Scouting in Colorado

Scouting in Colorado has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the rugged, mountainous environment in which they live.
Early history (1910–1950).
Scouting got a brisk start in Colorado. The Denver Council was founded in 1915, and in 1926 changed its name to the Denver Area Council, which it remains to this day.
The Colorado Springs Council was founded in 1916, and in 1922 changed its name to the El Paso and Teller Counties Council. That council in 1925 changed its name to Pikes Peak Council, which it remains to this day. Pikes Peak Council is home to the oldest continually-chartered troop in the state of Colorado, Troop 2, originally chartered to Colorado Springs' First Presbyterian Church in October 1917.
The Greeley Council was founded in 1916, and in 1924 changed its name to the Weld and Morgan Counties Council. That council in 1928 changed its name to Longs Peak Council, which it remains to this day. The Fort Collins Council and Longmont Council, each founded in 1917, merged in 1919 into what is now the Longs Peak Council. The Boulder Council, also created in 1917, was merged into the Council in 1920. The Southeastern Wyoming Council of Cheyenne merged into Longs Peak Council in 1928.
The Trinidad-Las Animas County Council, founded in 1917, changed its name to the Las Animas County Council in 1924. This and the Arkansas Valley Council, founded in 1924, merged in 1927 to become the Spanish Peaks Council. The Pueblo Council was founded in 1920, and in 1928 changed its name to the Rocky Mountain Council, which it remains to this day. The Spanish Peaks Council merged into Rocky Mountain Council in 1932.
The Western Colorado Council was founded in 1942, and is one of the very few councils that did not undergo a name change or merger in its entire history until 2019. May 1, 2019 Western Area Council merged into the Denver Area Council. The new area council will now serve 24 counties, which includes more than 34,000 youth. The former council area is now the Majestic Mesas District of the Denver Area Council. 
During World War II, Japanese Americans interned at the Granada War Relocation Center set up a separate "Amache District" for Scouts at the camp, after the camp's unofficial name "Camp Amache".
Recent history (1950–1990).
In 1952, a Capital Fund Campaign was held to raise money for a new camp, Tomahawk Ranch.
Pikes Peak Council served as host to the 1960 National Scout Jamboree, held north of Colorado Springs adjacent to the United States Air Force Academy, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Boy Scouts of America.
Scouting in Colorado today.
There are five Boy Scouts of America (BSA) local councils and a single Girl Scouts of the USA council in Colorado, merged from an original five.
The first National Wider Opportunity for Senior Girl Scouts, "Recall the Riches restore the Ruins," was held in Central City in 1973. In 1979, "Sky Hi Ski," a National Wider Opportunity, was held at YMCA Snow Mountain Ranch near Granby and a Senior Girl Scout troop from Mile Hi Council participates in the opening ceremonies at the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid.
, all Girl Scouts from the state are joined as Girl Scouts of Colorado Council.
Denver Area Council.
The Denver Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America is headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado, and supports Scouting units and youth in an area of central Colorado from Arapahoe and Adams Counties east to the Continental Divide.
Organization.
For traditional units, the council is split into districts related by school districts. These districts are:
The council, also, has non-geographic districts to support non-traditional programs operated by the council. These districts are:
Programs and activities.
National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) is a week-long youth oriented leadership training experience held for five weeks during the summer.
Camps.
The Denver Area Council operates camps in two locations in Colorado. The primary camp, Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch, is located in Elbert, Colorado. The second, smaller camp, is Camp Tahosa, located near Nederland, Colorado.
Tahosa High Adventure Base.
Camp Tahosa (TH) is a camp near Ward, Colorado, serving the Denver Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. It was the primary camp for the Denver area until the later 1970s, when it was shut down because of damage caused by environmental factors, where It was replaced by Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch. The camp now serves as a high adventure base. The High Adventure Treks from Camp Tahosa lead Scouts into the adjacent forest.
Tahosa is home to separate camping programs for both Summer and non summer usage: From September to Early May, TH offers OKPIK, Tahosa Challenge (COPE), and weekend camping. During the summer months, TH offers a variety of programs including National Youth Leadership Training, Mountain Men (provisional camping), Alpine Adventure, Tahosa Trek, and EaglePoint.
Alpine Adventure is a six night mountaineering adventure in the high country of Colorado, combining the training facilities of Tahosa High Adventure Base with the lakes and vistas of the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. The Scout will be members of a 12-person team, learning and applying skills to conquer the strenuous challenges of the program in a dynamic mountain environment.
Tahosa Trek was started in 1995 to provide a basic knowledge of backpacking/low impact camping, the program now offers more advanced training and longer, customized treks for the units of the Boy Scouts of America.
