A 214-sq-mile adventure camp for the Boy Scouts of America, the ranch complex is also home to four unique museums. The new National Scouting Museum, which spotlights the history of the 110-year-old organization, is open year-round. There is also a visitor center and a gift shop here. The Villa Philmonte, the Kit Carson and the Chase Ranch museums are open at various times in warmer months. Check the website for specific dates. There's also an awesome year-round outdoors store on-site.
The nearby Villa Philmonte, a Spanish Mediterranean–style house, was the summer home of Waite Phillips, of Phillips 66 Oil, and his wife Genevieve. Phillips donated the land for the development of the Boy Scout camp in 1938 and 1941. The house is open by tour; make a reservation at the visitor center beforehand. Staff reenact life in 1850s New Mexico at the Kit Carson Museum 7 miles south of camp in Rayado. The famed trapper lived in a hacienda here in 1849. Chase Ranch is an 1869 adobe ranch house.
Admission to all museums is free.
