What's the deal?

• We provide exciting activities that you can add to your weekend program, usually for a small fee.
• Many include all the materials you will need to complete valuable awards, Webelos pins, or Boy Scout Merit Badges. Click here for a quick chart showing what is offered, costs, etc.
• Most activities come with either counselor support or a complete, easy-to-follow Leaders Guide so that you can do the activity at your own pace.
• You provide the kids, we'll provide the resources you'll need to have a great weekend filled with exciting activities!

Our Camps as YOUR Resource Centers

       What is a RESOURCE CENTER ? Well, instead of viewing our camps as Summer Camps that also happen to host off-season camping, our council has committed to seeing them as YEAR ROUND SCOUTING RESOURCE CENTERS that also happen to host our Summer Resident Camps. If that sounds like the same thing, it's understandable, but the subtle difference is this: the Summer Camp approach tends to pack away all the really cool stuff at the end of their summer runs so that if you want to use any of their equipment or complete any Merit Badges, your chances aren't too good - not much off-season support. But the Resource Center approach makes many of these items available all year round. Looking at our camps as resources that you  can use year round to support your  program makes Acahela and Goose Pond much more valuable to everyone. You get to look at us as a tool you can use, and we look at our facilities searching for ways to make them more accessible, more relevant, and more fun all year round.

It's an ongoing process that we will continue to expand. Below you will find a directory that will lead you to lists of Merit Badges, Webelo Pins, and other activities that we can make available to you, or click here for a quick chart showing what is offered, costs, etc. . Each detail page includes a color coded list of the requirements that details how we support each requirement plus a host of other important details. Take a good look around and then give us a call. We're here for you!

Be sure to also register with us so that we can send you new and updated information about the services we offer at our camps. Get all the latest on our Fun Stuff - Ready-To-Do! Programming by by registering here.

Types of Support

Camping

Required for Eagle  - Knock out this important badge in an environment close to home. Acahela and Goose Pond offer a variety of camping settings and can make getting this badge a lot easier.

Click here for the details of this Merit badge and what we support.

Emergency Preparedness

Required for Eagle  - "Be Prepared" is our motto, but how exactly do you do that? Our counselors can help you get ready for anything and learn the important skills that go with this badge. Knowledge is the father of confidence.

Click here for the details of this Merit badge and what we support.

Fishing

With two top-class rivers and a terrific glacial pond, Acahela and Goose Pond are outstanding for fishing. Learn all about this great sport and hobby and how to do it right so you can get the most out of your expeditions.

Click here for the details of this Merit badge and what we support.

Fly Fishing

Add everything you learned in fishing and then add an entirely new set of dimensions to it by understanding the food chain, how to replicate the look of insects, tying flys, and learning the method and techniques involved in fly fishing. Find the Zone!

Click here for the details of this Merit badge and what we support.

Indian Lore

Begin to learn all about our Native American ancestors and their beautiful culture with it's crafts, legends, and an enduring wisdom that our modern society could really use a healthy dose of. This isn't about museum history, it's about who we really are as Americans.

Click here for the details of this Merit badge and what we support.

Model Building & Design

Models help people see how things work, what they do, and what they will look like. But how do you get something boiled down into miniature and still look real? Model Building will help you see with a whole new set of eyes!

Click here for the details of this Merit badge and what we support.

Railroading

OK, trains around the Christmas Tree are cool, but there is much more to trains than that. It's all about moving millions of tons of freight and thousands of people from point to point, quickly and efficiently. Find out how.

Click here for the details of this Merit badge and what we support.

Space Exploration

There isn't only great history to study and to be made, but there is the awesome experience of flying model rockets and there is no better place than Cape Acahela is the place to do that! We'll even help you build them!

Click here for the details of this Merit badge and what we support.

Surveying

Know where you are, where to place a building, or knowing what property belongs to you are some of the questions surveying will answer for you. Learn all the skills in this ancient, but totally modern skill.

Click here for the details of this Merit badge and what we support.

Weather

You want weather? We've got plenty of weather! There really isn't a better location to study weather than at Acahela or Goose Pond and we have several weather experts who can help you get this great badge.

Click here for the details of this Merit badge and what we support.

Wilderness Survival

Having the right kind of place to do this badge can be a challenge unless you stay with us. Acahela's Bearcat site and Goose Pond's Scoutcraft site are two excellent Wilderness Survival sites that have everything you need to get this vital badge earned with ease and confidence.

Click here for the details of this Merit badge and what we support.

Forester Activity Pin

Teach your Webelos about the forest and what makes it up. Our two great camps double as two terrific outdoor conservation and ecology laboratories. We'll supply you with some of the tools  you'll need to complete this important pin.

