Our History
Founded in 1943, Camp Lenape, consisted of 419 acres of Pinelands in Medford Township, NJ. The new camp was needed as a result of it's predecessor, Camp Mahalala being needed by the Air Force. Camp Mahalala was located in what is now the housing area of McGuire AFB.
When Burlington County Council found itself looking for a new camp, it did not have the funds to purchase one. A group of 10 adults associated with the council, independently purchased a piece of pine and oak forest located in rural Medford Township, N.J. This group of people became known as the Camp Lenape Association, or referred to simply as the Camp Association. They named it Camp Lenape after the Lenni Lenape Tribe of the Delaware Nation of Indians, which once roamed the land.
Over a period of years, the members of the Camp Association financed many of the building projects. Their work, along with many volunteers, produced many usable common areas, erected buildings, dug lakes from old cranberry bogs, made roads and trails, and carved out campsites. They dug wells to supply water, and they built a very large and impressive campfire area that tiered down to overlook a lake.
One of the camp's more significant landmarks was the fireplace that was the foundation of the Dining Hall. The fireplace had a hearth inside the building and one on the outside. For many years, the Sunday night welcoming campfires, where the troops met the Camp Staff, were held around the outside hearth. When the camp membership grew, a stage was built and the campfires were build on the stage with the campers sitting on logs arranged around the stage.
The entire fireplace was built from stones that were taken from the Delaware River. The inside hearth had three carved granite blocks that said, "Duty to God," Duty to Country," and "Duty to Self." The outside hearth had a group of names inscribed on blocks. Many times, you would hear someone ask, "Why are those names on there?" They were the names of the members of the Camp Association and the other Founding Fathers of the camp.
These men volunteered thousands of hours over a period of years to provide a memorable experience for all future campers and others that took advantage of the camp's charm. A conversation took place one time between our beloved longtime Camp Ranger, Bill Gibson and a Camp Staff member in front of the outside fireplace. Bill was talking about the fireplace and the surrounding camp. All of the Founding Fathers and builders of the camp had full time jobs. Every weekend, all year round, they spent their entire weekends for three years building the camp. Bill said that his wife, Jeanette, also came every weekend during all that time to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner for all of the workers.
As the years progressed, the need for bigger and more facilities were required to meet the Scout's demands of a growing county. The original Dining Hall was expanded four times, three new wells were needed to supply water to eleven campsites and two other camps, and buildings grew where tents once provided necessary shelter. The dream and vision that the Founding Fathers once had, to provide a meaningful and memorable camping experience, was transmitted to tens of thousands of Scouts and leaders who will always remember Camp Lenape as their temporary home away from home and a fondness in their hearts for this special place the their lives.
The Camp Association eventually merged with the Council Camping Committee. In the 1960s, the Council Camping Committee, who had jurisdiction over the property, decided to expand some of the uses of Camp Lenape. The property then became known as Lenape Scout Reservation. Even though, until the camp closed, it's common name was called Camp Lenape, it was formally known as Lenape Scout Reservation.
The reservation had three camps contained within it's boundaries. The most famous, of course, being Camp Lenape. This camp used approximately one-third of the total 419 acres. It's primary use was summer camp, although many camporees and OA activities were held there. It was also one of the prime areas that the council used for training. This camp contained 4 of the 6 lakes and all of the buildings except the Cub Lodge.
The Wilderness Camp, which was once simply called Wilderness, was on the East side of Jackson Road. Almost all of the rest of the property was the Wilderness Camp, which was adjacent to Wharton State Forest. This area was primarily used for year-round camping by troops, even though some summer camp troops preferred to camp in Wilderness. Those troops participated fully in the summer camp programs, but elected whether or not to eat in the Dining Hall. The Wilderness Camp was ideal for hiking and survival camps. It was used for camporees and training courses. It's lake, Arrow Lake, provided swimming and boating, usually on an individual troop basis.
The third camp, the Cub Scout Camp was the site of Cub Scout pack activities, picnics, Cub training, and meetings all held at the Cub Lodge and Pavillion. This camp was on Jackson Road, before the entrance to the Wilderness Camp, and except for Jackson Road, was totally surrounded by the Wilderness Camp. The Cub Camp was also the site for most of the activities at the Cub Scout Day Camp, which was operated by the council's Cub Scout Organization with the assistance of some of the Camp Lenape Summer Camp Staff. The Cub Day Camp was operated for a week at a time for a four week period. The cubs were bussed from various locations in the county, to and from the camp, for each day of the five day weekly program.