S-Bar-F Scout Ranch
Greater St. Louis Area Council
Photograph by Mary Ann Carter
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When you camp here in a tent, the view will undoubtedly surpass what you see out of your bedroom window. But when you camp in a tree house, the sweeping vista becomes practically ethereal. That’s the draw of the S-Bar-F Scout Ranch in Knob Lick, Mo., about 80 miles south of St. Louis. Here’s what to expect:
• Five tree houses sit atop telephone poles. Walkways connect them so that you and your Scouts don’t have to climb down to visit your neighbors. One adult tree house has an electrical outlet and light, but the others are more primitive.
• During the summer, the S-Bar-F uses the tree houses for camp programs, but it rents them out as units the rest of the year. Packs, troops, or crews can reserve one or all five. Each one sleeps six in bunk beds.
• The tree houses remain in high demand even during the dead of winter, when snow covers the ground. Each July, you can enter a lottery to determine who gets first crack at making reservations for the season, which begins in October.
• Who needs four walls? These units feature an opening on one side that gives you and your Scouts a great view of 270-acre Nims Lake nearby.