We experienced the most magical week at Family Adventure Camp at Summit Bechtel Reserve (click here for my 10% discount code). Mark and I loaded our four daughters up in the van and drove to beautiful West Virginia. This was such a great family bonding experience and our kids didn’t want to leave. What a beautiful thing to watch our girls grow in confidence and skills in the outdoors!
Summit Bechtel Reserve is located in Glen Jean, West Virginia (about an 8 hour drive from St. Louis). It is situated on 10,000 acres on their main property, but it is 14,000 acres if you include their conservation area that backs right up to New River Gorge National Park. Family Adventure Camp is located on Summit, which is one of Scouting America’s high adventure bases. It is open to anyone though, not just Scouts. This family adventure camp started in 2022 and is open to any age and any ability. There are multiple lodging options and you can choose whatever activities interest you! You get to choose your own adventure!
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Summit Bechtel Reserve used to be a strip mine before it was abandoned for 40 years. Scouting America purchased it and created it to what it is now. There are 15 miles of zip line in the air and all man-made lakes with dams. 258 routes for rock climbing, over 20 miles of hiking trails and 15 miles of mountain biking trails!
Lodging
We stayed in a glamping tent. It was just so nice! It surrounded many other glamping tents for other families to stay in too. The main room of the tent has a Queen-size bed, a mini-fridge, a dresser and fans. There is a side room with 2 bunk bed sets (4 twin beds total). All bedding and towels were provided. Our three older daughters (ages 8yo, 6yo and 4yo) slept in the bunk beds and were so excited to have their own room! The pack n’ play fit great next to our bed, which is where our 1.5yo daughter slept. There is no air conditioning in the tent, but we were comfortable with the fans. The temperature dropped quite a bit at night, so we unzipped the windows and had some great airflow. While there is no running water or indoor plumbing in the glamping tent, we walked to the nearby enclosed (and very clean) restrooms and shower house. One of the glamping tents is a “Headquarters Tent” with a full-size fridge to store anything, a coffee maker and a microwave. There are also many yard games, board games and extra sheets/towels/blankets. It also was stocked with any firewood we needed, as well as propane grills to cook on. We loved the front porch with the two rocking chairs outside of our tent. Each tent site also has a fire pit!
If you would like lodging that is a little less rustic, there is hotel-like lodging that is connected to the dining hall.
Dining
We ate almost all of our meals at the Fork in the Road dining hall, which was a 2-minute drive from our glamping tent. You could also walk there too! There was a range of times to arrive for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food was served cafeteria style and there were plenty of food and drink options! The food was fresh and the staff was so sweet. Our daughter, Erin, turned 4 years old on our trip and the chef surprised us by baking a cake for her!
There are many Scout camps, treks and training programs going on year round at Summit, so we liked to meet people from all over the nation. There were some all-girl packs and my girls loved hearing about their adventures while we ate!
You can also bring your own food to store in the Headquarters tent (stored properly to avoid bears) and grill on one of the many grills provided. One night, we rolled the grill in front of our tent and grilled some steaks! Then, we ended the night with s’mores. There’s nothing like eating outside around the campfire.
Family Activities
I highly recommend contacting Family Adventure Camp at Summit ahead of your trip to schedule your events. Only certain events are scheduled during certain times, so it helps to lay it all out ahead of time and prioritize activities. Activities cost extra per person, but hiking, biking, fishing, boating and the Appalachian Celebration are all free. Transportation is offered for Family Adventure Camp, but you can also drive yourself around too. Our oldest hit the weight requirement for rock climbing, while our youngest were able to boulder instead. My husband and I were able to do the Big Zip and Challenge Course, while our girls cheered us on!
Below are some of our favorite activities that we experienced.
Appalachian Celebration
This is a weekly occurrence at Summit! Staff come together and put on an awesome celebration for Scouts and families. We learned how to cook over an open fire, biked to make ice cream, painted, listened to live music, did archery and so much more! If you are interested in coming to camp here, definitely call ahead and ask when the Appalachian Celebration will be when you visit.
Big Zip and Ropes Course
Mark and I took turns with these awesome adventures and they were exhilarating. The Big Zip is the longest zipline at Summit. It is ¾ of a mile long and 160 feet above the lake. You reach speeds between 40-60 mph depending on your weight and the wind. I loved the views of the woods and gliding over the lake!
The Ropes Course started by climbing a huge net. Once at the top, you completed 4 challenges. There are multiple routes to choose from and you can make it as complicated or easy as you would like! At the end of the course, you belay down to the ground. My legs were definitely shaking by the end and it was a great experience.
Biking
Our girls liked the Bike Skills course with ramps and a pump track. There was an open mountain biking night during the week, so we tried one of the family-friendly mountain biking trails! The staff members were incredible and closed off the trail to other bikers so that our kids would feel comfortable and safe. The trail was ¾ mile long and went throughout the woods. There are longer trails with more tricks, but this one was just perfect for our kids!
Another favorite place to bike was the CONSOL Energy Bridge. This bridge is 758 ft long and 93 ft tall. When it was built, 98% of the foliage was undisturbed. Instead, they shot cables over with a cannon! The bridge was just gorgeous with options to walk alongside or up high on the bridge.
Boating
This was my favorite! We took canoes out and went through a canal with waterlilies all around us. We saw many ducks and even a heron! It was incredibly peaceful to paddle along the trail. A staff member canoed alongside us and answered any questions and was there to guide us if needed. They also had paddleboards and kayaks to use too.
Also, the water reality course was not set up yet, but was being set up the week after we left. This is a water obstacle course in the lake!
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Rock Climbing
Boulder Cove, the rock climbing area, is pretty unbelievable. There are a whopping 258 rock climbing routes here. The routes are all on auto-belay and the staff helped to guide and encourage us. Our oldest hit the weight requirement for rock climbing, so my husband and I took turns climbing alongside her. They had rock climbing shoes for (free) use and we loved trying the different difficulty levels. There is no age limit on bouldering, so all of our kids (including our 1.5yo) liked trying to grab onto the rocks!
Sustainability Treehouse
The treehouse is a Net Zero building. It makes more energy than it needs! There are four floors to meander through and learn about sustainability. This was a $11 million project and I was in awe. Our favorite floor had a bike hooked up to light bulbs. We had fun biking to try to get the lights to turn on!
Nearby Family Adventure Camp
New River Gorge National Park
We hiked 2 miles to a beautiful view of New River Gorge! The lookout point has views of the vistas with the river below. Absolutely stunning!
Bridge Walk
This was such a cool experience!! We were hooked up to a harness and walked across the New River Gorge Bridge. It is the longest single arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere and the 3rd highest bridge in the United States!! This gem is 876 feet high and has an awesome view of the National Park. We even saw white water rafters on the rapids!
Beckley Coal Mine Tour
We rode into a vintage coal mine led by a veteran miner. Then, we explored the coal camp buildings.
Arrowhead Bike Farm
This is a great bike shop and cafe with a kid-friendly bike pump track. You can ride mountain bike trails here and enter into the New River Gorge NP.
Overall, we loved this time together as a family! We are looking forward to exploring here again soon. If you are interested in the Family Adventure Camp at Summit, you can use my 10% discount code “EXPLORESTL” and here is the link to register. Happy exploring!