Okpik is a weekend extreme winter camping experience design to train Scouts in winter survival. The program starts with a classroom session on Friday night to prepare the scouts. On Saturday, the scouts will load equipment and supplies into sleds before snowshoeing around Tumblesome Lake. On the far shore of the lake, participants use the remainder of the day to construct quinzhees which they spend the night in.
Tahosa Challenge is part of the Project COPE program that encourages youth and adults to expand mental creativity, increase physical abilities, promote leadership skills and instill personal confidence.
EaglePoint is the newest addition to Tahosa. Founded in 2000 at Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch, EaglePoint is a troop run camp with access to the Tahosa High Adventure Base facilities. With a small staff, troops can build their own schedule and do whatever they would like for their week at camp. This program had a predecessor that started as early as 1991 called Eagle Quest.
Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch.
Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch (PV) is the main camping location of the Denver Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. The camp, built in the 1960s by the Army Corps of Engineers, was a replacement to the original camp, Camp Tahosa. The camp is located just outside Elbert, Colorado.
Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch is home to three separate camps: Camp Cris Dobbins; Camp Cortlandt Dietler; and Magness Adventure Camp. Like Tahosa, Peaceful Valley also hosted a troop-run camp also called EaglePoint; however, as of 2009, EaglePoint is defunct (the EaglePoint program at Tahosa is still active, though). Additionally, in 2005, the Boy Scouts of America Denver Area Council acquired a large section of land adjacent to Peaceful Valley, and is the location of their Magness Adventure Camp for Cub Scouts.
Facilities include the Travis Shooting Sports Facility, which contains an Olympic shotgun shooting range, the Gates Aquatic Center, a horse corral, BB Gun range, two lakes, and the three above mentioned camps. The camp also has a bronze boot print casts of Robert Baden Powell located near the main camp office.
Camp Cris Dobbins is the flagship camp of Peaceful Valley. The camp is home to The Travis Shooting Facility, which includes an Olympic shotgun range, the million dollar Gates Aquatic Center, a dining hall which underwent a nearly twelve million dollar renovation and expansion in 2019, and over twenty campsites. The camp, with a capacity of around 700 campers, offers dozens of merit badges and programs for scouts of all ages. 
Camp Dietler, founded in 1988 by William Eck, is a patrol style summer camp experience. While merit badges are offered, the main focus is on the patrol method. This is carried out through patrol cooking, events determined by the patrol leader's council, and a choice of two high adventure outposts. The camp is named for Cortlandt Dietler, who donated the money to build the camp commissary.
Magness Adventure Camp is the Denver Area Council's Cub Scouting camp. The camp has three shelters, each with a campsite housing eighty tents. The program includes lake activities, a BB Gun range, an archery range, recently added a slingshot paint ball range and a firewatch tower that overlooks Elbert County. The camp is also available for rental by outside groups, and is often frequented by groups such as Denver's High School ROTC and girls groups from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Tahosa Lodge.
Tahosa Lodge #383, chartered in 1948, serves 1218 Arrowmen as of 2004. It is the largest lodge in Colorado. The lodge totem is a coney (Pika), and the name translates to "Dwellers on the Mountain Tops" in the Kiowa language. The lodge is divided into seven chapters which correspond with the seven districts of the Denver Area Council. Tahosa Lodge holds their ordeal weekends and other events at the two council camps, Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch and Tahosa Scout Camp. Many patches from the lodge feature a character known as the Purple Bishop, and delegates of the lodge to NOAC can often be seen wearing purple cloaks. The Purple Bishop is a legend from Camp Tahosa.
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Great Southwest Council.
The Great Southwest Council serves the Durango and Mesa Verde areas of Colorado, and includes Cascade Boy Scout Camp on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Longs Peak Council.
Longs Peak Council of the Boy Scouts of America is headquartered in Greeley, Colorado. Named after the tallest peak in the council territory, Longs Peak Council serves Scouting youth in northeastern Colorado north of Denver, southeastern Wyoming and the panhandle of western Nebraska, and is chartered by BSA to organize, extend, support, and control the Scouting program within its exclusive territory. The "WyoBraska Council" of Scottsbluff merged into the Longs Peak Council in 1973.
As with Pikes Peak Council, there is officially no apostrophe in the name, due to a ruling about the mountain itself by the Board on Geographic Names.
Organization.
The council's territory is divided into five geographic districts:
Ben Delatour Scout Ranch.
