Parks Department: Campground at Former Girl Scout Camp Will Open This Winter

It looks like there will be camping at the former Nassau County Girl Scout Camp in Hampton Bays sooner rather than later — Patch has learned that the is already working on fixing up the Red Creek Road camp for low-impact, tent camping.

According to Christopher Bean, superintendent of the town’s Parks and Recreation Department, his department has allocated $20,000 to renovate existing structures at the 65-acre campground, including bathrooms and tent platforms. 

The department will also remove any large fallen trees.

“We are looking at having all the work done this fall,” said Bean.

Bean says that this winter, camping will be open to area Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops and by summer, it will be available to area residents.

A fee schedule for use of the park, said Bean, has not yet been set.  He also does not expect that the Peconic bayfront will be open to bathers.

“We have no plans to hire lifeguards,” he said.

The news has Hampton Bays Scoutmaster Allen Schneider excited.  He said low-impact camping on the property is something he has advocated for and has spoke to the town about in the past.

“Boy Scouts prefer to camp outside the normal season and there are not many options for us,” he said.

Schneider says in the winter his scouts usually camp at the Baiting Hollow Boy Scout Camp in Calverton or Suffolk County’s Indian Island campground in Riverhead.

“There are only so many times we can camp at Baiting Hollow. It would be great to camp somewhere close to home,” said Schneider.

And being so close to home, it is also a place that the scouts can take pride in, said Schneider, who said the scouts plan to help the parks department in their effort to renovate the camp sites.

Kyle Kratoville, of Flanders, who started a Facebook Page on Thursday that urges the community for support in on the property, said he was happy to hear that the town is working on opening the property for camping.

However, he said, there is so much more he would like to see happen at the site and plans to speak with Southampton Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst about his ideas.

“If the town is doing something at Camp Tekakwitha, why only go halfway? Let’s go all the way and do this right,” he said.

Kratoville said he would like to see the campground not only include camping, but also bike paths, kayaking rentals and volleyball courts.

The town purchased the camp for $16 million in 2007 using community preservation funds.