Click here for the details of this Activity Pin and what we support.

Naturalist Activity Pin

Get your Webelos learning about the abundance of nature that surrounds them and how we impact it as humans and what we can do to help protect it.

Click here for the details of this Activity Pin and what we support.

Outdoorsman Activity Pin

This really should be called the Scoutcraft pin because this is where Webelos learn all the skills they will need to  keep themselves comfortable and safe in the outdoors.

Click here for the details of this Activity Pin and what we support.

Totin' Chip

Scouting's Ax and saw safety course. EVERY Scout needs to earn this award too.

Click here for the details of this  Award and what we support.

Firem'n Chit

There really is  an art to building a fire and doing it right. Learn why you can't light logs with leaves and all the safety skills to keep campfires safely confined.

Click here for the details of this  Award and what we support.

Boy Scout Leave No Trace

OUTDOOR ETHICS. Leave No Trace is a set of guidelines that will help cue you and your boys up to what to do and what not to do in the outdoors so that we can preserve our natural habitats for generations to come. This course can provide a lot of food for thought and give us a standard of conduct we can be proud of. This is taught at an age appropriate level for Scouts.

Click here for the details of this  Award and what we support.

Cub Scout Leave No Trace

OUTDOOR ETHICS. Leave No Trace is a set of guidelines that will help cue you and your boys up to what to do and what not to do in the outdoors so that we can preserve our natural habitats for generations to come. This course can provide a lot of food for thought and give us a standard of conduct we can be proud of. This is taught at an age appropriate level for Cubs.

Click here for the details of this  Award and what we support.

Camp Acahela Compass and Navigation Award

Earn this cool award by completing three of four different navigation games or courses at Camp Acahela. Choose from the Classic Compass Game, Orienteering, Letterboxing, and Geocaching courses and learn the skills needed to get you home - or at least back to your campsite! See the details below.

Click here for the details of this  Award and what we support.

Classic Compass Game

Scouting's Classic Compass Game teaches Scouts how to use a compass, take a bearing, and then accurately pace out a path. Start at one spot on a 100 foot line, and if you do it right, you'll end up in a pre-determined spot - or not! Sounds simple, but it's challenging and a lot of fun!

Click here for the details of this  Award and what we support.

Orienteering Courses

Orienteering teaches Scouts how to combine the skills of map reading with using a compass. Three different levels that become increasingly complex also show off the wide variety of terrain Acahela has to offer.

Click here for the details of this  Award and what we support.

Letterboxing Courses

So you think you know how to use a compass and can follow directions? We'll see! Hunt for four separate boxes, hidden in the wild. when you find them, you'll also find a unique, hand-crafted stamp at each one that will confirm that you actually found the Letterbox. Loads of fun!

Click here for the details of this  Award and what we support.

Geocaching Course

Learn all about GPS, how to use a GPS receiver, and hunt for a wide variety of hidden treasures called "caches". Our course not only teaches the kids of caches that will be found out in the real world, but also teaches a bit about the history of this booming Internet sport.

Click here for the details of this  Award and what we support.

Advanced Model Rocketry

So you had a blast (forgive the pun) flying model rockets before, but now you want to learn more. Boy, do we have a program for you! Take your choice between The Eggstreme Lofting Challenge  or  Altered States Flight Design School.

In either case you will spend the weekend building model rockets, learning about flight dynamics, and putting some real meat on the bones of a terrific hobby that will last you a lifetime, Come fly with us at our Light Sands Missile Testing Range at Cape Acahela. It's so much fun even the adults will want to participate!

Click here for more...

C.O.P.E. at Goose Pond Scout Reservation

Teambuilding. Confidence. Learning to think quick and not be afraid. These are all some of the all important and exciting personal dynamics that you and your unit can learn on one of the best COPE courses in the region.

A weekend at GPSR's COPE course can be both exciting and a great boost to how your group interacts. It's truly an experience!

Click here for more...

ON-LINE REGISTRATION

...but we're workin' on it!

As you might expect, this undertaking is a pretty big project. Actually, it's a HUGE project - and one that will be under constant development to try and always improve the way we service our units, Scouting units from other councils, and the youth in our area. It's our way of going global.

More programs will be added over time. Many are tested at Camp Acahela (we have more year-round staff who are nuts enough to try new things out...) and then expanded over to Goose Pond. Others, such as supporting other Cub Scouting Awards, will take time to put together.

If in the meantime you have any ideas or suggestions, we'd love to hear them. You can send your comments to our Ranger at tbongard@nepabsa.org and Ranger Tim will be back in touch with you about your comment. Use the convenient On-Line form above!