Encompassing at to in elevation, Ben Delatour Scout Ranch near Red Feather Lakes, Colorado is operated by the Longs Peak Council and includes four Scout Camps:
Camp Charles Jeffrey and Soaring Eagle feature a number of summer program areas including Rock Climbing at the Pancake Climbing Base and on some of the many peaks in the camp, C.O.P.E. (Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience), Shooting Sports, Scout Skills, Handicraft, and Nature Studies offered through a traditional Merit Badge program. The camp also has a Scouting Museum and Chuck Wagon Cooking area where traditional dutch oven meals are prepared daily. Scout units can choose between a dining hall experience or a patrol cook option where meals are cooked at your campsite.
Elkhorn High Adventure Base is open to older scouts and Venture Crews for a week of backpacking the Rockies. Backpacking treks of various difficulty levels are offered on the ranch property and in the nearby Routt, Roosevelt, and Arapahoe National Forests. Shooting sports, C.O.P.E, climbing and repelling, a horse program and white water rafting activities round out week-long treks or 10-day-long super-treks.
Jack Nicol Cub Scout Camp is the newest resident camp on the ranch, completed in 2001. It offers age appropriate programs that are not necessarily designed for rank advancement. Camp Nicol consists of 3 major themed program areas (Fort Unfug, Castle Walker and the Everett Seaport) and offers a summer program featuring a new camp-wide theme each year. The 2014 theme is Time Travel. Program activities include BB gun and archery shooting, hiking, handicrafts, hiking, games and a 'light parade' around the lake at night.
Ben Delatour Scout Ranch includes summer camp and year-round camping, with a number of buildings available for year-round use. The ranch has been an active site for sustainable forestry and in 2011, the ranch became protected from future development through a conservation easement with The Conservation Fund, the Longs Peak Council, and the Colorado State Forest Service.
Chimney Park Scout Camp.
Chimney Park Boy Scout Camp is located in the Snowy Range Mountains, approximately west of Laramie, Wyoming on US Highway 230 and about west of Woods Landing, Wyoming. The approximate coordinates for the cabin are 41° 4' 19.78" N 106° 6' 29.2" W (NAD83/WGS84).
Chimney Park Boy Scout Camp offers year-round camping, especially winter camps, at an altitude about . The winter snow depth varies typically from 30 to 150 cm (1 to five feet), and the winter daytime high temperatures varies typically from -9 to +7 °C (+15 to +45 °F) The winter nighttime low temperatures vary typically from -26 to 0 °C (-15 to +32 °F). A lodge with stove and fireplace are available. Lodge use must be reserved through the Longs Peak Council Office. There is a usage fee. See https://longspeakbsa.org/programs/camps-camping/chimney-park/ for more information.
Camp Laramie Peak.
Camp Laramie Peak, at the base of Black Mountain near Wheatland, Wyoming, offers summer camp and year-round camping. It was purchased in 1920 by a group of volunteers wanting a place to take Scouts in the wilderness. The rugged terrain, rambling brooks, and mountain backdrop offers Troops a place to experience the traditional camp experience including the merit badge camp program. The camp also offers an outstanding first year camper program, horseback riding, rock climbing, ziplines, mountain boarding and mountain biking.
Hiking is available in the camp and in the nearby Medicine Bow National Forest, including to the top of Laramie Peak. The elevation at the Camp is approximately , and has summer temperatures range from the 40s at night to the 90s during the day.
Camp Patiya.
Camp Patiya is a 30-acre camping and day use camp about seven miles west of Boulder, Colorado. Camp Patiya started by the Camp Fire Girls. The Camp Fire Council purchased the original twenty acres for the camp in 1960 and began holding group and family camps shortly thereafter. All the buildings on site were constructed between 1963 and 1981. In 1977, an additional ten acres of land was donated, bringing the camp to its present size. Camp Fire continued to hold group camping year round and Day Camps in the summers. In the 1980s, membership in Camp Fire declined. In 1987, it was determined that the goals for operating the camp could best be met by transferring the ownership to Longs Peak Council.
The camp offers campsites, picnic areas, sheltered cooking sites, two cabins for sleeping indoors, training and meeting areas with both indoor and outdoor settings, plenty of room for games and activity, and flush toilets.
Kola Lodge.
Kola Lodge #464, chartered in 1951, serves 457 Arrowmen as of 2004. The totem of this Lodge is the Fire of Friendship centered in a gray arrowhead with a red feather in the background, and the name translates to "Friend" in the Lakota language. In 1973, Kola Lodge absorbed Wiyaka Luta #403 of the Wyo-Braska Council.
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Pikes Peak Council.
