Information for Lawhorn Scouting Base
Camp Thunder (Scout-owned)


Camp address Contact Information
1166 Dripping Rock Road
Molena, GA 30258

Forecast for this area (at weather.com) 		Flint River Council
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    Lat: 32.9645737 , Lon: -84.4977007
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    Comments for Lawhorn Scouting Base
    Camp Thunder

    Good program, good staff, food service not a high point


    (posted on Jul 12,2000)

    Very good facility, new tents, nice, helpful staff. Food service was better this year than last.


    (posted on Jul 18,2001)

    Thunder Scout Reservation includes both the Gerald I. Lawhorn Canoe Base and Camp Thunder. To just look on a map you would be shocked at the location. There is a steep gorge along the Flint River with rock outcropings and (at least to Florida folks) Mountains. This area of the Flint has several rare & endangered species of mollusks and plant life as well as ancient Indian historical sites.

    The camp has a full time year round staff and conducts its own reservations from its reservation office on the 2100 acre facility.

    The camp has many wonderful and unique programs. They have a serious Camp Trading Post that is open year round and would rival most scout shops (plus it has a lot of stuff you are likely never to find in a Scout Shop).

    The camp is supported by a dedicated group of volunteers and a stong Camping Committee.

    I HIGHLY recommend Thunder Scout Reservation not only for summer camp but as an off season activity.

    "BIG ED" Henderson (BigEd@USscouts.org)
    Past Program Director, Business Manager, Chaplain, Fine Arts & Technology Director, Winter Camp Staff, & Medic
    Summer of 1979, 80, 81, 82, 83, 87, 88, 89, 91, 94, 95, 96, & Winter of 1999



    (posted on Sep 26,2001)

    Camp was excellent this year. Faciliities were very good with constant improvements being made. Food service was much improved. Merti Badges offered gave a full range of activities. High Adventure program including out of camp programs are underutilized. Good value for dollars spent.


    (posted on Oct 14,2001)

    Just got the new 2002 Leader's Guide...or I should say CD-ROM. Thunder Scout Reservation is always on the cutting edge. I love this - in fact we burned CD's to give to each parent for our trip there this summer so everyone could watch the Camp Promo Video on their own PC at home. (It is an MPEG right on the CD.

    Our home council is still fooling around with their print guide for the camp - they now say it won't be out till February! These guys have their act together - that is why we go out of state for this beautiful, cool camp in the Pine Mountains of Georgia. This is ione camp that can keep our older scouts coming back each year.


    (posted on Jan 11,2002)

    Our Troop just spent a fantastic week at Camp Thunder. The staff has been well selected and trained. None of our scouts wanted leave at the end of the week---thats a great sign!!!

    Camp Thunder has new tents, showers in every camp combined with a well organized staff to run things.

    Food is good, the programs are geat, new scouts will get great training---check out the Buckskin program. Older scouts can't get enough of the high adventure, really a quality camp.

    Scoutmaster Troop 164


    (posted on Aug 8,2002)

    Just got back from Winter Camp at great Camp Thunder. Have to say that those guys are a class act. Where else would you find a great staff, good food and great times in the middle of winter. Kudos to Camp Thunder!!!! We will see you in summer. T-!^!


    (posted on Feb 2,2004)

    Just spent the week there. Others say all new tents, but it must be luck of the draw because ours were deplorable. All ripped and full of spiders. Mosquitos were moderate so bring nets to sleep under. The covered pavillion for each site with head and private showers with hot water was awesome. Our head however went out of service twice while we were there requiring use of very sub-par alternative. The food was fairly bad and haphazard. In serious need of a nutritionist review. (Who eats chicken fried steak for breakfast?) Even the old faithful standby of PB&J when all else fails was bad (was that bread or what?) Thank goodness for the salad bar and the a/c.

    We all felt many of the councilors were too young and unsupervised. Most were completly uninterested and it showed to the scouts. The lake is the worst. It is small, nasty, and scummy. One scout returned home with a staff infection and an adult got some sort of parasite problem.

    All of this relates to the Camp Thunder. The high adventure canoe base is a different story. It is apparent they put all of their money and attention to this place. It is awesome and the part of the troop who went there were estatic over their experience.


    (posted on Jul 30,2004)

    Just returned from Summer Camp 2006. Our Troop went there last year as well. The best camp our boys have attended. Very knowledgable staff, motivated youth directors, excellent campsites, food service needs little improvement. Great year-round facility.

    Committee Chair
    Troop 420
    Ludowici, GA



    (posted on Oct 5,2006)

    The Camp now sits on 2600 acres of wilderness.

    All campsites have very nice tents except 3 which have primitive cabins or adirondacks.

    The camp is currently in the middle of a facilities upgrade. The kitchen is experiencing a large upgrade. They have a new Rifle and Shotgun Range, and will soon have a 50-100 yard black powder/pistol/high-power rifle range for Venturers, an new Archery Range. In the near future, the water front will be redone with a bigger pavilion for instruction, bigger dock area, and shower facilities.

