Scouting in Athens County, Ohio

Registration is currently $85 national + $60 council per year (set by Scouting America and Simon Kenton Council, not the unit). The pack charges no dues or fees of its own. Some units do, but ours does not. Financial assistance is available and includes a uniform allowance, so cost should never keep a family from Scouting. Reach out and we'll walk you through it.

Any time from kindergarten through 5th grade. Kids join their grade-based den and fit right in, whether it's September or February.

A pack is made up of dens, small groups of usually six to eight Cub Scouts who meet and work through adventures together. Dens are organized by grade, so your Scout is alongside classmates: Lion in kindergarten, then Tiger, Wolf, Bear, Webelos and Arrow of Light in 5th grade. A family pack, one that welcomes both boys and girls, may run its kindergarten through 4th grade dens with boys and girls together; at 5th grade dens are single-gender, which is how Scouting America prepares Scouts to cross over into a boys troop or a girls troop. Packs choose for themselves, so ask the one you contact how its dens are set up.

Yes. Cub Scouts is a family program. Parents stay at den and pack meetings, and many discover it's the best hour of their week too.

Absolutely. Visit a pack meeting (or two!) first. Kids join in the fun right away, parents can ask leaders anything, and there's zero obligation.

Not at all. That's what Scouting is for. Cub Scout camping is family camping: parents come along, gear can be borrowed, and we teach everything from tents to s'mores.

A Scouts BSA troop can be organized three ways: as a boy troop, a girl troop, or a family troop that serves both in one unit. Scouting America added that third option in December 2025. The chartered organization makes that choice, and most troops still serve boys or girls specifically. Athens 53 runs two: Troop 1053 for boys and Troop 7053 for girls, set up as linked troops, meaning separately registered troops that share one chartered organization and one troop committee. That model exists so a boys troop and a girls troop can meet at the same time and place, which ours do. Each troop still elects its own senior patrol leader and runs its own patrol leadership council, so the girls lead the girls and the boys lead the boys. That is why Athens 53 chose linked troops: we believe it gives the girls an equal opportunity to lead, with every position in the troop theirs to hold, and a real say in picking the adventures that fit their own goals and personalities. For a family with a son and a daughter, that means one trip, one night, two troops.

Registration is currently $85 national + $60 council per year (set by Scouting America and Simon Kenton Council, not the unit). The troop charges no dues or fees of its own. Some troops do, but ours does not. Campouts are pay-as-you-go and kept affordable. Financial assistance is available and includes a uniform allowance, and no family needs to buy camping gear: the troop keeps tents, cooking kit and loaner gear a new Scout can use from their first campout. Cost should never keep a family from Scouting.

One troop meeting a week (about 90 minutes) plus an optional campout most months. Our Scouts balance school, sports and band all the time. They come when they can, and there’s no penalty for missing a meeting or a campout.

No. Scouts BSA is youth-led, and this is where kids stretch their independence. Parents are always welcome to stay, and many end up volunteering.

Yes. The best way to understand a troop is to see one. Visit a Tuesday meeting, meet the Scouts and leaders, and take your time deciding.

Completely OK. Most skills are taught from scratch, older Scouts mentor newer ones, and loaner gear gets first campouts covered.

Scouts advance at their own pace through seven ranks, learning outdoor skills, leadership and service along the way. Eagle is the highest rank, earned through advancement, a leadership role, and a service project the Scout plans and leads. It is a goal, not a requirement for a great Scouting experience.

Yes. Cub Scouting has been open to girls since 2018, and girls earn the same ranks and adventure loops, come on the same campouts, and take part in the same pack meetings as everyone else. A pack may be organized for boys, for girls, or as a family pack serving both, so ask which a pack is when you reach out. The directory above lists every pack in the county.

Cub Scouts runs through 5th grade. From 11–17 (or 10 with 5th grade completed) she moves up to Scouts BSA, where troops are organized as boy troops, girl troops or family troops, so she would join a girl troop or a family troop, never a boy troop. We recommend Troop 7053, our all-girl troop, meeting Tuesdays at 60 Pomeroy Rd; the directory above shows every troop in the county and who each one serves. Meet Troop 7053 →

No, and this surprises many parents. Girl Scouts of the USA is a separate organization. Scouts BSA is the Scouting America program (formerly Boy Scouts of America) for ages 11–17, and it opened its full program to girls in 2019. Troops are organized as boy troops, girl troops or family troops, so a girl joins a girl troop or a family troop and earns the same ranks, including Eagle Scout, as any troop in the country. We recommend Troop 7053, our all-girl troop, meeting Tuesdays at 60 Pomeroy Rd.

They’re different programs and both have real strengths. Some Athens families do both. Scouts BSA is outdoor-centered with a single advancement trail to Eagle Scout, youth-led patrols, and troop-organized monthly campouts. Girl Scouting in Athens County is run by the Girl Scouts of Black Diamond council, so you can compare the two directly. The best way to decide is to see it: visit a Tuesday meeting and let your daughter judge for herself. Girl Scouts of Black Diamond →

No. A boy troop registers boys only, so a girl joins a girl troop or a family troop instead. That is how Scouting America organizes troops, not an Athens County rule. We recommend Troop 7053, our Scouts BSA troop for girls 11–17. It runs the same program and the same Eagle Scout trail, and it meets the same night and place as our boys troop, so a family with a son and a daughter makes one trip. Meet Troop 7053 →

Yes, and it is the main reason Athens 53 runs linked troops instead of one combined troop. Troop 7053 elects its own senior patrol leader and fills its own slate of positions: patrol leaders, quartermaster, scribe, historian and the rest. Every one of those jobs belongs to a girl rather than being shared with a larger group. That matters for advancement as much as confidence: Star, Life and Eagle each require months of service in a position of responsibility, so a full slate of their own means there is a position open when she needs one. The troop’s patrol leaders’ council plans its own year as well, so the girls choose the campouts and adventures that fit their own goals.

Scouts BSA is for girls 11–17 (or 10 with 5th grade completed). Younger girls join Cub Scouts, which runs from kindergarten through 5th grade, and bridge into a troop from there.

Camping and backpacking year-round, kayaking, climbing, shooting sports, first aid and wilderness skills, plus 130+ merit badges from Robotics and Chemistry to Welding and Aviation. Scouts plan and lead their own meetings, campouts and service projects. Adults mentor; girls lead.

It is the most common worry, and the fastest one to disappear. Most of our Scouts showed up not knowing a soul. New girls join a patrol (a small team of 4–8) on day one, and an older Scout is assigned to show them the ropes. Friendships form fast when girls plan, cook, camp and solve problems together.

Trained, background-checked adult volunteers. All leaders complete Scouting America's Youth Protection Training, at least two registered adults are present at every activity, and one-on-one contact between adults and youth is not allowed.

Yes, and it is a Scouting America requirement, not a local courtesy. Every unit serving girls must have a registered female adult leader 21 or older, and one must be present at any activity involving female youth: meetings, campouts and everything in between. That sits on top of two-deep leadership, so there are always at least two registered, background-checked, Youth-Protection-trained adults there.