Starting this spring Detroit’s youth can camp overnight at Scout Hollow in Rouge Park, so get those sleeping bags, tents and lanterns ready to go.

Detroit’s only campground has been closed for a decade and has been overrun by tall grass, deer and wild turkeys. Now, thanks to a $200,000 grant from The Kresge Foundation, the 17.4-acre site will reopen. Camping will be coordinated by Detroit Outdoors, a collaboration between the City of Detroit’s Parks and Recreation Department,  Sierra Club and YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit.

The partners believe reopening of Scout Hollow could bring a thousand campers to the park annually within three years. They expect about 250 this year.

The grant will allow Detroit Outdoors to renovate the area with designated campsites to accommodate large groups.

Worried about camp gear? No need. The grant also stocks a “library” of camping gear – from sleeping bags to tents – groups can borrow.

“Providing access to safe recreational opportunities in our parks and green spaces is a key component to revitalizing and reimagining neighborhood life in Detroit. Connecting to nature anchors our souls at any age, but this is particularly important in the formative years of youth,” says Wendy L. Jackson, managing director of Kresge’s Detroit Program, which is funding the Scout Hollow renovations.

Detroit Outdoors will conduct camping leadership training for educators and youth development professionals as a requirement for use of the facility.

Scout Hollow covers more than 17.4 acres of mostly forest with a five-acre meadow. There are three camping sites that will accommodate up to 30 campers each.

While open to all youth-serving organizations, the Scout Hollow campground will be primarily focused on supporting groups from Detroit and surrounding communities.

“We know firsthand that camping not only offers outdoor adventures but also teaches us to slow down. Camping helps us appreciate and respect our environment, and it provides the opportunity to learn new skills,” says Scott Landry, metro YMCA president and CEO. “Scout Hollow will connect kids in Detroit with the out of doors that exists within their city.”

The Sierra Club is supporting Detroit Outdoors with a $20,000 grant and has been working with Friends of Rouge Park for several years. Scout Hollow offers a way for communities to connect with nature in an urban environment.

“Rouge Park neighbors – and others across Detroit and surrounding suburbs – have an important relationship with this park that we are working to strengthen,” says Jackie Ostfeld, associate director of the Sierra Club Outdoors Campaign. “This will introduce camping under the stars to young Detroiters who might not otherwise have that opportunity.”

Organizations that send a leader through the YMCA training cab reserve campsites and use the gear library.

“The only things boys and girls will need to bring will be their personal clothes and a curiosity for the great outdoors,” says Landry.

At roughly 1,200 acres, Rouge Park is larger than Belle Isle (982 acres and New York’s Central Park (843 acres).

— Top photo: Detroit Outdoors Program Manager Garrett Dempsey and Detroit Parks and Recreation staffer Jaclyn Kyle at the Scout Hollow campgrounds in Detroit’s Rouge Park. Photo by Noah Morrison.

  Central Park, Detroit’s Parks and Recreation Department, Friends of Rouge Park, Kresge’s Detroit program, overnight camping in Detroit, Rouge Park, Sierra Club, Sierra Club Outdoors Campaign, YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit