Pathway to Adventure Council is a

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

local council headquartered in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Created from the merger of four councils, it now spans over a large portion of

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities. ...

and part of

Northwest Indiana Northwest Indiana, nicknamed "The Region" after the Calumet Region, is an unofficial region of Northern Indiana, northern Indiana, United States that is located at the northwestern corner of the state. Though there is no official definition of th ...

. The council operates two camps and four service centers and has over 21,000 youth members.

History

In 2014, the Chicago Area Council, Des Plaines Valley Council, Northwest Suburban Council, and Calumet Council announced they would be merging to increase efficiency and to remain sustainable as an organization. The merger occurred on January 1, 2015. At first, each of the predecessor councils were reorganized as "Communities" with each maintaining their service centers and schedules. The council has since homogenized the communities by creating districts that span over the boundaries of the former councils. The new council inherited several long-term camps from its predecessor councils, but closed Camp Mach-Kin-O-Siew and Camp Shin-Go-Beek in 2015 and announced the closure of Camp Lakota. Camp Lakota's closing was delayed for several years, and ceased operations on May 23, 2021. In 2021, the council announced that Camp Napowan in

Wild Rose, Wisconsin Wild Rose is a village in Waushara County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 780 at the 2020 census. History A post office called Wild Rose has been in operation since 1873. The village was named from wild rose bushes near the origi ...

would be closed and put up for sale. The camp was closed on October 11, 2021. In 2015, the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in ...

passed a resolution praising the council and declared September 15, 2015 as "Scouts of Illinois Recruitment Day" within Illinois.

Organization

The council is formed by ten districts that cover parts of

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...

, DuPage,

Lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

, and

Will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

counties in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, and

Lake County, Indiana Lake County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. In 2020, its population was 498,700, making it Indiana's List of counties in Indiana, second-most populous county. The county seat is Crown Point, Indiana, C ...

. Four service centers inherited from the predecessor councils support Pathway to Adventure Council, with centers located in

Arlington Heights, Illinois Arlington Heights is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County Illinois, United States. A northwestern Chicago metropolitan area, suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of the city's downtown. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

La Grange, Illinois La Grange ( ; often spelled LaGrange) is a village (United States)#Illinois, village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of Chicago. The population was 16,321 at the 2020 census. History The area around La Grange was first s ...

and

Munster, Indiana Munster is a suburban town in North Township, Lake County, Indiana, United States. It is in the Chicago metropolitan area, approximately southeast of the Chicago Loop, and shares municipal boundaries with Hammond to the north, Highland to the ...

. For a short period, the council operated the Boy Scout Discovery Outpost at Woodfield Mall.

Camps

The council operates two camps: Camp Frank S. Betz in

Berrien Springs, Michigan Berrien Springs is a village in Berrien County, Michigan, Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,910 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The village is located within Oronoko Charter Township, Mi ...

and

Owasippe Scout Reservation Owasippe Scout Reservation (OSR), located in Twin Lake, Michigan is the resident camp operated by the Pathway to Adventure Council (formerly Chicago Area Council) of Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organizat ...

Twin Lake, Michigan Twin Lake is an unincorporated community in Muskegon County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a census-designated place (CDP) for statistical purposes. Local government services are provided by Dalton Township, though the Twin Lake ZIP code ...

. The council previously operated more camps that it acquired in the merger, but they have since ceased operations to reduce operational expenditures.

Camp Frank S. Betz

Camp Frank S. Betz is located in

. Named after the person who donated the land for the camp, it has been continually operating since 1922.

Owasippe Scout Reservation

Owasippe Scout Reservation is a resident camp located in

. Founded in 1911, it is the oldest continually operated Scout Camp in the United States.

Former camps

Camp Mach-Kin-O-Siew and Camp Shin-Go-Beek were former summer camps operated by Des Plaines Valley Council that were closed shortly after the merger. Camp Lakota, located in

Woodstock, Illinois Woodstock is a city in and the county seat of McHenry County, Illinois, McHenry County, Illinois, United States. It is located 51 miles northwest of Chicago, making it one of the city's outer-most suburbs. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

, was permanently closed on May 23, 2021.

Camp Napowan

Camp Napowan was a 400-acre Scouts BSA camp located in

. It was founded in the year 1946, formerly a tree farm. It is located between Hills Lake and Lake Napowan, with pine forests and a large variety of other trees surrounding the rest of the camp from its days as a logging operation. During the summer months, the camp operated an eight-week camping experience for scouts who stay for one- or two-week sessions. The camp typically drew around 2,000 campers each summer. The camp staff lived on the grounds during the summer; in total there were usually over 70 staff members during the summer season.

Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. Regarded as a cinematic cultural icon, he has starred in Harrison Ford filmography, many notable films over seven decades, and is one of List of highest-grossing actors, the highest-gr ...

worked in the Nature program area in 1957. A new dining pavilion was constructed in 2009, with the dedication occurring on April 16, 2009."Dedication opens new dining pavilion at Napowan"
October 25, 2014, at the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...

. "Drum Beat" 2009 The camp's main office is located in the heart of the camp, near the main parade field. The camp has an enclosed dining hall near the main parade field with a full kitchen attached, usually used for cooking, and a larger dining pavilion used for serving meals. Camp Napowan's program areas included: aquatics (swimming and boating),

COPE A cope ( ("rain coat") or ("cape")) is a liturgical long mantle or cloak, open at the front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colour. A cope may be worn by any rank of the Catholic or Anglican clerg ...

( Climbing tower and High Adventure Course), nature, Skynet (

STEM Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

shooting sports Shooting sports is a group of competitive sport, competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airg ...

, Sherwood (

Scoutcraft Scoutcraft is a term used to cover a variety of woodcraft knowledge and skills required by people seeking to venture into wild country and sustain themselves independently. The term has been adopted by Scouting organizations to reflect skills and k ...

), Verona (performance and design), Flintlock (a mock 1870s frontier village that has

handicraft A handicraft is a traditional main sector of craft making and applies to a wide range of creative and design activities that are related to making things with one's hands and skill, including work with textiles, moldable and rigid material ...

), and Eagle Oasis (an area dedicated to advancing to the

First Class rank Baden-Powell's Scout training scheme was a progressive series of tests for Scout (Scouting), Boy Scouts, in skills which the founder of the Scouting, Scout Movement believed would be useful in building character and good citizenship. Background Ro ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Council website
Local councils of the Boy Scouts of America Youth organizations based in Illinois