An exciting horseback riding and hay ride program occur every weekend, September through early June. Contact the Volunteer Service desk for current fee schedule. Camp consists of eight 10 person Adirondacks, 20 person bunk house, tent sites, and 640 acres of hiking and camping wilderness. Located near Scotts Mills & Silverton, Oregon. Reservations and tour permits required.
Horse Rides
Butte Creek Scout Ranch offers both half-day and full-day rides for folks of 2nd year Webelos age and up (persons younger than second-year Webelos are not able to ride on these weekend rides. Why not?). Second-Year Webelos are able to take 1/2 day rides, Boy Scout age and up may take 1/2 day or full-day rides.
Morning and full-day rides start at 9:00 a.m. with approximately a half of an hour orientation. Please arrive a few minutes early, ready to go. Morning rides return to the barn at noon.
Afternoon rides meets at 1:00 p.m. and return at 4:00 p.m. Please arrive a few minutes early, ready to go. Depending upon what your troop wants to do, a full day ride may or may not come back to the barn at lunch.
All riders should wear suitable riding attire, taking into consideration weather conditions. We ride rain, shine, or snow, so be prepared. Long pants, a coat and a helmet are required. Heeled boots are strongly suggested.
Supervision: All rides are supervised by trained wranglers. Boy Scout and older units need to provide a minimum of 2 adult leaders for troops. Second-Year Webelos rides require one adult per 2nd year Webelos.
There is a minimum of 10 riders for a ride to take place.
Camping
The historic, rustic log cabin sleeps 20 on bunks. It has lights, a large fireplace, and tables for your convenience. Most troops cook on propane stoves. There is a wash stand just out the back door and the kybo is located not far from the cabin.
There are 8 Adirondacks available, each one sleeps 10 on bunks. Each Adirondack has a picnic table and there is a centrally located campfire bowl, water facility and kybo. Most troops choose to cook on propane stoves or with dutch ovens. The Adirondacks are all in one site and accommodates more than 1 troop at a time, so plan on getting to know your neighbors.
Butte Creek has 8 established tent sites. It is about a quarter of a mile walk from the parking lot and is fairly basic. It has an outhouse, running water, and a campfire bowl. There is plenty of open area to set up your tents.
If your troop wants more of a camping challenge, you may wish to try one of the unimproved sites. They are located everywhere and we provide nothing. Your troop needs to be totally self-sufficient and be prepared for at least a half mile walk.
The picnic area is designed for day use only for units not wishing to camp. The facility has a 24'x36' covered area, 10 picnic tables, running water, 2 small barbecues, 1 large barbecue, and a campfire bowl with benches. This is a great place to hold a pack meeting.
There is no firewood provided at this facility. If you do not wish to gather firewood from the surrounding area, please plan to bring your own wood from home.
There is no garbage service available. Pleas PACK IT OUT!
Vehicles need to be kept on the designated roads and in the parking areas only. Roads at the ranch are for horses and pedestrians. Please use your vehicle only to come into and out of camp, not for transportation around camp.
With this ranch being so close to the Portland and Salem area, it provides a great back country camping facility. If you wish to go horse back riding get your reservations in early.
| Butte Creek Scout Ranch, Weekend Camp Reservation |
PDF (7KB) |
| Tour Permit Application, Local (Under 500 Miles) |
PDF (90KB) |
Why can't first-year Webelos ride on weekend rides when all Webelos at summer camp can ride?
Weekend rides are more advanced and demanding than are those offered at Gilbert Ranch during summer camp sessions. Summer camp rides are intended to be introductory rides to give a brief experience to young boys. These introductory sessions are geared-down in length and difficulty to ensure that every boy at summer camp gets a chance to learn a bit about horses even though many of those boys are too small to enjoy a more difficult, longer ride. We hope that those boys will return later as Second-Year Webelos (or older) to enjoy a more lengthy and in-depth riding experience. In order to keep weekend rides a fun and safe experience for all riders, there is a minimum age of Second-Year Webelos-age.
