facilities on one side and Magness cub camp on the other. This camp just received several hundred adjacent undeveloped acres which will soon host backpacker wilderness treks. Tahosa is a high adventure base that recently added a summer merit badge program to the pleasures of camping, fishing and more in the specatacular Rockies.
I have enjoyed Tasomas and it has become alot more to me than just a place I got to go to camp. I worked as a CIT there last summer too. Each time I visited there, camped there and became a member of the OA I felt more hungry to go back again. I thank Samoset Council mostly for allowing me and alot of other Scouts to grow and learn and have fun. Last September I got my Eagle Rank. YOu have no idea how proud I am that I did and yet someone alot older than me told me it wasn’t the end of my Scouting; rather just the beginning. That one Scouter’s advise encouraged me to start my own organization called Do Salute. http://www.dosalute.net. I think Samoset Council has become my family in many ways and I wish to simply say thank you for that. John Weber – Wausau WI
The list isn’t complete without including one of the coolest camps on the west coast – Emerald Bay, on historic (Santa) Catalina Island. Earning the Canoeing MB, racing war canoes, snorkeling and scuba diving in the Pacific… it doesn’t get much better than that. A side benefit: while waiting for the ferry at San Pedro, the scouts get a front row view of the Port of Long Beach. It’s quite a sight to see the huge cranes loading and unloading the cargo at one of the busiest ports in America.
The downside… it’s not cheap. Still, I know of quite a few troops other than ours that have made the trek down from Northern California.
Another precaution: plan ahead – since it is an island-based camp, many of the “cool” MBs have the Swimming MB as a prerequisite.
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A great little (more affordable) camp is Camp Kern. It’s fairly close to Chawanakee (at Huntington Lake) and seems to have a similar program. The scouts have always enjoyed their time there.
Camp Roosevelt at Katahdin Scout Reservation, the camp property of Katahdin Area Council, Maine
Check it out: katahdinareabsa.org
Custaloga Town Scout Reservation in French Creek Council is pretty awesome. Check out this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQIKO5pt93g&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Camp Tuckahoe is a BLAST!!!! Both of my boys did Webelos resident camp there last year. I hope we get to do it again this summer!
Camp Raven Knob in Low Gap, NC with the view from the Knob of the camp and the area is hard to beat any time of the year. Also the OA Arena and shows that Wahissa Lodge puts on during summer camps are a must see.
Buffalo Trail Scout Ranch is nowhere near Midland, TX. It’s south of IH-10 in the Davis Mountains. Another great place is the Conquistador Council’s We-hin-ah-pay Mountain Camp Located on private land within the Lincoln National Forest in the Cloudcroft area.
Good idea and I’d like to see it get expanded with more great camps. As it happens I’d like to throw Camp Chawanakee @ Shaver Lake CA name into the hat. You can find us online at http://www.facebook.com/campchawanakee
Hello Joeseph,
I looked at your facebook page and the pictures posted. That looks like a really cool camp to attend. I attended summer camp in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. I would like to when possible to travel to different camps, and Chawanakee is on the list.
David Karcz,
Troop 164
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Have you checked out Camp Melita Island in the Montana Council? We own our own ISLAND on Flathead Lake! Check it out at montanabsa.org.
Where is camp Wolfeboro CA?
Camp Michaels, Union, KY. Rustic camping at its best, the way scouting started.
I have been to Buffalo Trails in West Texas incredible land. For just the opposite Denver Area Council has Tahosa where there are times you can be above the clouds. Spectacular scenery!