Announced this year and reviewed at the closing arena show, The Summit – Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve is a tremendous gift that will fulfill many functions including:
The future home of jamborees- A Philmont style High Adventure base for the East coast
- A national leadership training center and more
In a previous post (Why feet get tired at jamborees), I compared Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom with some of our council properties alongside Fort AP Hill, site of the 2010 jamboree. I selected the Magic Kingdom as a reference to help understand the places that produce tired feet and compare it to Jamboree and council properties.
How big is the Bechtel family donation? Let’s compare the above map set to the proper scale to the new site. (click to enlarge)
It’s big alright. Philmont is bigger but this property is large enough to house a jamboree, a high adventure base and a national training center with room to spare. Here’s the plan for the layout of the 2013 Jamboree site at the north end of the reserve. (click to enlarge)
Here’s this 2013 map plan overlaid upon the property. It fits with lots of room elsewhere.
So what about your feet? That was the important question. “Will my feet feel better at the 2013 jamboree?” To answer that question, let’s compare the 2010 and 2013 property maps side by side to scale.
Good news, future Jamborees will be more compact. The subcamps, scout village, action centers and merit badge midway will be closer. The trek to the arena show will end up shorter. The encampment may feel more impressive because you will be able to survey more of the jamboree in one view from certain vantage points.
I think your feet will like it.















