The 2,338-acre Gifford Pinchot State Park is in northern York County along PA 177 between the towns of Rossville and Lewisberry. The park consists of wooded areas and hillsides from reverted farm fields surrounding the 340-acre Pinchot Lake, which serves as the prime attraction.  Sign up now!  We need to select grubmasters on Tuesday night.

This park has it all!  Large lake for boating and fishing, dozens of hiking tails including a piece of the mason-dixon trail, and modern facilities. We will be camping in the organized group tenting area E.  We have water and bathrooms within 200 yards.  We should get in a morning hike and a free afternoon for scout development or fun at the lake.

Situated on Pea Patch Island in the middle of the Delaware River, Fort Delaware was initially constructed in the mid-1800s to protect Wilmington and Philadelphia from enemy attack. Fort Delaware served that role through WWI. The fort was among the most state-of-the-art in the nation when it was completed and housed prisoners of war during the Civil War due to its relative isolation. Within the walls of Fort Delaware, visitors can also see Battery Torbert. Along the Prison Camp Trail lies the entrance to the mine casemate that controlled the mines that were deployed in the river in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Pea Patch Heronry is one of the largest mixed species nest colony for herons, egrets, and ibis in the eastern United States. Other nesters that can be found on the island include osprey and bald eagles. Paranormal tours are offered in the fall and living history interpretation is offered year-round.

The State of Delaware deeded Pea Patch Island, located in the Delaware River between Delaware and New Jersey, to the U.S. government in 1813, and construction of Fort Delaware was completed around 1859.

Originally built to protect the ports of Wilmington and Philadelphia, Pea Patch Island also became a Union prison camp during the Civil War, housing up to as many as 12,595 Confederate prisoners of war at one time. Manned only briefly during World Wars I and II, the island and fort were finally abandoned and declared surplus property in 1944, when ownership was transferred back to the State of Delaware. Fort Delaware became a state park in 1951.

It's time again to select your Merit Badges for this year's summer camp.

Are you a Scout? If so, you got a printed handout with all the information you need to select which Merit Badges you want to take, and then tell me, Mr. Goehringer, either in person at a Troop Meeting, or by email (to both john.goehringer@gmail.com and scouts@dmcomputing.com) so I can register you. Registration starts April 6, 2024. Don't have the handout? No problem, a copy is available here. Don't like that you need to turn you head sideways to read the schedule? Then try this page. Remember you can choose only 1 Merit Badge or activity per time period, some Badges take 2 time periods, and it you choose to be at the lake in the morning, you need to stay at the lake all morning.

Saturday April 13, 9:00 am

It was nice while it lasted... While it served us well throughout the pandemic its time to pack up our tent and cleanup our outdoor meeting space.  If we get enough help this should go pretty quickly.  I would like to meet at 9:00 am, please wear work clothes. 

I would like to salvage the fabric but the aluminum frame was destroyed this past winter.  We expect to load the aluminum on the small trailer and take it to a salvage yard.  Please make yourself available to help!

Register for the BSA National Day of Prayer on May 2, 2024 at 5:30 pm

Scouts of all faiths are being asked to participate in the National Day of Prayer by reading the sacred texts of their faiths beginning at 5:30 pm local time in each of the time zones around the world. Scouts may participate at home, reading on their own or with their family, or, in their faith location, and consider inviting a friend, too. Consider taking a picture, and sharing it to the Troop website.