Onteora Scout Reservation

Located along the Adirondack trail in the heart of the Catskills is the breathtaking Onteora Scout Reservation in Livingston Manor, New York. Nicknamed “Land in the Sky,” Onteora is home to our resident Boy Scout summer camp as well as year-round short-term camping. Generations of Scouters have fond memories of time spent there. For many, Onteora is a family Scouting legacy, passed on from one generation to the next. While so much in the world changes, the outdoor beauty of Onteora’s hiking trails, woodlands and lakes remain the same.

The property on which the reservation is located has a long and rich history, which begins with the Lenni Lenape Indians who used the Sun Trail to go from the Hudson River to the Delaware. At the turn of the nineteenth century, Onteora was a lodging area for the Resherif Lumber Company. Near the current Al Nassau shelter of the camp, there was a small town consisting of five houses, a logdging camp, and a mill. To this day, the foundations of the houses and mill can be seen. Later Onteora was the property of the New York Trout and Skeet Club and a privately owned retreat property.

The Council purchased the camp in 1956 and over the next thirty years, Onteora became one of the premier Scouting destinations on the East Coast, offering a traditional camping experience to over 1,000 Scouts a week. Scouts could enjoy outdoor programs like hiking, archery, crafts, shooting sports. In addition, two on-site waterfronts offered a wide range of aquatic activities including fishing, swimming, and boating.