The Pikes Peak Council (60) of the Boy Scouts of America, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Named after the most famous peak in the council territory, upon which 'America the Beautiful' was written, Pikes Peak Council provides Scouting to youth in east-central Colorado, including Park, Teller, El Paso, Elbert, Lincoln, Kit Carson and Cheyenne Counties.
As with "Longs Peak Council", there is officially no apostrophe in the name, due to a ruling about the mountain itself by the Board on Geographic Names.
On board the Space Shuttle Challenger when it disintegrated in 1986 was an American flag that was sponsored by Troop 514 of Monument, Colorado. When the Challenger wreckage was retrieved from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, this flag was found, sealed in a plastic bag, intact and completely unscathed.
Camp Alexander.
The council camp, Camp Alexander, is located in the Eleven Mile Canyon in the Pike National Forest approximately west of Colorado Springs, and two miles (3 km) south of Lake George, in Park County, was donated in 1946 by J. Don Alexander of the Alexander Film Company. There are a series of "Burma Shave"-style signs on the main road into camp, each sign having one of the points of the Scout Law. Camp Alexander is between 8200 and elevation. The camp area consists of hills, low mountains, and valleys covered by a mix of Ponderosa pine forests, high-altitude grasslands, and wetland vegetation along the lake and stream. In the 2012 Springer Wildfire, the camp was evacuated, and parts of the camp were used by firefighters as staging and defensible spaces.
Glen Aspen Scout Ranch.
In 2008, the Pikes Peak Council acquired a beautiful parcel of land containing 200 acres just outside of Woodland Park in a gift from the estate of Leonard Johnson, Jr. The property is surrounded on most sides by the Pike National Forest. The property is hilly with several streams running through the property. The land is covered with varieties of foliage including pine, cedar, and of course Aspen. Wildlife is abundant and includes a herd of Elk, deer, bear, red-tailed hawks, eagles, foxes, coyotes, rabbits, squirrels, and much more.
Districts.
In July 2005, Pikes Peak Council moved from its four-decade home downtown to a temporary location in northeast Colorado Springs until the council's new headquarters at the intersection of I-25 and Fillmore Street was finished in July 2008, to account for the demographic and geographic shift of Colorado Springs. The vacated original building became the home of Sario, a Lions Club project.
Ha-Kin-Skay-A-Ki Lodge.
Ha-Kin-Skay-A-Ki Lodge #387, chartered in 1948, serves 743 Arrowmen as of 2004. The lodge totem is a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, and the name is said to translate to "Great Horned Goat of the Mountain" but does not specify the language or dialect. Until 1953, the lodge was simply known as Pike's Peak Lodge.
In response to the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire that affected Colorado Springs, the lodge released a fundraising lodge flap featuring a bighorn sheep looking over a burning area.
National Scout Jamboree.
In 1960, Colorado Springs host the 50th National Scout Jamboree. Known as the BSA Golden Jubilee, its theme was "For God and Country" and from July 22 to July 28, 1960, over 56,377 scouts and scouters were in attendance. Today, remnants of the 50th Jamboree can be found throughout Colorado Springs.
International exchanges.
Pikes Peak Council have an international relationship with Scouts in Kyrgyzstan.
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Rocky Mountain Council.
The Rocky Mountain Council of the Boy Scouts of America is headquartered in Pueblo, Colorado, and provides program services to over 100 chartered partner organizations, delivering Scouting to more than 4,600 youth through 167 Scout units in 19 counties of Southern Colorado, including Pueblo, Fremont, Crowley, Kiowa, Prowers, Bent, Otero, Baca, Las Animas, Costilla, Conejos, Mineral, Rio Grande, Alamosa, Saguache, Huerfano, Custer, Lake and Chaffee Counties.
Rocky Mountain Council is home to La Junta's Koshare Indian Museum, regarded as one of the finest collections of Native American artifacts in the world. The Museum sponsors a Scout troop of dancers, the Koshare Indian Dancers, members of Boy Scout Troop 232 and Venturing Crew 2230, founded in 1933 by J. F. Burshears who have become recognized worldwide, for their interpretive Indian dancing.
Tupwee Gudas Gov Youchiquot Soovep Lodge.
Tupwee Gudas Gov Youchiquot Soovep Lodge #536, chartered in 1958, serves 117 Arrowmen as of 2004. The lodge totem is a "Populus tremuloides" or Rocky Mountain quaking aspen. Also known as Tupwee Lodge, its rather long name refers to its totem in the Ute language. The name means land of the quaking aspens.
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Western Colorado Council.
The Western Colorado Council of the Boy Scouts of America was founded in 1942. In May 2019 the council merged with the Denver Area Council.
