planning your own week long summer camp

[sherwood]

Does anyone know of where I can find resource for planning your own week long summer camp for your troop.

My troop has a history of going to a council camp every other year. we went to one last year so now I need some Ideas on how to make it successful.

Before my time my troop has done week long camps with a base camp near a lake and they did water activities and day hikes

 

any suggestions?

 

any things to not do?

[Stosh]

BWCA, Sea Base, Philmont, Isle Royale, RAGBRAI, fishing in Canada? Appalachian Trail, Estes Park, ... Gee, there's a ton of things out there that one could do. Some of them have established programs, others would require a bit of organizational planning, but the boys have a whole 2 years to make plans. Shouldn't be a problem unless one waits until the last minute...

 

All the resources are in the BS literature, meal planning, MB books, etc. all offer "program" for the week. Maybe do backpacking/hiking MB's. Cycling, etc. all lend themselves to a bit more adventure than showing up at summer camp and having someone else "plan out the fun".

 

I have found that some of the older boys who have been there and done it all, like a more laid back, less structured, doing something 24/7 is a drain. Maybe the only accomplishment one gets done all week is just having fun.

 

Stosh

 

Stosh(This message has been edited by jblake47)

[JerseyScout]

We do this every summer, the sky is the limit.

 

In the past we've:

- Backpacked and canoed through the Shennandoah Mountains

- The same through the Smokies

- Done multiple day biking expeditions through Maryland

- Gotten a houseboat in Western Pennsylvania

- Camped next to Lake Champlain in Vermont.

 

Our trips usually revolve around two or three "crews". The one crew goes out and does the hardest, multi-day activity (3-5 days of canoeing, biking, or backpacking), a middle crew does a mid-sized outing (2-3 days of canoeing, biking, backpacking), and a base camp crew does single day outings. Of course, nothing is wrong with just one "crew" who does everything together.

 

I suggest having the Scouts come up with a list of places they would want to go, then have them narrow it down to one place. Then have them do the legwork on what they want to do while their there and the cost.

 

This summer, we're heading to Acadia National Park if we can get the reservations on Monday. Sea kayaking, bouldering, climbing Cadiallac Mountain, walking a sand bar onto Porcupine Island, swimming in the freezing water on those lovely Maine beaches... I'm excited.

[Basementdweller]

As mentioned the sky is the limit.

 

If your a city kinda troop. A large number of cities offer urban hikes, Pro Baseball games, museums, ethnic centers, historic sites.

 

Heck you could go fishing for a week if you like.

[bacchus]

Bsa has some online training for planning a safe trek, safety afloat, etc. They have some very good information for someone like me planning our summer high adventure week.