A camporee is a fun weekend filled with Scouts BSA skill competitions and meeting other Scouts from around your area (that area is called a “district” and is usually defined by school district attendance boundaries or county lines; read more about districts here). There is typically a Spring Camporee and/or Fall Camporee. A camporee can look a lot like a regular weekend campout. Other times, there might be a special theme for the weekend.
The camporee skill competitions take place by patrols (a patrol is a group of 8-10 Scouts within a troop). These competitions usually cover fundamental outdoor skills like fire building, knot tying, or cooking… or they could just activities just for fun like relay races, memory games, and more. All camporee events are friendly and intended to motivate Scouts to master basic skills, engage in respectful competition, and further develop youth leadership and teamwork. Often Scouts BSA Troops will invite Webelos (4th and 5th grade) Scouts to participate with them during the weekend to sample the activities they’ll enjoy when graduating to the next step in Scouting. A highlight of the weekend is the closing campfire, where top scoring patrols will receive awards and everyone has the chance to enjoy Scout Spirit and friendship.
Since camporees are run by Scouting districts and not at the council level, you will need to check with your district’s leadership for dates and locations of upcoming camporees. We’ve provided a list of links on this page to district websites for this and other information. If you don’t see a link for your district, contact your district leadership listed on this page of our site.
