CAMDEN — Woodland Trails Scout Reservation, located at 265 Gasper Somers Rd. Camden, Ohio, opened for summer camp season on Sunday, June 17. According to Program Director Adam Wehrman, this year will see 800 campers come to Woodland Trails.
Most of these campers come from the Dayton area, but some come from even farther — Cincinnati, Columbus, or even Indiana. There are four groups of scout camps which stay for a week each and two groups of cub scout camps which are both half-weeks.
The reservation has a 1,200-acre spread of hardwood forests, fields, and streams. There scouts can experience archery, wildlife, repelling, gunmanship, and STEM sessions. Woodland Trails aims to teach scouts many different skills, leading to them earning merit badges.
According to Wehrman, the camp was originally 2,000 acres with many proposed camps. Now, some of those acres make up the wildlife area, with the rest being camp area.
One section scouts will get to explore is the Nature Center, where various different tanks and learning sections were set up. At time of press, staff were in the process of completing setup. They planned to have aquatic tanks and a “touch table” within the center.
Campers will be able to earn Environmental Science, Bird Study, Forestry, Soil and Water Conservation, and Nature merit badges.
There is a repelling tower that campers will be able to experience safely. When repelling, there must be someone at the top and the bottom for safety reasons. There are two different heights to repel from, one at 25ft and the other 42ft.
There is also a STEM area for campers to learn engineering, electricity, digital technology, chess, robotics, and more. Campers will learn how to play chess, build robots, solder things, take apart computers, and more. Here they will learn electronic merit badges.
There is both an archery range and a shooting range, where campers are taught safety above all else. There are other sections as well, such as an aquatic center.
Something unique to Woodland Trails Scout Reservation is their Flag Quad. It has 32 different flag poles, providing an opportunity to display many different flags. The entire quad functions as a memorial, according to Wehrman.
Changes will be coming to the camp in the next few years, as they are in the process of preparing for the inclusion of female campers. They are also building a mountain bike program. The cub scouts will not be able to participate in the mountain bike program, but will have their own BMX program to enjoy.
