Do not choose this camp. I paid $590--nearly $100 every single day--just to be subjected to a week of starvation, safety hazards, incorrect instruction, and nonexistent adult supervision. If you are a troop leader or parent, read this before wasting your money. Do not choose this camp.
Nauseating, Dreadful Drive In: The access road into camp is so aggressively winding, twisty, and poorly paved that it is a guaranteed recipe for severe motion sickness. We had multiple scouts actively vomiting and completely incapacitated by intense nausea before we could even unpack a single gear bag. It set a miserable tone for the entire trip.
Underage Staff (Ages 12-17) & Zero Supervision: The camp is run by children with no visible adult leadership enforcing rules. The camp quickly degenerated into total chaos. For example, groups of 7+ rowdy scouts routinely crammed into single shower stalls to throw loud "shower parties," blasting music and causing a massive ruckus we could hear from our campsite. Three staff members stood right there, watched the entire thing, and did absolutely nothing to intervene or enforce quiet hours. A couple of individual staff were decent, but they couldn't fix a fundamentally broken camp.
Incorrect Instruction & Failed Advancement: The quality of instruction was shockingly poor. Staff taught the Totin' Chip completely wrong, telling scouts to establish a "safety circle" for a pocketknife the exact same way you would for an axe or saw. Even worse was the "Pathfinders" first-year program. A scout worked diligently all week--even staying for a make-up lesson on the final day--and came back with less than 20% of their Second Class requirements signed off. Staff completely failed to teach the promised material.
Incompetent Medics Mocking Scout Injuries: The medical staff showed a complete lack of empathy and professionalism. When scouts went to the medic station with painful, deep wood splinters, the medics refused to treat them. Instead of helping, they mocked the kids and made highly inappropriate jokes about how they would have to "amputate their fingers." It is unacceptable for a medical team to treat youth injuries as a joke.
Overgrown Facilities & Fiesta Island Hand-Me-Downs: The camp looks abandoned, with overgrown grass untouched since the 1990s. The property is trapped in the past, featuring neglected troop plaques from the 1970s-1990s. The council clearly isn't investing money here; most of their gear comes as hand-me-downs from Camp Fiesta Island, including their operational plans and even the dining hall utensils.
The 0.3-Mile "Starvation Hike" & Toxic Yelling: Our campsite was at the bottom of a steep hill, forcing hungry, exhausted scouts to trek a grueling 0.3-mile uphill hike three times a day just to get to the dining hall. The reward was tiny, inadequate food portions that left growing teenagers starving. On top of that, the camp forces a culture where troops have to scream at the top of their lungs just to receive food. This was so excessive that the majority of our scouts completely lost their voices within the first two days.
Infested Restrooms, Unchecked Wildlife & Sleepless Nights: The infrastructure is a blatant health hazard. Latrines were heavily infested with wasps and hornets nesting right inside the stalls, putting scouts at constant risk of being stung. Wildlife goes unmonitored; we found a garden snake hanging out inside the bike shack completely unchecked. To cap it off, campsites are jammed next to stagnant ponds where the frogs are so deafeningly loud all night that getting any sleep was impossible.
The Bottom Line: Paying $590 should guarantee proper instruction, adequate food, and safety. Mataguay Scout Ranch feels like an expensive punishment. Save your troop the misery and do not choose this camp. read more