Camp Wilderness: Historic Trails

Scouting's Paradise in Minnesota.

Camp Wilderness: Historic Trails

Park Rapids, Minnesota 56470, United States

Created By: North Dakota State University

Tour Information

Camp Wilderness is the premier Scouting camping facility of the Northern Lights Council. The 2,400 acre "Outdoor Classroom" is situated between beautiful Bad Axe and Mantrap Lake near Park Rapids, MN in Hubbard County and hosts numerous year-round programs for Scouting.


Tour Map

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What You'll See on the Tour

The Black Building was erected in the spring of 1949 housing offices for the Camp Director, Program Director, Order of the Arrow Camp Coordinator, and Business Manager. The large reception room is used for meetings, rainy day activities, w... Read more
The Doc Baker Tree Plantation was originally planted in May of 1954 as a service project headed up by Dr. Norman Baker of Fergus Falls, Minnesota with the assistance of Scouts at Camp Wilderness. This plantation was one of three projects th... Read more
The Wanzek Trading Post & Scout History Center was dedicated in 2013. The original building was constructed in 1951 with the Wanzek addition remodeled and added to in 2013-2014. The original building was the quartermaster shop (QM), tra... Read more
The Log Pavilion was built in the spring of 2004. At 960 square feet, it is an open-air structure by the Herman Stern Dining Hall. It is used for extra seating during meal times or classroom space. It was built by a local log home builder, ... Read more
The Herman Stern Dining Hall and Kitchen were originally built in the early 1950s. It was updated with a new kitchen, kitchen storage, and bathrooms in 2002. It is 5,800 square feet and is a very well used building by staff and guests. The ... Read more
Andy Kietzman, Camp Ranger, was approached by Dave Quam from Bemidji in 2006, to gauge interest in bringing a forest fire watch tower into the camp. Dave had ties to Scouting because he used to camp at Wabanaquat as a youth. With the rise o... Read more
The Flag Field at Camp Wilderness has been used since the first campers arrived in 1946. It serves as the location for flag ceremonies, a staple tradition at Scout camps across the nation since 1910.  Every morning and evening during summe... Read more
The chapel at Camp Wilderness is centrally located in the main camp area between the waterfront and the Black Building. It originally served as the Protestant chapel. The Catholic chapel was located near Bad Axe Lake to the west of Fox Camp... Read more
The very first campfire at Camp Wilderness was held at Old Main. The exact date of this isn't really known, talking to older more seasoned campers the History Committee determined that it must have been approximately 1946 through the mid-19... Read more
The Waterfront Lifeguard Tower was remodeled in 1996 with two levels and a seating area on top of the second level to keep watch on the swimming area. This tower allowed guards to keep watch over swimmers and monitor those sailing, rowing, ... Read more
The first campfire at the Sparrow Hawk Campfire Ring was lit on June 25th, 2010. This campfire area replaced Old Main, the old campfire area couldn't hold the whole camp all together anymore so change was needed. The money to build the ring... Read more

 

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