Owasippe Scout Reservation

Owasippe Scout Reservation (OSR), located in Twin Lake, Michigan is the resident camp operated by the Pathway to Adventure Council (formerly Chicago Area Council) of Boy Scouts of America. It began in 1911 as Camp White on 40 acres (16 ha) of land on Crystal Lake donated by the White Lake Chamber of Commerce. It is the United States' oldest and longest continuously operating Scout camp.

At its peak of use the reservation covered 11,000 acres (4,500 ha) and served over 10,000 Scouts per summer, but the overall decline in Scouting nationwide has seen yearly attendance fall to approximately 3,800 campers. Previous property consolidations has left the camp at 4,800 acres (1,900 ha) in size, and the council was attempting to sell the camp but met with stiff resistance from the local community, Scouts, leaders, families, and staff alumni. The deal with the developer was terminated on November 7, 2008.

Owasippe Scout Reservation is composed of sub-camps within the property. The current operating sub-camps are Camp Blackhawk (Scouts BSA camp), Camp Wolverine (Scouts BSA and Cub Scouts), and Camp Reneker (Family Camp). There is also a high adventure base at Owasippe Scout Reservation.

Owasippe' s first camp was held in 1912 on the northern shore of Crystal Lake, now known as Owasippe lake. Following the first camping season in the spring of 1913, a 70’ by 86’ Dining Hall with a generator and electric lights and an icehouse would be constructed. This building would later be used as the Camp Beard Dining Hall. There was a photo shop and dark room with running water and a trading post. At these early camps, while scouts worked on merit badges, they were expected to engage in other activities as well. These include canoeing, rowboats, lectures, cooking, baseball games, swimming, fishing, and especially overnight hikes. Scouts would often help improve the camp as well, such as in 1916 when scouts helped build the merit badge lodge.

Occasionally, such as one instance in 1919, movies were shown in the dining hall. It was standard that all scouts would stay for two weeks before going home, with the more advanced scouts staying extra time for leadership courses. The camp would be separated by 1922, into Camp West and Camp Beard, and later, Camp McDonald.

In addition to camps for scouts, Owasippe has had a strong tradition of families and women camping, too. Evidence of this traces back to 1912, when R.W Teeter brought his family, who camped near the scouts.

Sometime after 1917, a new dining hall was built near Camp Stuart overlooking Crystal Lake. Programs here included hiking, artwork, sports, and swimming, and would usually have fewer staff members. This camp would function until 1964, when a new family camp (Renamed Camp Reneker) was built just south of Lake Wolverine.

Named after early scouting founder Daniel Carter Beard, this camp was created from Camp White's split. With this split, there also started to be a noticeable trend with each Chicago Scouting District getting its own camp, with Beard being used by the scouts of the North Shore District. It used the same dining hall and much of the same land as Camp White, and would steadily develop its program areas and traditions. From the early 1930s to the late 1950s, the camps made minor developments, such as new pumphouses or shower houses. By the 1960s, however, it became clear that the facilities were obsolete. In 1968, the Dining Hall was torn down, and the camp would eventually close in 1970. Like Camp West, however, much of the remaining infrastructure would stay there until the land was cleared by developers, being used by scouts for hikes and for leadership training events.