More than one way to camp
Summer Camp
Resident Camp is the big one. It is not the only one — day camps, family weekends and the trips we plan ourselves fill the rest of the summer.
Day camp · Resident camp · Family weekends · Arrow of Light
Before you book anything
Summer camping is not one thing
Ask three Pack 496 families what summer camp was and you get three answers. One Cub spent their days at day camp and slept in their own bed. One spent four days at Camp Edward and came home filthy and delighted. One went to a camp where the whole family came along. Which one fits comes down to the grade your Cub is entering and whether a night away sounds like an adventure or a stretch.
Four shapes a summer can take
All four run somewhere in Chief Seattle Council each summer. We do not attend every one every year — ask us which are on this time.
Cub Scout Day Camp
Several days of camp, home every evening, for youth entering grades one to five. Sessions run three to five days at day-camp sites around the region, filled with games, cooking, crafts, STEM, BB skills and archery. Open to non-Scouting families too.
Nights: none — daytime or twilight sessions, depending on location.
Best if: a first camp, or a night away is still a big ask.
Cub Resident Camp
The big one, and the one the whole pack goes to together. Four days at Camp Edward with swimming, boating, archery, BB guns, nature hikes, crafts and the climbing wall. Tigers are welcome too.
Nights: three — a four-day session at Camp Edward.
Best if: your Cub is ready for several nights away and wants the full resident-camp experience.
Family Camp
Nobody gets dropped off. A cabin or your own tent, with every meal cooked for you. Activities vary by property but can include a swim beach, canoeing, archery, a craft lodge and a climbing tower.
Nights: three — Friday evening to Monday afternoon.
Best if: you would rather camp together, or there are smaller siblings at home.
Arrow of Light Camp
For Arrow of Light Scouts in their final Cub Scout year, getting a preview of what Scouts BSA camp is like. A four-day program at Camp Pigott with a fifty-foot climbing tower, blacksmithing demonstrations and camp-wide events like Charlie’s Challenge and the Rendezvous Run.
Nights: three — a four-day session at Camp Pigott.
Best if: your Cub is crossing over to a troop and wants a look ahead.
And the ones we plan ourselves. Some years the pack adds an outing of its own — a weekend under canvas, a hike, an evening close to home. Those live on the pack calendar.
The practical questions
What it costs, and help if you need it
All four cost different amounts and all four change yearly, so there are no numbers here — ask on the camp form. Cost should not keep a Cub at home: the council awards camperships, its camp scholarships, and you apply while you register. Pack 496 helps too.
Campership deadlines arrive well before camp and vary by program. If cost is a question, say so on the camp form now rather than waiting for a session to be announced.
Official Chief Seattle Council camp pages
Read them for the flavor of each camp, then come to us for the session, the cost and the paperwork.
- Cub Scout Day Camp on the council site (opens in a new tab)
- Cub Resident Camp at Camp Edward on the council site (opens in a new tab)
- Family Camp on the council site (opens in a new tab)
- Arrow of Light Camp at Camp Pigott on the council site (opens in a new tab)
- Camperships, the council’s camp scholarships (opens in a new tab)
Which camps is Pack 496 attending this year?
That changes from year to year, and it is the first thing we tell you. Ask on the camp form, or watch the pack calendar — booked sessions appear there as soon as they are set.
Register through Pack 496
Chief Seattle Council sells camps session by session, and its registration page will book you into any of them. Pack 496 books one session as a group.
Goes to a Pack 496 leader, who replies with the camps we are attending this year, what they cost, and what to pack.
The council’s camping index; the individual camp pages are in the questions above. Neither is the place to book.