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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- North Idaho High Adventure Base
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- Camp Sequoyah, Greater Alabama Council
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- Mount Norris Scout Reservation
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- Camp La-No-Che
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- Cape Cod Maritime Adventure Treks
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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
I love this list. I’m a Program Development Lead for Goshen Scout Reservation and I always go through this report in detail looking for ways to improve camp experience. It’ll take time – but look for Goshen on this list soon!
I cannot believe Scouting magazine published the picture at Mt Norris Scout Reservation on page 60 of the Jan/Feb 2013 issue showing Scouts without headgear, without gloves or mittens, and with their outer jackets open in what is identified as SUB-FREEZING temperatures. I’m also surprised that not one of the other commenters commented on this.
I have staffed Winter Trek (all volunteer staff) for 6 years now. I watched the photo shoot when that was taken last year. We had a particularly mild winter last year. The temps that day were well above freezing and it was a nice sunny day with no wind.
But, when performing heavy exercise like cross country skiing, it is completely acceptable to remove your hat and open layers to keep from sweating.
Personally, I would have worn gloves just in case (when) I fell over into the snow! But, these Scouts were at most 20 yards from a heated building at any one point while being photographed. So, they could easily get warm if needed. Yes, Scouts don’t always use the best judgment, but in this case, the text is not accurate about the conditions that particular day.
We run a very safe program, and as far as I know, we have never had a cold injury. If the conditions had warranted it, these youth would have been instructed to bundle up. We all know leading and teaching Scouts is all about judgment calls. While I was not supervising this activity, in my somewhat expert opinion, there is nothing wrong with what is shown.
The first weekend of Winter Trek starts Friday, and we have more snow on the ground now than we got all winter last year! All 5 weeks were sold out long ago, and we’re looking forward to another great winter camping season.
This year I was the leader taking 21 on AMTRAK from Los Angeles to Central Oregon, Camp Makualla. The camp staff and their food was exceptional but the lake was freezing !! ( we went week 1 just after the snow cleared). Whitewater rafting and a tour of Crater Lake NP.. Fun time indeed.
My troop also went to Camp Makualla, Central Oregon and I agree, the water was freezing. We had rain and mosquitoes (BE PREPARED). It was a great camp. The food and staff was great.
To all jamboreans and esleaiclpy to the 151 th FOS KOALA’s have a BLAST of a jamboree We love ya all!!Bring friendship out to everyone overthere and thank Sweden for its hospitality Frank Van de Steene (Trage Walrus)
One of the premier camp locations on the east coast is the National Capital Area Council’s Goshen Scout Reservation nestled in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains outside of Lexington, VA. It offers 4 Boy Scout and 2 Webelos Camps on The 400+ acre Lake Merriweather with miles of hiking/biking/ATV trails, fishing, COPE, a variety of outposts, water sports and even a tech center for STEM type merit badges. Come see us on our FB Fan page and my own personal gallery of photographs below.
http://www.facebook.com/GOSHENNCAC
http://danglassphoto.zenfolio.com/p294984628#h3e835142
Joseph A. Citta Scout Reservation at Brookville is “America’s Favorite Scout Camp” You should definitely check us out at http://www.cittascoutreservation.org!!!!
Camp Tolochee, sits on its on island on Little Blythe Island Georgia. Summer Camp the way it use to be.
http://www.oacbsa.org
I have spent almost 30 years at Camp Geiger and now my son is attending. The new shooting range is an excellent addition to an amazing camp. With one of the best programs around, the Tribe of Mic O Say, scouts come back year after year to Geiger. The staff is well trained and one of the best in scouting. On the hills above the river, Camp Geiger calls scouts young and old to return.
Well said, Tommy! Geiger has been nationally recognized for its high quality of program for decades now–including being distinguished as one of the “top 10″ in the nation when you were still a young lad!
Year after year it has one of the highest rates of returning Scouts to camp. Birthplace of COPE (back in 1979) and now the highly-acclaimed Geiger Shooting Range (by national shooting sports champions). The quality of its staff is definitely the secret to its success!
Onteora Scout Reservation, The Land in the Sky in upstate NY is amazing. Also Shiff Scout Reservation formally known as Camp Wauwepex on Long Island, where Teddy Roosevelt and his cronies established a scout camp almost 100 years ago.
There is no finer Scout Camp than the 1,560 acres of Ma-Ka-Ja-Wan in Northern Wisconsin, home to lakes and woods and trails. This proud camp of the Northeast Illinois Council (129) has been serving Scouts on Illinois North Shore for over 75 years.
No love for H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation… I find this to not be cool at all, but the other camps are good too, but Bartle it the king!
Best Camp is Trexler Scout Reservation in Jonas PA (Minsi Trails Council, 502) Settlers Camp for Boy Scouts lots of classic and innovative programs for scouts of ALL ages! Akelaland Week-long Cub Scout Resident Camp for Cubs with an AUTHENTIC camping experience! Check it out… http://www.trexlercamp.org and http://www.akelaland.com
Best Camp is Trexler Scout Reservation in Jonas PA (Minsi Trails Council, 502) Settlers Camp for Boy Scouts lots of classic and innovative programs for scouts of ALL ages! Akelaland Week-long Cub Scout Resident Camp for Cubs with an AUTHENTIC camping experience!
“There’s no better place than Parsons, where the mountains meet the sea.” – Camp Parsons song. True story.
Our troop has 2 favorites…Camp Meriwether in Oregon (near Tilamook) – the Cascade Pacific Council – is a huge favorite when we go out of council. They have a replica of Fort Clatsop (used by Lewis and Clark), and a Frontiersmen Award program for older scouts (it’s REALLY cool). Their dining hall is HUGE and beautiful (and holds 600!). Our other favorite is a local camp, Camp Black Mountain in the Mount Baker Council (in Washington). Beautiful setting with great activities, including a fabulous indoor climbing wall, and a C.O.P.E. course. (Our troop is especially proud of the climbing wall…they were the first to climb it when it opened to campers!)
The Owasippe Scout Reservation, near Whitehall, Michigan is a must. Have been spending 2 weeks every year since 1998. Run by the Chicago Area Council, it has 4700 breath taking acres, camp sites right Lake Wolverine — the best large mouth fishing around. Each year it is like going home. I am bringing my grandchildren there now. Try a piece of heaven, go Owasippe — and Camp Wolverine ! ZAXIE !!
Shout out to Camp La-No-Che out of Central Florida Council. Great aquatics department!
Hello Good Morning
I’m de Director of NATIONAL CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL TRAINNING, a scout center located at Aveiro – Portugal.
http://www.saojacinto.cne-escutismo.pt
and i would like that you insert this possibilite in your magazine
Best Scout Regards
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
Yeah it’s really a great place been going there over 3 years now
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 was not impressed with this year’s summer camp. Dealing with the council camp leadership is not enjoyable. Keep getting different information, or no information. Order of the Arrow was not there to do a call out. Boys got lost since only leaders were given maps, and the camp is very large. Will not be going back anytime soon. Afraid to post to much information as it may effect the troop.
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
Pingback: Cool Camps goes digital | Bryan on Scouting
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?
It certainly belongs on this list, Best camp in the land!”
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!