Camp Glen Gray

UPDATE:
The property was purchased by the county, which then along with the Friends of Glen Gray, a non-profit, formulated a proposal for the Bergen County Parks system that provided the preservation of all the historic resources and the continued use of its facilities.

DESCRIPTION:
Nestled in the Ramapo Mountains, Camp Glen Gray has been a Boy Scout camp since 1917. It is among the oldest scouting camps in the nation. The hilly 800-acre site features wooded terrain, a beautiful lake in what amounts to a natural amphitheater, and well-preserved Adirondack-style camp buildings from the 1920s.

Because the recently consolidated Northern New Jersey Scouting Council has more camps than it needs, it has begun exploring the sale of Glen Gray whose deed is less encumbered than many of the Council’s other camps. One possible plan involves a land trust, but this would not necessarily lead to the preservation of the camp’s buildings. Moreover, there are developers eager to bid on this large undeveloped tract of Bergen County real estate. Their offers will undoubtedly top what a land trust could raise for this rare prize.

Camp Glen Gray needs a tenant who will continue to use the property for overnight camping. A religious organization has approached the Boy Scouts to explore the possibility of buying the camp, and a group of former Glen Gray campers has made an informal offer to purchase the property on the condition that the Scouting Council lease it back. It is anybody’s guess whether any of these plans will prevail.

CONTACT:
Robert Cuniffe, Friends of Camp Glen Gray,
36 Eagle Rock Way,
Montclair, NJ 07042
973-912-2473
www.glengray.org