Firelands Scout Reservation
Camp Avery Hand: 13782 Gore Orphanage Road
Wakeman, OH 44889
(440) 965-7025
Camp Wyandot: 52500 Bates Road
Wakeman, OH 44889
Anthony Dworning, Director of Camping and Experiences
Dan Goerndt, Council Program Executive
Heather McMillan, Council Camping Reservations Director
Danny Thomas, Camp Ranger
Firelands Scout Reservation is located 5 miles west of Oberlin, in Wakeman on 455 acres of land, most of which is protected. The reservation holds two camps, Camp Avery Hand and Camp Wyandot. Each individual camp is named in honor of the former camps once a part of the original councils that merged. Firelands has a rich history of serving Scouting, and has operated as a Scout Camp since 1938. For the Lake Erie Council, Firelands serves as the western property offering multiple events each year as well as advanced leadership training including Wood Badge and NYLT. The camp is also open to all Scouts for year-round camping and activities.
The reservation is about 70% wooded. Camp Wyandot features a 23-acre lake with an island connected by a peninsula, a best-in-class climbing tower and high ropes course, and 16 beautiful rustic campsites. Camp Avery Hand is home to a dozen camping sites, and cabins available to families and units that sleep four to 32 people! Recent improvements include the new sledding hill and expansion of the pond to make water activities even more exciting.
What to do at Firelands
Our Camp Hosts share their knowledge and skill by offering programs every weekend at no cost to Units! Check out our schedule to plan ahead on your weekend camping experience!
Summers at Firelands!
COURSE 9-440-25
Firelands Scout Reservation
July 25th - 27th and August 9th and 10th
Wood Badge is an advanced, national leadership course open to Scouting volunteers and professionals.
Scouters from Cub Scouts, Scouts, Venturing, Sea Scouts, and Explorers, and Service Area and Council Scouters all are welcome and belong at Wood Badge.
Joy Rowland, Course Director
NYLT 2025!
June 8-14, 2025
To attend the NYLT course, a youth must have the following qualifications by the beginning of the course:
Must be a registered member of a Scouting unit.
Scouts in Troops must be at least 13 and achieved First Class rank. They must have completed Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops.
Venturers and Sea Scouts must have completed Introduction to Leadership Skills for Crews or Ships. It is recommended that they have had at least one year of camping experience. While NYLT is not an outdoor skills course, each participant must have basic camping and outdoor cooking experience.
Have a unit leader recommendation.
COPE & Climbing
Climb the tower, swing your way through the high ropes course, and build teamwork with your group through COPE. Private events for your group are available!
CAMP HOST PROGRAMS
Our Camp Hosts share their knowledge and skill by offering programs every weekend at no cost to Units! Check out our schedule to plan ahead on your weekend camping experience! Visit our Weekend Camping page for more information.
Firelands Scout Reservation Chief Camp Host!
Christy Howard - 216-394-6064
Dan Burris - 440-371-8174
Firelands Trail Program
Firelands offers a unique trail program to weekend campers. The requirements for these hikes are intended to be progressive. Although no specific sequence for these awards is mandated, if a scout follows this order: Frog Jog (Cub Scouts), Bluebird (Webelos), Cardinal (Scouts), Raptor, (independent patrols), OA (high adventure preparation), they will be introduced to gradually more advanced features of the Scouting program.
📑 Trail Program (Overview & All Trails)
📑 Trail Program Roster
📑 Frog Jog Brochure
📑 Frog Jog Trail
📑 Bluebird Trail
📑 Cardinal Trail
📑 Raptor Trail
📑 OA Trail
📑 History Trail
📑 History Trail Leader Guide
Camp Alaska
Does your Unit have what it takes to brave Camp Alaska? Camp Alaska is the most challenging program we offer at the Firelands Scout Reservation. Preparing for Camp Alaska provides an excellent month-long program for a Scout Troop. Camp Alaska is open from December through February only. A Scout who has completed Camp Alaska has done the following:
Slept overnight in the winter time in a Scout-made site
Backpacked all of their equipment in
Cooked all of their own meals
Stayed warm and comfortable
Spent 24 hours at Camp Alaska
Practiced Low-Impact Camping
Lived by the outdoor code
Land Navigation Orienteering Course
A new addition to Firelands is an orienteering course that spans the entire reservation. This course will test your camper’s skills using a compass bearing and their pace length to get from point-to-point.
Instructions: Scouts should establish their pace count prior to starting. Scouts should also be comfortable with navigating around barriers and estimating distances. The starting point (A) is right beside the northwest corner of the Jarosz Shelter on the Wyandot side of camp. All the points will look identical to that marker, except for their letters.
The first worksheet is a list of points and their coordinates, while the second is is the bearing (grid) and distance between all points. The last four sheets are a set of short routes (pg. 4 and 5) and long routes (pg. 6 and 7) that your campers can follow. The first pages (pg. 4 and 6) are the answer keys for the adult leader to verify that they hit the right points and the second pages (pg. 5 and 7) can be cut up and given to the scouts to navigate.
Questions? Contact Dave Vick at (216) 392-9991
Stewards of Firelands
For over three decades, the Stewards have had a positive impact on Firelands Scout Reservation. In fact, this past year, generous members provided the opportunity to complete almost 50,000 dollars worth of projects. With the support of our Stewards, we continued to make improvements for our Scouts!
Please help us with your pledge of membership. Become a Steward by pledging your $100 tax-deductible donation.
Connect With Firelands!
Anthony Dworning Director of Camping (216) 331-4608
Danny Thomas
Camp Ranger
440) 669-0440
