Goshen Scout Reservation
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Goshen Scout Reservation is a Boy Scout reservation designated to camping, swimming, hiking and other various activities. Goshen is home to six Boy Scouts of America resident summer camps located near Goshen, Virginia, and is owned and operated by the National Capital Area Council. The camps are all built around Lake Merriwether.
Goshen first opened to Boy Scouts of the National Capital Area Council in the summer of 1967. It today has 6 different camps, giving the park a grand total of about 150 acres (0.61 km²) of open land. NCAC still owns the Reservation today. This summer the campsite is celebrating its 42nd Anniversary since it opened.
Goshen borders portions of the George Washington National Forest and other state parks. The reservation is about a 45 minute drive southwest of Harrisonburg; and the reservation is about a 30 minute drive northwest of Lexington. From the town of Goshen itself, GSR is about a 5 minute drive to the east of town.
Within Goshen is a variety of camps. Within Goshen there are three Boy Scout camps, two Cub Scout camps, and one high adventure camp.
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[edit] Facilities
[edit] Camp Baird
Camp Baird is the base camp for the Lenhok'sin High Adventure program. Scouts hike from outpost to outpost during the week and experience various activities with significance to history or high adventure sports. Scouts are on Trail from Monday morning to Friday afternoon. Throughout the week, crews may be found at the outposts, which are scattered around the reservation. LHA is recommended for scouts at or above the age of 14, and in decent physical condition. Crews should be well prepared for their week of backpacking and must have a minimum of two youth and two adults, no exceptions. Units with numbers above 14 may be split into two individually functioning crews, so, the more scouts a crew intends to bring on Trail, plan on bringing more than two or three adults.
[edit] Camp Bowman
Camp Bowman is for Boy Scouts and is differentiated from Camp Olmsted by the fact that Bowman scouts prepare their own meals, rather than eating in a cafeteria setting. Camp Bowman is the only camp at the Goshen Scout Reservation that is run exclusively as a patrol cooking camp. Camp Bowman was the first camp to open on the Goshen Scout Reservation hence the sloagn "Bowman, Bowman Number 1!" Camp Bowman is also the only camp to use it's original camp sign, a source of pride for the camp staff. The camp is directly across Lake Merriwether from Camp Olmstead.
[edit] History
Camp Bowman has a rich history of teaching scouting values for over forty years. Various mementos can be found in the Admin, including gifts from several foreign staff members who were part of an international camp staff exchange program and staff neckerchiefs from early camp years. Every staff photo is on display, along with photos from the first year camp was open, and the medal given to every camper from the inaugural year.
[edit] Camp Marriott
Camp Marriott is one of the seven campsites on the campus of Goshen Scout Reservation. Most scouts who attend during summer months are between the ages of 11 and 15. Camp Marriott is most well known for one of the few scout camps left that continues the tradition of patrol cooking. However, to create ease for the scouts, meals have are prepared in the Camp Kitchen to be picked up and prepared by the scouts at their own separate campsites.
Camp Marriott contains twelve campsites which makes it one of the larger campsites at Goshen, plus it contains 2 whole pavilions. There are two rifle pavilions, a shotgun range, and one archery range. The waterfront area is one of the largest on the lake, with close proximity to the administration building. The Ecology area offers three separate teaching areas that immerse you in the outdoors, the Pan Zoological Park that is full of local flora and fauna, and a highly regarded nature trail. Camp Marriott has long running traditions, excellent program, physical layout, and a fair distance from Camp Post.
Mushroom Deer where first spotted in Camp Marriott in 1994 near the Ecology area. They are an extremely rare species of Fungi that grow miniature antlers in the spring and early summer. These are shed later in the early fall when breeding season is over. A small population of Mushroom Deer have been slowly spreading their colony to include most of Camp Marriott. In July of 2007, a new colony was spotted near Swinging Bridge that is located just downriver of the Boy Scout Reservation.
[edit] Camp Olmsted
Named after General George H. Olmsted, Camp Olmsted is unique among the Boy Scout camps on the lake in that it is the only one with a dining hall where troops and the staff take their meals. In addition, it also is the only camp on the lake with a Tech Center where technology related merit badges are taught. The camp contains 20 camping sites, and one staff site. In addition, it is the only camp on the lake that offers over 60 merit badges; many of these not traditionally seen at a summer camp, such as Communications, Radio, and others in that sort of field.
[edit] Camp PMI
Camp P.M.I. is one of the six camps which make up Goshen Scout Reservation, owned by the National Capital Area Council. Camp P.M.I. is a camp for 9-10 year old Webelos Cub Scouts located in the Shenandoah Valley near Goshen, Virginia, about 200 miles (320 km) from Washington, D.C. Every summer, 2000 scouts and leaders visit Camp P.M.I. for a week of adventure, hiking, and scouting.[1][2]
[edit] Camp Ross
Camp Ross is one of two Webelos camps at Goshen Scout Reservations. It is one of the newest camps on the lake having been closed down sometime in the mid 1970's due to low attendance while it served as a boyscout camp. It was reopened in 1982 as a Webelos camp and has operated as such until present day. The camp currently has 11 campsites but was originally built with 12 one of which is now closed down due to poor drainage. The camp takes a quite a large area at the entrance to Lake Merriweather where it is fed by the Half Calf Pasture River.
The Camp is the farthest one away from Camp Post. The campsites that the campers sleep in are arranged in arch formations around the central dining hall, staff site, shower house, and activity areas. The farthest site is site five which is about 3/4 of a mile walk from the center of camp. In the southwest corner of the camp there is a large white pine forest that was planted by scouts in the 1960s to reforest the area. Since the planting of the trees they have been logged at least once to thin out the underbrush. One can still follow the old logging road back into this area where it meets up with the Anderson trail which in turn goes all the way around the lake through all seven camps. The White Pine meets the lake at a very steep grade and one can look straight across and see the waterfront of Camp Marriot. Within the White Pine there is a cemetery containing four graves that date back to 1850's although it is quite overgrown it is of much interest to many staffers and used as a topic for ghost stories with the scouts. The camp has several activity areas for the Webelos scouts including BMX, Aquatics, Scoutcraft, Nature, Handicraft, Archery, and BB Gun Shooting.
[edit] Other Camps
- Camp Post is the central administration area, home to several intercamp programs such as Project COPE. It includes a climbing tower and ropes course.
- Family Camp is a now unused camp which can be used upon request by individuals and groups. It is located almost directly across from Camp Ross waterfront and functions as the Camp Baird Waterfront as well as the Lenhok'sin Caving Outpost during the summer.
[edit] Miscellany
- The camp is usually open for Seven and a half weeks of the summer beginning in late June and ending in early August.[3]
- A rare treat at the Goshen Scout Reservation is a fly-over by the US Air Force. Sighted planes include C-5 Galaxies, F-16 Falcons, and even a V-22 Osprey. The planes fly at exceptionally low altitude and are quite impressive.
- A Goshen Boy Scout Reservation shirt is shown on the fictional character Kim Bauer during season 1 of the hit drama 24.[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Goshen Scout Reservation is at coordinates Coordinates:
