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Philmont Scout Ranch offers participants backpacking trips filled with activities and opportunities to develop leadership skills.
Located in northern New Mexico near the town of Cimarron, Philmont Scout Ranch is a national high adventure base for the Boy Scouts of America. Each summer over 20,000 Boy Scouts and their adult advisors visit Philmont to go on backpacking treks, experience backcountry programs, and to visit the “Summit of Scouting.” History of PhilmontIn 1938 Waite Phillips, who had made a fortune in the oil business, donated 35,857 acres to the Boy Scouts. The BSA called the property Philturn Rocky Mountain Scout Camp. Philturn was a combination of Phillips’s name and his good turn. In 1941 he donated a second parcel of land, which increased the size of the ranch to 127, 395 acres, and the name changed to Philmont, again after Waite Phillips’s name and “mont” for mountains. In the 1960s Norton Clapp made another donation of 10,098 acres, bringing the total amount of land to 137,000 acres. The Expedition TrekMost crews that attend Philmont participate in the Expedition Trek, which is twelve days long, ten of which are in the backcountry backpacking between different camps. Some camps are considered trail camps, where groups camp on their own. Staffed camps offer a variety of programs for groups, which include the following:
The mileage for treks is at least fifty miles, while many are over seventy miles in length, with elevations ranging between 6,000 and 12,000 feet. Youth LeadershipEach crew designates one of the youth members to be the crew leader. The crew leader is responsible for making sure the day-to-day logistics of the crew are accomplished, such as getting up in the morning, hiking to the next camp, getting to programs on time, etc. The crew leader also works with the adult advisors to resolve any group conflict that may arise during the trek. Because the youth are responsible for making most of the major decisions during the trek, they have a unique opportunity in their Scouting careers to learn about being a leader and working together as a team. Signing Up for a TrekTo sign up for a trek, call (575) 376-2281 or visit Philmont’s website for information about registering for a backpacking trek Groups often have to register up to two years in advance for a slot on a trek, with many registering with their local Boy Scout Council contingent. Note: The author is a member of the Philmont 2008 summer staff.
The copyright of the article Philmont Scout Ranch in Walking Tours is owned by Bill Sassani. Permission to republish Philmont Scout Ranch in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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