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!
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!
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
Connect With Firelands!
Anthony Dworning Director of Camping (216) 331-4608
Danny Thomas
Camp Ranger
440) 669-0440
Firelands Calendar
If going to Camp Wyandot, please use the Bates Road entrance:
52500 Bates Road, Wakeman, OH 44889
From the Camp Avery Hand gate, take a right onto Gore Orphanage Road, and then an immediate left onto Becker Road (do not go further down Gore Orphanage, which is closed). Take the first right going south onto Baird Road, and then the next right (West) onto Bates Road. Continue on Bates past Gore Orphanage until you see the Camp Wyandot gate on your right.