Mic-O-Say Lodge.
Mic-O-Say Lodge #541, chartered in 1959, serves 168 Arrowmen as of 2004. The lodge totem is an eagle. Prior to 1960 there was not an Order of the Arrow Lodge (OA) serving Western Colorado Council (WC-C). The Council honor camping organization had previously been the Tribe of Mic-O-Say (MOS) (also existing in some Councils in Kansas and Missouri) which had been founded by H. Roe Bartle. However, with the arrival of a new WC-C Scout Executive, a decision was made to discontinue MOS and replace it with an OA lodge which was officially recognized by the BSA. As a compromise, the lodge was allowed to retain the name "Mic-O-Say" and to continue some of the MOS insignia and traditions. The traditional MOS Eagle Claws were permitted to be worn by youth and adult members suspended from a French braid spiral lanyard in the tribal official red, white and blue craftstrip colors.
Summer camps.
Steve Fossett Spirit of Adventure Ranch.
The Steve Fossett Spirit of Adventure Ranch (SOAR) was launched in Summer 2014. The camp was located in the Colorado Rockies near the eastern entrance of Glenwood Canyon, 8 miles off of I-70 from the Dotsero exit. Its offerings included high adventure (i.e. white water rafting, horseback riding, climbing 14'ers, hut to hut mountain biking, backpacking) as well as Trail to First Class and merit badges. Steve Fossett SOAR provided opportunities for "high adventure for everyone" from Tenderfoot to Eagle. The camp closed after the 2018 summer season, when it served as an alternate high adventure base for scouts unable to attend Philmont due to summer fires. The council merger did not include plans to renew the lease for the camp.
Spanish Peaks Scout Ranch.
The Spanish Peaks Scout Ranch (SPSR) is located near Walsenburg, Colorado and borders the Spanish Peaks Wilderness. It is a local council camp of the Santa Fe Trail Council based out of Garden City, Kansas. The camp gives program geared toward outdoor education such as wilderness backpacking, climbing, and outdoor skills. In 2013, the camp was partially destroyed by a wildfire which destroyed over 13,500 acres. The camp has since been rebuilt and has re-opened for operation.
Girl Scouting in Colorado.
History.
In 1955, $600 was raised to help restore Juliette Low's birthplace. In 1959, the Girl Scouts of Metro Denver council name changed to Girl Scouts-Mile Hi Council, which remained the name until 2007. In 1967, troops for girls with special needs were started at Fletcher Miller School and at Fort Logan.
International Girl Scout gatherings named Senior Roundups were held every three years from 1956 until 1965. The National Girl Scouts of the USA Roundup was held from July 3 to July 12, 1959, adjacent to the site of the then-new United States Air Force Academy north of Colorado Springs, attended by 10,000 girls.
Oldest living GSUSA Girl Scout.
The oldest living Girl Scout was Marianne Elser Crowder, born in Colorado Springs in April 1906. She joined the Wagon Wheel Council Troop 4 in 1918 and was awarded her Golden Eaglet, which was then the GSUSA highest award. She later operated her own dance studio in Colorado Springs and headed the dance department at Colorado College before moving to Menlo Park, California in 1939. The Wagon Wheel Council named Crowder the nation's oldest Girl Scout after it conducted a nationwide search and sifted through council archives.
Girl Scouts of Colorado.
The Girl Scouts of Colorado was formed in 2007 by a realignment of the five councils that had been serving the state, and the incorporation of nine counties that were previously served by councils in border states. The five previous Colorado councils were Mile Hi (Denver), Wagon Wheel (Colorado Springs), Columbine (Pueblo), Mountain Prairie (Fort Collins), Chipeta (Grand Junction); and the eight Colorado counties previously served by councils in other states were Archuleta, Dolores, Jackson, La Plata, Las Animas, Montezuma, Prowers and San Juan. The council serves 40,500 girl members and 11,000 adult volunteers.
Girl Scouts of Colorado has service center locations in Colorado Springs, Denver, Durango, Fort Collins, Grand Junction and Pueblo. There are also staff members who work in other areas of the state such as Bailey, Breckenridge, Estes Park, Crowley, Greeley, Johnstown, Longmont, Merino, Monte Vista, Parachute, Sterling, Trinidad, Red Feather Lakes, Sanford, Steamboat Springs and Woodland Park. Additionally, Girl Scouts of Colorado has divided the state into eight regions.
The council maintains three resident camp properties:
And some regular camps:
International Scouting units in Colorado.
In addition, there are contingents of active Plast Ukrainian Scouts in Colorado.