Winter Camp

Join us in the cold at Camp John J. Barnhardt over the holiday break! 

We'll host our 8th Annual Winter Camp on December 27-30th. It's a great opportunity to test your cold weather camping skills, earn a couple of merit badges, ride ATVs, or even learn to be a staff member by taking the Counselor-in-Training course!

This year our theme is "Barnhardt Clue: A Classic Detective Game" Get ready for a three evenings of thrilling puzzles, intriguing clues, and suspenseful twists as you work with fellow campers to solve a captivating whodunit. You'll use your sharp wits, deductive reasoning, and teamwork skills to interrogate suspects, analyze evidence, and piece together the truth. It's more than just a game—it's an immersive adventure where every clue counts and every camper is a crucial part of cracking the case.

As always, there will be a Polar Plunge: Clues might even be in the frigid lake! We're also continuing our winter cooking competition. We're offering the opportunity to pre-earn three "test-lab" merit badges (badges that Scouts, BSA are evaluating for becoming part of the permanent program- you can likely fit two into your schedule and then have the requirements complete before they become official badges) Auctioneering and Wildlife Fire Management sound like a lot of fun. Plus, we're planning on offering the newest merit badge (Multisport) and the two merit badges that will be released between summer camp and the start of winter camp (the Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence badges)

We hope you'll come enjoy the cold and the company of other Scouts at Winter Camp!. A sample merit badge schedule is below. All merit badges and other sessions are all scheduled on the 28th and 29th. Troops may arrive on the 28th or depart on the 29th if they do not want to stay all three nights. All merit badges will be taught by members of the Camp John J. Barnhardt Staff. Please register as a unit rather than as individuals. Contact J.P. Grillo if your troop needs more information!

The schedule for 2025 is below!