The Boy Scouts of America run three national high-adventure bases and programs, with a fourth set to open in 2013. These camps offer a wide range of challenging opportunities for scouts and adults. Planning ahead is critical – reservations are by lottery over a year in advance!
Philmont Scout Ranch
Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico is the Boy Scouts of America’s largest national high-adventure base. Its 34 staffed camps and 55 trail camps provide an unforgettable adventure in the high country along hundreds of miles of rugged, rocky trails. Youth and adults take advantage of the ranch’s camping, training, and work programs. Most activity takes place during the summer, but Philmont also offers its Fall Adventure and Kanik winter program.
Scouts from Troop 127 traveled to Philmont in 2009 with a scout troop from Cambridge, and in 2010 with Concord Troop 132.
Florida National High Adventure Sea Base
The Florida National High Adventure Sea Base is a unique Scouting program that offers aquatics programs found nowhere else. Whether your interests lie in sailing, scuba diving, rustic camping on an undeveloped barrier island, fishing or a combination of all, this is the place for your troop or crew. Sea Base operates eleven different adventures out of three different locations: two in the Florida Keys, and one in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas. All of our participants have the opportunity to swim, snorkel, and fish among the most beautiful coral reefs in the northern hemisphere.
Troop 127 will be going to Sea Base in the Bahamas in July, 2012.
Northern Tier National High Adventure Program
The Northern Tier National High Adventure Program, based in northern Minnesota with two satellite bases in Canada, provides a variety of unforgettable canoe treks and programs. Since 1923, Scouts have been voyaging into the great north wilderness to seek adventure. Eagles soaring overhead, walleye swimming in the depths of pristine lakes, meeting a moose on the portage trail. These are the experiences that Scouts get in Canada and the north woods of the United States.
Troop 127 hasn’t gone to Northern Tier yet. Maybe in 2014?
Summit Bechtel National Scout Reserve
The newest high adventure camp, The Summit Bechtel National Scout Reserve, is in the wilds of West Virginia on more than 10,000 acres. Whitewater rafting, canoeing, and kayaking programs will all be central to the experience at The Summit. On the rim of the New River Gorge, the area is known around the world for its more than 1,600 climbing routes. If there were an ideal place for Scouts to learn and practice the art of rock climbing, bouldering, and rappelling, The Summit is it. And aside from being some of the best mountain biking terrain anywhere, The Summit will be home to some absolutely world-class skate and BMX programs.
Archery and shooting are some of the most time-honored sports traditions in Scouting, and the Summit is building on that by creating some of the best shooting and arrow facilities anywhere. With new equipment, new ranges, and excellent instruction, Scouts that come to The Summit to shoot will not be disappointed. Some of the largest zip line canopy tours in the country are strung through our trees. Long distance, extended treks leave The Summit to explore the 70,000 acres of the New River Gorge. The Summit will offer Scouts the ultimate high-adventure outdoor playground and will be the permanent home of the national Scout jamboree beginning in 2013.