    All campsites have a covered shelter in each campsite. Currently 3 do not have electric lights in the shelter, the other sites have a roofed and are electrically wired. All sites have hot water showers in the camp sites (very nice!)
    Be prepared that if you come as a small troop that you will likely be sharing a site with another troop, but 90% of these troops from a lasting bond, and I know of several that go on trips together. Campsites vary in capacity, but all tents are in good shape, they are not the standard BSA Camp Tent. They are larger and nicer. In my all my years camping there have never gotten wet in one. At the beginning of Summer 2007 every tent got a brand new mattress.

    Campsites are not concentrated in one area, but scattered around the camp. The result is every campsite is close to something, and you don't have to trek for 20 minutes to get to your campsite.

    Program:
    Merit Badge Program is second to none. A young, but knowledgeable staff gives very personal attention to each scout. Shooting Sports and Nature Programs definitely top the charts.
    Eagle Trail/Humanities is an excellent program, but is very restrictive due to time limits of summer camp. Please only put your kids in one class of Eagle Trail/Humanities , they will be sitting all day otherwise, and will not enjoy camp as much, instructor give lots of homework to keep on schedule multiple classes in this area will over burden your scouts.
    Buckskin Program is a very beneficial program. for first year scouts. The program is a day long program. Scouts are placed in a patrol and will learn all their material with a Buckskin Guide. Scouts learn almost every requirement for Tenderfoot-First Class and Totin and Fireman Chit. They also get First Aid and Swimming Merit Badge. All scouts including Buckskins have the option to do several evening merit badges: Fingerprinting, Basketry, and Nature. If the Buckskins do this they have most of their other requirements and 5 merit badges, not bad for a week of camp.

    Specialty programs are great:
    Mountain Man is the newest. Older scouts leave main camp on Monday and stay several miles away in the middle of the back country. There they cook their own food over coals and with dutch ovens. They learn about trapping, flint napping, tomahawk throwing, knife making (they get to make a really nice knife), tanning, black powder rifle, cabin construction, and many other primitive skills. The Director and Staff of this program layout the program for the kids the first day and they pick what they want to do. If they want to fish they fish. They don't run on a set schedule. They sleep when they are tired and eat when they are hungry. Best food in the camp is served at Mountain Man. Well worth the extra money this program costs. Scouts return on Thursday afternoon and do activities in camp on Friday.

    High Adventure: Best in the South, and maybe the nation. Camp has not 1 not 2 but 4 climbing towers. Ranging from 20 feet to 65 feet tall. The tallest tower has a 60 foot high 450 foot long zip line. Has a gorgeous natural rock face along the river and an indoor climbing room for inclement weather.

    Has one of the largest COPE Courses anywhere. Unlike most camps that have the COPE course in an open area, the new course at Thunder is intertwined in the forest canopy providing shade.

    The camp also accesses 65 miles of the Flint River for canoing. About 3-4 miles of this is along the camp property.

    Along with the on site high adventure programs they offer several off-site programs, they have some package deals, but offer a very unique build your own adventure program. You can do some of everything, or all of something.
    Activities include Caving, Canoing, Rock Climbing, Whitewater Rafting, Backpacking, Sailing (25' boat)

    Over and under is the most popular. Includes caving, climbing, whitewater, and more.

    Paddles and Sails is another which includes 3 days of Canoing on the Chattahoochee of Flint and 2 days of Sailing in a 25 foot sail boat on West Point Lake.

    Add-a-trips:
    You can add these to a week of summer camp for a extra fee. Most of these are in the evening, but a couple are during lunch, and the rafting is all day. Here they are:

    Whitewater Rafting on the Ocoee
    Thursday Thunder (Legends Car Racing at the Atlanta Motor Speedway)
    Stone Mountain: Laser and Fireworks show, and a gorgeous park.
    FDR: Trip to FDR's Little White House in Warm Springs, the historic pools for polio treatment, and a trip to the Bullock House for an old-fashioned southern meal (excellent biscuits and fried chicken)
    Canoe and Climbing on Saturdays

    I have been going there for years and have been to several other camps, and none of them compare to Thunder in every way. Other camps are bigger, have nicer facilities, but all fail to give you the personal feel that Camp Thunder does. Camps in North Georgia have twice as many campers per week, but Thunder exchanges quantity for quality.

    The camp literally has everything. Check it out for this summer if you haven't made a reservation.


    (posted on Mar 26,2008)

    We spent the week of June 11th in Camp Thunder. The staff is awesome and the boys completed a majority of the merit badges that they signed up for. The scout masters lodge was clean, cold and quite. The senior administrators worked very hard to correct any issues that arose. The only thing that was a drawback was the food, we had 2nd seating and our food was always luke warm. There was also usually not enough left to provide a quality meal to the boys. Other then that I would recommend this camp as the staff and location more then made up for the few shortcomings.
    J. Cotton
    ASM
    Troop 492
    Pembroke Pines, FL


    (posted on Jul 7,2011)

    My troop just returned from Camp Thunder. We went for the 2nd week and had a great time. The boys loved the whole experience except for the spiders. The food was alright. However, they had seconds at every meal. It appeared that every path led up. But, it wsa great for the boys endurance. We took 11 boys, 8 which were 12 years old or younger and they all had a blast. Scoutmaster Specifics training was great. They also appear to have a great high adventure program which they are expanding. Climbing towers look amazing. We hope to come back here sometime in the future.

    Tom Fretch
    Scoutmaster, Troop 584
    Miami, FL


    (posted on Jul 2,2012)

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