Editing Scouting in Colorado (section)

===Greater Colorado Council===
{{Infobox WorldScouting
|name=Greater Colorado Council (#061)
|image=File:GCC-councilservicepatch.png 
|type=council
|owner=
|headquarters=[[Denver, Colorado]]
|location=
|country=United States
|coords=
|f-date=1915
|defunct=
|founders=
|founder=
|members=33,409 youth ending December 2016
|chiefscouttitle=President
|chiefscout=Mathew Stava
|chiefscouttitle2=Council Commissioner
|chiefscout2=Dave Carlson
|chiefscouttitle3=Scout Executive/CEO
|chiefscout3=Charles W Brasfeild III
|website={{URL|http://www.denverboyscouts.org}}
}}
[[File:Denver Area Council HQ.jpg|thumb|Headquarters of the Denver Area Council]]
The Greater Colorado Council, previously named Denver Area Council, of the [[Boy Scouts of America]] is headquartered<ref>{{Cite web |title=Denver Area Council Scout Shop |url=http://www.denverboyscouts.org/openrosters/ViewOrgPageLink.asp?LinkKey=10929&orgkey=1704}}</ref> in [[Lakewood, Colorado]], and supports [[Scouting]] units and youth in an area of central [[Colorado]] from Arapahoe and Adams Counties east to the [[Continental Divide]].

====Organization====
For traditional units, the council is split into districts related by school districts. These districts are:

* Alpine&nbsp;- Serving SCHOOL DISTRICTS Jefferson County, Gilpin County, Clear Creek County, and Platte Canyon School District
* Black Feather&nbsp;— Serving SCHOOL DISTRICTS Douglas County, Littleton, Sheridan, Englewood, and Elbert County
* Centennial&nbsp;— Serving SCHOOL DISTRICTS Aurora Public School, Bennett School District, Byers School District, Cherry Creek School District, Deer Trail School District, and the Strasburg
* Frontier&nbsp;— Serving SCHOOL DISTRICTS Denver Public Schools
* Majestic Mesas&nbsp; - Serving SCHOOL DISTRICTS Delta County School District, Dolores County School District, Gunnison Watershed School District, Hinsdale County School District, Mesa County Valley School District, Montrose County  School District, Norwood Public Schools, Ouray School District, Ridgway School District, Telluride School District, and the West End School District
* Three Rivers&nbsp; - Serving SCHOOL DISTRICTS Aspen School District 1, DeBeque, Eagle County, East Grand, Garfield County School District 16 (Grand Valley School District 16), Garfield School District RE-2, Hayden, Lake County,  Meeker, Moffat County, Park County, Plateau Valley, Rangely, Roaring Fork, South Routt, Steamboat Springs, and the Summit
* Valley&nbsp;— Serving SCHOOL DISTRICTS Brighton, Adams 12 and Adams 14, Mapleton, Westminster 50, and the Boulder Valley
* The new Majestic Mesas and Three Rivers district encompasses the former Western Colorado Council.

The council, also, has non-geographic districts to support non-traditional programs operated by the council. These districts are:

* Venturing&nbsp;— Serving all young men and women ages 14–20
* LeAP (Leadership Assistance Program);— In-school traditional Scouting in Denver County and our Soccer in Scouting program
* Learning for Life&nbsp;— Serving youth in Denver
* Special Needs&nbsp;— Serving youth with disabilities throughout the Metropolitan Area
* Exploring&nbsp;— Serving ages 14–21 in career exploration in the Denver Metropolitan Area

====Programs and activities====
[[National Youth Leadership Training]] (NYLT) is a week-long youth oriented leadership training experience held for three weeks during the summer. This camps aims to shape youth scouts into full trained scouts and was previously named Bighorn, now it is called NYLT at Bighorn, symbolizing the area that it takes place in.

====Camps====
The Denver Area Council operates camps in two locations in Colorado.  The primary camp, ''Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch'', is located in [[Elbert, Colorado]].  The second, smaller camp, is ''Camp Tahosa'', located near [[Nederland, Colorado]].

=====Tahosa High Adventure Base=====
''Camp Tahosa (TH)'' is a camp near [[Ward, Colorado]], serving the [[Denver Area Council]] of the [[Boy Scouts of America]].  It was the primary camp for the Denver area until the later 1970s, when it was shut down because of damage caused by environmental factors, where It was replaced by ''Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch''.  The camp now serves as a [[high adventure]] base.  The High Adventure Treks from Camp Tahosa lead Scouts into the adjacent forest.

Tahosa is home to  separate camping programs for both Summer and non summer usage: From September to Early May, TH offers  OKPIK, Tahosa Challenge (COPE), and weekend camping. During the summer months, TH offers a variety of programs including [[National Youth Leadership Training]], Mountain Men (provisional camping), Alpine Adventure, Tahosa Trek, and EaglePoint.

