Programs for Individuals
Not everyone can attend Northern Tier with their Troop or Venturing Crew, but there are still a wide variety of opportunities for individual Scouts and Venturers to get to the Northwoods. Northern Tier has designed several individual programs, some offering special challenges for personal growth.
Opportunities include: an award-winning Order of the Arrow Program, which combines the service work of trail building with a High Adventure experience; Forest Corps, an environmental education and leadership development program for young men and women; and Lone Voyageur, a provisional program designed to combine small groups and individuals from around the country into a normal Northern Tier Crew
Order of the Arrow Wilderness Voyage and Canadian Odyssey
The Order of the Arrow Wilderness Voyage program is an experience like no other. For two weeks, you will join together with Arrowmen from around the country and experience all that the Border Lakes region of Northern Minnesota and Ontario has to offer.
The first week of the program is spent giving back to the Canoe Country region through portage trail restoration work. Participants have an opportunity to leave a mark on the Border Lake region that will enable millions of visitors each year to better enjoy their experience. Trail work involves restoring and protecting trails that have existed for centuries and are in dire need of repair.
The second part of the program is a trek planned by the crew. From the 8 1/2-mile "Grand Portage" leading to Lake Superior, to the Height of Land, even the pictographs on Fishdance Lake, crews have done and seen all in the boundary waters. The Wilderness Voyage program works and travels in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) while the Canadian Odyssey Program works and travels through Quetico Provincial Park
Click the button below to travel to the Order of the Arrow's official High Adventure Program website to find out more about these opportunities.
Forest Corps
Forest Corps is a two week leadership training course for outdoor enthusiasts. The course consists of ten days of canoeing and camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) and includes training in conservation, Leave No Trace (LNT), field science and outdoor education. Forest Corps is physically and mentally intense, fun and rewarding. Each Forest Corps crew is composed of two Instructors and 4 to 7 students from across the nation. As a group, the crew will prepare and design an itinerary based on the goals and experience of each member. Participants can expect to achieve skills and certifications leading to rank advancement and award requirement completion in topics like ecology, US Forest Service management and LNT Trainer status.
Each crew will have a male and female instructor. In addition to advanced first aid and camping skills, Forest Corps Instructors are highly trained and experienced experts in multiple fields of study from outdoor education and ethics to natural sciences. Instructors will be a resource for support and feedback. Participants will lead the activities and teach the lessons.
Forest Corps incorporates education into all aspect of the program through real hands-on experience. Local examples of nature, living history and land use are used as models to understand the ideology and problem solving techniques behind current wilderness ethics, policies and practices. Participants can take what they learn in Forest Corps and apply it in any environment.
Two Forest Corps sessions will be offered during the 2013 summer: Session 1 is June 24 - July 7 and Session 2 is July 15-July 28. The cost is $436/participant for each session.
Click to download a Forest Corps application and fact sheet.
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Lone Voyageur
Want to attend Northern Tier but your Troop or Venturing Crew can't make it this year? No problem. The Lone Voyageur program allows Boy Scouts (at least 13 years of age) and Venturers to attend Northern Tier as part of a provisional crew.
Offered out of the Charles L. Sommers Wilderness Canoe Base, this adventure costs just $484 per person. Three Lone Voyageur Trips will be offered during Summer 2013: June 12 - June 18, June 18 - June 24, and July 9 - July 15.
If those dates do not work for you and you are interested in the Lone Voyaguer program, please contact Northern Tier and we will do our best to accomodate you.
