Camp Mountaineer

Camp Mountaineer opened the gate to summer resident camping for the Scouts of the Mountaineer Area Council in 1954.  Since then, thousands of Scouts have enjoyed the summers they spent in this great Scouting environment of over 1,000 acres.  Initially there were six campsites – Cherokee, Mingo, Seneca, Delaware, Shawnee, and Catawba.  With no central dining facility, all meals were cooked patrol-style in the troop sites.  The rifle range was at the site of the current Green Acres cabin and the Trading Post was a room attached to the old maintenance building at the top of the hill.  Tent platforms were not provided during the early years.

A major capital fundraising campaign during 1960-1961 throughout the council generated enough financial support to enable the construction of a winter lodge, new rifle range, and the current dining hall.  These facilities greatly enhanced the camp program beginning in 1963.  In recent years, the generous support of the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust among other partners and donors has allowed the Mountaineer Area Council to complete many facility improvements including the addition of 20 Adirondack shelters to campsites around camp, a 60-foot hexagon climbing and rappelling tower, installation of bathroom facilities at select buildings, and those listed below.

Other significant improvements:

• 1996 – high COPE course opens
• 2013 – Shooting Sports Complex opens
• 2014 – reconstruction of high COPE course
• 2014 – dual 330-foot zip line opens
• 2015 – dual quarter-mile zip line opens
• 2017 – Welcome Center opens
• 2019 – new Trading Post opens