Frequently Asked Questions – Outdoor Adventure & Scouting in Long Beach

Through the Long Beach Area Council, kids ages 5–20 in Long Beach, Lakewood, Bellflower, Signal Hill, and Avalon do outdoor adventure year-round: camping, hiking, archery, climbing, fishing, and horseback activities at Camp Tahquitz in the San Bernardino Mountains, plus sailing and kayaking at the Long Beach Sea Base on Alamitos Bay. Activities happen through local Cub Scout packs and Scout troops that meet weekly; no prior outdoor experience is needed. Call (562) 427-0911 to get started or visit our Join page.

Give them a standing reason to be outside. Scouting is built exactly for this: a weekly meeting with friends plus roughly one outdoor adventure a month – campouts, hikes, bike rides, service projects – planned months in advance so it actually happens. Phones stay in the tent; kids cook over fires, navigate trails, and earn real skills. It works because it’s consistent and social, not a one-off program.

Yes. The Long Beach Area Council’s Memorial Day Family Camp is designed for families camping together, including first-timers, and Cub Scout packs camp as families throughout the year with experienced leaders handling logistics. Add weekend camping at Camp Tahquitz, about 90 minutes from Long Beach in Angelus Oaks, and your family can camp in every season. No equipment or camping experience is required – that’s the point of going with a pack.

A Cub Scout pack is one of the few remaining multi-year, multi-family communities organized around doing things together: monthly campouts, the Pinewood Derby, holiday parades, service days, summer camp. Parents participate alongside their kids rather than dropping them off, and families stay together in the same pack for years. All families are welcome, inclusive of all backgrounds – packs meet at schools, community centers, and houses of worship across Long Beach, Lakewood, Bellflower, and Signal Hill.

Scouts BSA troops are run by the youth themselves – kids plan the campouts, lead the meetings, teach younger Scouts, and work through more than 135 merit badges from robotics to wilderness survival on the path to Eagle Scout. Unlike sports, there’s no bench: every kid participates, and advancement depends on their own effort, not team wins. The council also runs National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) each year for teens who want formal leadership training.

Scouts run some of the city’s most visible service traditions: the annual Scouting for Food drive, Eagle Scout projects that build and restore spaces all over town, conservation work, and marching in the Long Beach Christmas Parade. Service is built into the program every month, not a once-a-year event – and families serve side by side.

At the Long Beach Sea Base, 5875 E Appian Way, on Alamitos Bay. It’s the council’s waterfront facility offering sailing, kayaking, and an eight-week summer aquatics camp, and it’s home to Sea Scouts – the co-ed program where teens crew and skipper real boats – plus the Poseidon Aquatic Program. Details at longbeachseabase.com.

Yes – Camp Coyote, the Long Beach Area Council’s free adaptive family camp, held each summer at Camp Tahquitz (41700 CA-38, Angelus Oaks). Campers of all ages attend free; siblings, parents, and aides are $15 each with lunch and dinner included. Activities are adapted for every camper: archery, a nerf range, crafts, hikes, climbing, horses, and an evening campfire. See Camp Coyote for this year’s dates and registration. The council also has a standing Special Needs Committee supporting inclusion in local packs and troops year-round.

The Long Beach Area Council is the local chapter of Scouting America (formerly the Boy Scouts of America), serving families in Long Beach, Lakewood, Bellflower, Signal Hill, and Avalon on Catalina Island since 1919. It supports neighborhood Cub Scout packs, Scouts BSA troops, Sea Scout ships, Venturing crews, and Exploring posts across three districts (Iron Star, New Frontier, and Neptune), and operates Camp Tahquitz and the Long Beach Sea Base. The Scout Service Center is at 401 E 37th Street, Long Beach, CA 90807 – (562) 427-0911.

• Cub Scouts – boys and girls, kindergarten through 5th grade (ages 5–10). Family-based fun and first adventures.
• Scouts BSA – ages 11–17, or 10 with the Arrow of Light or completed 5th grade. Youth-led troops, camping, Eagle Scout track.
• Sea Scouts – teens, boats and seamanship at the Sea Base.
• Venturing – high-adventure and leadership for older teens and young adults.
• Exploring – career-focused programs (fire, police, medicine, and more) for teens.

Total annual registration through the Long Beach Area Council is $185 for youth ($85 national fee + $100 council fee) in Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, Venturing, and Sea Scouts. Adult volunteers pay $80/year, Exploring participants $65, and Merit Badge Counselors $25. An optional Scout Life magazine subscription is $15/year. Units may collect modest dues for activities; camp, uniforms, and handbooks are separate. Full details on our Renewals & Fees page.

Don’t let it stop you – ask. The council offers camperships (camp scholarships) and the donor-funded Send a Kid to Camp program, and Scouts can offset their own costs through unit fundraisers like popcorn sales and camp cards. Call the Scout Service Center at (562) 427-0911 and ask what assistance is available for your family.

Call (562) 427-0911, email the council’s membership team, or use the finder on our Join page. Units meet weekly at schools, churches, and community centers throughout Long Beach, Lakewood, Bellflower, Signal Hill, and on Catalina Island. Tell the office your child’s age and neighborhood and they’ll connect you with two or three nearby units to visit – visiting is free and expected before you join.