Alpine Adventure is a six night mountaineering adventure in the high country of Colorado, combining the training facilities of Tahosa High Adventure Base with the lakes and vistas of the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. The Scout will be members of a 12-person team, learning and applying skills to conquer the strenuous challenges of the program in a dynamic mountain environment.

Tahosa Trek was started in 1995 to provide a basic knowledge of backpacking/low impact camping, the program now offers more advanced training and longer, customized treks for the units of the  [[Boy Scouts of America]].

Okpik is a weekend extreme winter camping experience design to train Scouts in winter survival. The program starts with a classroom session on Friday night to prepare the scouts. On Saturday, the scouts will load equipment and supplies into sleds before snowshoeing around Tumblesome Lake. On the far shore of the lake, participants use the remainder of the day to construct [[quinzhee]]s which they spend the night in.

Tahosa Challenge is part of the [[Project COPE]] program that encourages youth and adults to expand mental creativity, increase physical abilities, promote leadership skills and instill personal confidence.

EaglePoint is the newest addition to Tahosa.  Founded in 2000 at Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch, EaglePoint is a troop run camp with access to the Tahosa High Adventure Base facilities.  With a small staff, troops can build their own schedule and do whatever they would like for their week at camp.   This program had a predecessor that started as early as 1991 called Eagle Quest.

=====Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch=====
[[File:BP Boot Print - Tahosa.jpg|thumb|[[B-P's footprint|BP Boot Print]] - Peaceful Valley]]
''Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch (PV)'' is the main camping location of the Greater Colorado Council of the [[Boy Scouts of America]].  The camp, built in the 1960s by the Army Corps of Engineers, was a replacement to the original camp, [[Camp Tahosa]].  The camp is located just outside [[Elbert, Colorado]].

Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch is home to three separate camps: Camp Cris Dobbins; Camp Cortland Dietler; and Magness Adventure Camp.  Like Tahosa, Peaceful Valley also hosted a troop-run camp also called EaglePoint; however, as of 2009, EaglePoint is defunct (the EaglePoint program at Tahosa is still active, though).  Additionally, in 2005, the Boy Scouts of America Denver Area Council acquired a large section of land adjacent to Peaceful Valley, and is the location of their Magness Adventure Camp for Cub Scouts.

Facilities include the Travis Shooting Sports Facility, which contains an Olympic shotgun shooting range, the Gates Aquatic Center, a horse corral, BB Gun range, two lakes, and the three above mentioned camps. The camp also has a bronze boot print casts of [[Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell|Robert Baden Powell]] located near the main camp office.

Camp Cris Dobbins is the flagship camp of Peaceful Valley.  The camp is home to The Travis Shooting Facility, which includes an Olympic shotgun range, the million dollar Gates Aquatic Center, a dining hall which underwent a nearly twelve million dollar renovation and expansion in 2019, and over twenty campsites.  The camp, with a capacity of around 700 campers, offers dozens of merit badges and programs for scouts of all ages.

Camp Dietler, founded in 1988 by William Eck, is a patrol style summer camp experience.  While merit badges are offered, the main focus is on the patrol method.  This is carried out through patrol cooking, events determined by the patrol leader's council, and a choice of two high adventure outposts.  The camp is named for Cortlandt Dietler, who donated the money to build the camp commissary.

Magness Adventure Camp is the Denver Area Council's [[Cub Scouting (Boy Scouts of America)|Cub Scouting]] camp.  The camp has three shelters, each with a campsite housing eighty tents.  The program includes lake activities, a BB Gun range, an archery range, recently added a slingshot paint ball range and a firewatch tower that overlooks Elbert County.  The camp is also available for rental by outside groups, and is often frequented by groups such as Denver's High School [[ROTC]] and girls groups from [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].

====Tahosa Lodge====
Tahosa Lodge #383, chartered in 1948, serves 1218 [[Order of the Arrow|Arrowmen]] as of 2004. It is the largest lodge in Colorado. The lodge totem is a [[Pika|coney]] ([[Pika]]), and the name translates to "Dwellers on the Mountain Tops" in the [[Kiowa]] language. The lodge is divided into seven chapters which correspond with the seven districts of the Denver Area Council. Tahosa Lodge holds their ordeal weekends and other events at the two council camps, Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch and Tahosa Scout Camp. Many patches from the lodge feature a character known as the Purple Bishop, and delegates of the lodge to [[National Order of the Arrow Conference|NOAC]] can often be seen wearing purple cloaks. The Purple Bishop is a legend from Camp Tahosa.