Put Your Skills to in the Backcountry!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Philmont Service Corps this year!

The Philmont Staff Association and Philmont Scout Ranch are pleased to offer this opportunity in the spring and fall. If you are looking for a lower impact project to work on this is the volunteer activity for you. Work in and around a Philmont backcountry camp, enjoy home cooked meals prepped in our backcountry kitchens, and have relaxing evenings in the backcountry after a hard day's work.

2025 Spring Philmont Service Corps

Dates: April 5-12

Investment: $160 per person

Register for Philmont Service Corps Here

This program is available to PSA members and their eligible family members. The minimum age is 16 years by date of participation. Eligible family members include your spouse, child or stepchild, sibling, parent, grandparent, grandchild, niece, nephew or in-law of the PSA member. Please do not register anyone who does not meet these requirements. All participants must be members of the Boy Scouts of America.

All participants must be registered as an adult volunteer with a local unit or an adult program participant with a local or national council. Philmont does not offer Scouting America registration for participants in Philmont programs. If you are not currently a member of Scouting America, we recommend you begin the process immediately after you register for Philmont Service Corps. Head to BeAScout.org to find a unit in your area and talk to them about becoming an adult volunteer.

Backcountry Maintenance:

The 2024 work focused on the maintenance in and around Ponil and Baldy Town. This included painting/staining cabins, replacing light fixtures-transition to LED, maintenance around camp/on cabin roofs, climbing gym upkeep, and climbing wall upkeep. In spring 2025 work will take place at Indian Writings with volunteers housing at Ponil. 

Participant Requirements:

Be at least 18 years old by the date the program begins or 16 years old by the date the program begins if the child is a PSA member. 

Be a registered member of the Boy Scouts of America and have completed all required trainings.

Be in good physical condition, able to hike 3 or more miles with a 20-pound backpack and able to lift and handle materials up to 50 pounds. (Philmont height and weight guidelines will be strictly enforced.)

Complete a Philmont Medical Form.

Wondering what will come in handy to have during your week of service? Please refer to our PSC packing list.

Tentative Schedule:

Saturday: Arrive at Philmont during the day. First meal will be dinner in the PTC Dining Hall. In the evening, the Maintenance Department will begin the program with introductions and specific plans, gear & packing advice, and general Q&A.

Sunday: Breakfast at PTC and then depart for the worksite. Get set up and have lunch. Following lunch, you will receive Philmont tools and start on individual or group work and have fun.

Monday-Wednesday: Maintenance work depending on skill set (and more fun).

Thursday: Final wrap-up of maintenance work, clean up campsite/worksite, and then hike or ride to another campsite. The final campsite will depend on the number of participants, availability of transportation vehicles, weather, etc. Volunteers will spend the night at this new location, relaxing and enjoying traditional Philmont camping.

Friday: In the morning, possible side-hikes based on the location. By midday or early afternoon, Volunteers will be transported back to Base Camp. Friday evening’s dinner will be a celebration of the week and recognition for what you have given back to Philmont. Participants will be awarded the inaugural Philmont Service Corp patch.

Saturday: Depart Philmont after breakfast.

Please note: these schedules could change based on Philmont’s needs and weather conditions. We’ll keep everyone informed as the year progresses.

Reminders:

This program is available to PSA members and their eligible family members. The minimum age is 16 years by date of participation. Please do not register anyone who does not meet these requirements. All participants must be members of the Boy Scouts of America.

If females under the age of 21 years are registered, we will attempt to make accommodation for Youth Protection requirements. If we cannot meet Youth Protection requirements (having a female over 21 participate) we will return the entire registration fee.

The full Philmont medical form (including Part C) is required – the same 7-page form required for summer Trekkers. Please note, just because your doctor certifies you, it does not mean this program is for you. The PSA reserves the right to return the entire registration fee of any person who would be inappropriate for this program.

All participants must be registered with Scouting America. Please complete your registration well in advance of the project.

Payments & Refunds:

Please note that if you have to cancel your registration for any reason it must be done 30 days prior to the event start date to be eligible for a refund.

The PSA reserves the right to deny or revoke registration where appropriate.

Regarding Backcountry Dining during the PSC week~

“What’s for dinner?”  A fair question to ask, so I thought it only fair to clue you in.

Food is the essence of hospitality.

Kevin Stickelman, “Unit 5”, Director of Facilities, PSR, explained to the PSC cooks that he wants the PSC’s time in the mountains to not only be productive, but also enjoyable, with lots of good food and time for fellowship over the meals. We cooks are completely onboard with this approach.

So, with Philmont being a working ranch, in New Mexico, please expect to find New Mexican Working Ranch foods on the table at during your time in the Backcountry; three meals a day. Hearty, fresh, well-balanced meals, full of rich New Mexican and “down home” flavors, all prepared there in a Backcountry kitchen. The menu includes a full spectrum of the ingredients available from the Philmont Commissary. Our thought, as cooks, is, we all have 51 weeks a year to eat fat-free steamed vegetables and poached skinless chicken breasts or salmon, just so we can maintain that less than 6% body fat we’re sporting. This will be one week where we will have the opportunity to eat like a working Ranch Hand and live to tell about it, even if only to complain about the weight we’ve gained.

And just for “why not?!”, there’s always plenty of salad and fresh fruit on the table. 

Regarding Restrictive Ingredient Diets:

While we occasionally make Vegetarian versions of some dishes, we do not have the bandwidth to zero in on more restrictive ingredient dietary choices like Hallah, Kosher, gluten/Celeriac, dairy, any of the possible food allergies or Vegan meals. 

We try to keep three volunteer cooks in the kitchen during our PSC work weeks. These cooks do their best to generate the three hot meals a day, from scratch, over the five days we are in the Backcountry, producing some 450+ meals. This cooking feat is performed in kitchens not really designed for the task, and usually lacking electricity. The cooks start their day at 5:00AM and end it at 9:00PM. There just isn’t time, energy or space to be generating ancillary menus. I feel it best to let everyone know, in advance.

With all of this said, looking forward to seeing you at mealtimes.

As always, eating dessert is not mandatory.
Badger

Register for Philmont Service Corps Here