2027 Stellar Adventure at Camp Hi-Sierra
Welcome to Camp Hi-Sierra
2027 summer camp registration is open: six weeks, June 20 to July 31. Lock in $875 per Scout before Nov. 15.
“I enjoyed being at camp and able to see the solar system during new moon and see nebula M57 in the observatory telescope… Hi-Sierra is my favorite place to go camping.”
PJ, Troop 799, SVMBC (2026 Week 4, youth)
Since 1949
The council’s summer camp for more than 75 years
5,000 feet
In the Stanislaus National Forest near Pinecrest Lake
50+ merit badges
Nationally accredited summer program
June 20 to July 31
Six weeks of summer camp in 2027
Scout Summer Camp in California’s Sierra Nevada, Since 1949
Camp Hi-Sierra is the summer camp of the Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council, Scouting America. Scouts have been making the drive up the mountain since 1949, and once you’re here it’s easy to see why they keep coming back. Camp sits on more than 100 acres in the Stanislaus National Forest near Pinecrest Lake, at 5,000 feet, with the North Fork Tuolumne River running right through the middle of it. Days are warm, nights are cool, and the stars out here are unreal. Ask anyone who has camped with us and they’ll tell you the same thing: Hi-Sierra feels like a home away from home.
Merit Badges That Feel Like Adventure, Not Homework
We offer more than 50 merit badges across six weeks of nationally accredited summer programming. Scouts can climb our 50-foot climbing tower, swim, row, and sail at the waterfront, and try every range and target activity we can fit on the mountain: archery, rifle, shotgun, black powder, even cowboy action. At Foxfire, they’ll hammer hot steel at a real blacksmith forge. And when the sun goes down, our new observatory turns those dark Sierra skies into an astronomy classroom. First-year campers get their start on the Trail to Eagle, and older Scouts find bigger challenges that bring them back every summer.
Range and Target Activities
Archery, rifle, shotgun, black powder and cowboy action
Who Camps Here
Everyone. Scouts BSA troops, Scouts attending on their own as provisional campers, and families from all over Northern California and beyond. We run dedicated weeks for older Scouts and Venturers at Adventure Week, for Scouts working on Eagle-required merit badges at Eagle Week, and for Senior Patrol Leaders at SPL Week. In the fall, winter, and spring, camp is open for group rentals to Scout units, schools, churches, and outdoor organizations.
With your troop
June 20 to July 31, 2027
Six weeks of Scouts BSA summer camp in California’s Sierra Nevada.
On your own
Any regular week
Solo campers are placed in provisional troops and have full access to all programs.
Eagle Week
June 27 to July 1, 2027
Up to 5 Eagle-required merit badges. Open to troops or individuals.
Adventure Week
June 27 to July 3, 2027
A youth-led week for Scouts ages 13* through 20. Come solo or with friends.
SPL Week
Free for your SPL
Your Senior Patrol Leader attends free for a week of leadership training, before or after your troop’s week.
Weekends and rentals
Fall, winter and spring
Weekend events at camp, and cabins, campsites and the dining hall for your group.
*13-year-olds must have finished the 8th grade.
Your Basecamp for Yosemite and Gold Country
Camp Hi-Sierra is the closest Scouting America camp to Yosemite National Park. In the summer, the YARTS bus runs from nearby Sonora straight into Yosemite Valley with park admission included in the fare, so a Yosemite day trip is an easy add before or after your week at camp. Closer to camp, Pinecrest Lake is ten minutes away for swimming, paddling, and trout fishing. Dodge Ridge’s summer trails are twenty minutes up the road, and the Gold Rush towns of Columbia and Jamestown, where the steam trains of Railtown 1897 still run, are about an hour down the hill.
Pinecrest Lake Ten minutes
Dodge Ridge summer trails Twenty minutes
Columbia and Jamestown About an hour
75+ Years of Campfires and Counting
The Tuolumne Band of Mi-wuk people lived on this land for thousands of years, and you can still see their grinding holes in the rocks around camp. In 1949, Edward Jenness sold the valley to the council for ten dollars so it could become a Scout camp. Today, three and four generations of the same families camp here, singing the same campfire songs, eating family style in the dining hall, celebrating Friday’s Western BBQ, and earning their place in the Saga of Hi-Sierra.
What Scouts and Leaders Say
“My Scout was incredibly motivated by his buddies and the prestige of earning Legend status. I have rarely seen him work so hard to meet a goal… I never imagined anything could motivate him to hike 16 miles!!!”
Heather Poore, Adult, Troop 799, Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council, Week 4, 2026
“Staff is highly skilled, very helpful — always available whenever needed. This was my first time camping and I’m already missing the CHS experience.”
Vijayshree, Troop 330, SVMBC, 2026
“I love the Range. The shooting sports staff are some of, if not the best staff. They are very relaxed and yet at the same time so on top of keeping us safe.”
Dylan, Troop 93, Golden Gate Area, 2026
Summer at Hi-Sierra