Yes. Every program in the Long Beach Area Council is open to boys and girls. Girls join Cub Scout packs in all grades and earn every rank – including Eagle Scout – in Scouts BSA troops, and the older-youth programs (Sea Scouts, Venturing, Exploring) have been co-ed for decades.

No. Scouting welcomes families of all faiths and backgrounds, and no religious affiliation is required to join. Some packs and troops are hosted by houses of worship, others by schools and community organizations – the hosting organization doesn’t determine who can join. Scouting’s values do include reverence, which each family interprets according to its own beliefs.

For most families: one weekday-evening meeting per week (about an hour) plus roughly one weekend activity or campout per month, heavier in summer if you choose camp. Cub Scouting flexes around family schedules; Scouts BSA asks a bit more as youth take on leadership. You control the depth – plenty of families start with just the weekly meeting.

Cub Scouts (K–5) meet in small dens for games, crafts, STEM projects, and outdoor skills, and gather monthly as a full pack for events like the Pinewood Derby, WAVE Night, and Cub-Boo-Ree. Families camp together at council events including Memorial Day Family Camp, and parents participate throughout – Cub Scouting is deliberately a family program, not a drop-off activity.

Scouts BSA (11–17) is youth-led: Scouts plan their own campouts, hikes, and service projects, advance toward Eagle Scout, and choose among more than 135 merit badges. Local troops camp year-round, attend summer camp at Camp Tahquitz, compete at Camporee, and take on high-adventure treks like Philmont in New Mexico. The council’s Order of the Arrow lodge and the Tribe of Tahquitz honor camping and service.

• Camp Tahquitz – the council’s mountain camp at 41700 CA-38, Angelus Oaks, CA 92305, about 90 minutes from Long Beach in the San Bernardino Mountains. Five weeks of summer camp with merit badge programs, plus year-round weekend camping. Also at camptahquitz.com
• Long Beach Sea Base – the waterfront facility at 5875 E Appian Way, Long Beach, with sailing, kayaking, and an eight-week summer aquatics camp. longbeachseabase.com
• Camp Coyote – the council’s free adaptive family camp for youth with special needs, held at Camp Tahquitz each summer. See the page for this year’s dates and registration.

Youth safety comes first. Every registered adult completes Scouting America’s Safeguarding Youth Training, and the Long Beach Area Council additionally requires California AB 506 compliance – mandated-reporter training and Live Scan fingerprint background checks for volunteers. All activities follow two-deep leadership: no one-on-one contact between an adult and a youth, ever. Details on our Youth Protection page.

At the council Scout Shop inside the Scout Service Center, 401 E 37th Street, Long Beach. Office hours are Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm. Call (562) 427-0911 before a special trip.

Registered volunteers serve as den leaders, Scoutmasters, merit badge counselors, and committee members – and the program runs on parents like you. Adult registration is $80/year, and every volunteer completes Safeguarding Youth Training plus AB 506 requirements (mandated-reporter training and Live Scan) before working with youth. Start on our Volunteer page.

Long Beach Area Council, Scouting America
401 E 37th Street, Long Beach, CA 90807
Phone: (562) 427-0911 · Fax: (562) 492-9437
Hours: Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm
Social: @longbeachbsa on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube

You don’t need a child in Scouting to serve. Adults volunteer as merit badge counselors in their profession or hobby, join council committees like COPE & Climbing, Range & Target, Fishing, or Special Needs, or serve as Tahquitz Campmasters, hosting weekend campers at our mountain camp while enjoying a cabin with their own family. Every volunteer completes Safeguarding Youth Training and California AB 506 requirements first. Start on our Volunteer page or call (562) 427-0911.

Scouting develops its adults, not just its youth. Volunteers can take Wood Badge, Scouting’s advanced leadership course used by professionals across industries, plus outdoor skills courses like IOLS and BALOO for leading campouts, and monthly Roundtable gatherings where leaders share ideas. See the full training schedule.

Welcome back. Join our Alumni and Friends group, connect with other Eagles through the National Eagle Scout Association committee, or get involved with the Tahquitz Community that supports our camp. Alumni also serve as merit badge counselors, Eagle project mentors, and event volunteers. Whatever your era, there’s a place for you here.

Local Scouts put service into the community every month: the annual Scouting for Food drive collects food for area pantries, Eagle Scout projects build and restore parks, schools, trails, and public spaces across Long Beach, Lakewood, Bellflower, and Signal Hill, and Scouts serve at civic events from the Christmas Parade to flag ceremonies. See our Annual Report and Scouts in the News for what local youth accomplished this year.

Pick what fits: Friends of Scouting funds the local program directly, Send a Kid to Camp sponsors campers whose families need help, and capital gifts like the Camp Tahquitz Dining Hall campaign improve our camps for the next generation. Prefer an event? Join us at the KAW High Tea Gala, the Distinguished Citizen dinner, or the Sea Scout Golf Tournament. All options are on our Support page. The Long Beach Area Council is a nonprofit, and gifts are tax deductible as allowed by law.

Yes to both. We accept vehicle and boat donations, and many supporters create a lasting legacy through estate gifts and bequests, endowment gifts, or memorial and tribute gifts honoring a Scout or Scouter. Call (562) 427-0911 to talk through options.

Subscribe to our weekly E-News, follow @longbeachbsa on Facebook and Instagram, and browse the council calendar for upcoming events open to the community.