Camp Glen Gray Turns 100

100 years ago, on May 19th, 1917, dozens of boys, their leaders and families gathered in a forest in the Ramapo Mountains of New Jersey to dedicate a Boy Scout camp. The place was “a little bit of Scout’s paradise…to which the Scout can carry his tent, his axe, and his blankets and pitch his own tent, chop his own wood, build his fire, bake his bannock and test his qualities of self-reliance and resourcefulness.” All this according to one of the camp’s founders, Fred K. Vreeland.

This June 23rd-25th, families and friends will gather once again to celebrate the centennial year of the camp. Glen Gray was one of the first Boy Scout camps in America, and it still provides camping sites for some of the original troops that camped there 100 years ago.

Situated near Oakland on 800 mostly wooded acres, this Bergen County campsite was rescued from development by a public/private partnership between Bergen County and Friends of Glen Gray, Inc (FOGG), a not-for-profit organization formed in 2001 to preserve the former Scout camp which was being sold by the Northern New Jersey Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Friends of Glen Gray now manages “The Glen” with the help of The Old Guard of Camp Glen Gray, another not-for-profit, and the Bergen County Department of Parks. The New York-New Jersey Trails Association helps to maintain and mark some of the trails in camp, and many Eagle Scouts provide service to Glen Gray for their Eagle projects. FOGG and The Old Guard both do fundraising, to supplement income from overnight camping fees and trading post sales.

Camp Glen Gray is an overnight Bergen County campground nestled in the Ramapo Mountains near Mahwah, New Jersey. It is open to the public year round.. The camp offers a variety of cabins, lean-tos and tent sites. Cabins can house a couple or several dozen campers in Scout troops, school or church groups or families and friends. While camping in the Glen, you can hike trails with scenic overlooks, fish in Lake Vreeland, or simply enjoy nature. Special weekend programs are held throughout the year.

If you ever camped or hiked at Glen Gray, or someone in your family did, you are invited to participate in the Centennial Weekend celebration. A full weekend is planned, including a day of traditional Scout camp activities such as swimming, boating, crafts, archery, campfires and much more. For additional information or to register or to reserve cabins or campsites check the website at http://glengray.org/index.html. Look under “Events” and save your space for the day. All centennial visitors must be pre-registered to gain entrance to camp on this very busy weekend.

A lot has changed in the past 100 years, but Glen Gray is still a little bit of paradise!