There are 13 Girl Scout councils serving California of which 8 have headquarters there.
Girl Scouts Arizona Cactus-Pine Council In California, serves a small portion of far eastern San Bernardino County in the south-east of the state. Headquarters: Phoenix, Arizona Website:
Girl Scouts of California's Central Coast This council was formed by the merger of Monterey and Tres Condados councils on October 1, 2007. It serves approximately 10,000 girls in Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Benito, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. Camps: • Arnaz Program Center was dedicated in 1982 and is located on 36 acres near Ojai Valley • Alisal Program Center features an after school program and is located in the
Salinas, California area
Girl Scouts of Central California South Girl Scouts of Central California South was formerly Girl Scouts Golden Valley Council before expansion and renaming in October 2008. It serves about 11,000 girls in Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera and Tulare Counties.
Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles The new council, "Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles", is a merger on December 1, 2008 of Angeles Girl Scout Council, Girl Scout Council of Greater Long Beach, Joshua Tree Council (southeastern portion), Mt. Wilson Vista Council, Spanish Trails Council, and San Fernando Valley Girl Scout Council. It serves nearly 45,000 girls and has over 22,000 volunteers.
Camps • Camp Mariposa in
Altadana • Montrose Program Center in
Montrose • San Gabriel Program Center in
San Gabriel, CA • El Potrero de la Cienega is in
Cleveland National Forest • Twin Valleys is near Wrightwood • La Casita Program Center near Claremont • Johnstone Program Center • Covina Program Center • Chino Program Center • Camp Lakota is nearly in
Los Padres National Forest • Camp Osito Rancho is in Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountain Range
Girl Scouts Heart of Central California Girl Scouts Heart of Central California (GSHCC) serves nearly 27,000 girls and 10,000 volunteers in 18 counties (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Mariposa, Merced, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tuolumne, Yolo, and Yuba). GSHCC was formed on June 1, 2007, by the merger of the old Muir Trail and Tierra del Oro councils. The main headquarters is in Sacramento with an additional office in Modesto. Both offices feature large meeting spaces for troops and community members, as well as interactive STEM centers that host weekly activities. Given the natural surrounding environment in the Northern Central Valley, this council has a large and historical presence in outdoor activities such as camping, stewardship, and backpacking. Residential camps: • Camp Menzies has near
Arnold in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The land was donated to the Girl Scouts in the 1940s by Charles Menzies, a Stockton businessman, who purchased the land in 1907 from a
Miwok tribe. • The camp features a wide variety of class summer camp activities, such as archery, horseback riding, overnight expeditions, swimming, canoeing, arts & crafts, and outdoor skill building. The camp is rustic, hilly, and features open-air mesh wall cabins for the campers. • Camp Golden Timbers is a volunteer-run, week-long summer camp located in
Pinecrest, Tuolumne County, California. • Camp Fleming is located on outside of
Placerville, California and is used for events such as volunteer run 'camporees', trainings (such as First Aid or backpacking skills), an annual Fall Festival, and various leadership opportunities for Girl Scouts and volunteers. It is
ADA accessible.
Girl Scouts of Northern California A new council formed by the merger of Konocti, San Francisco Bay Area, Santa Clara County, Sierra Cascade, and Napa-Solano councils on October 1, 2007. It serves over 50,000 girls in 19 counties (Alameda, Butte, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Mateo, Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama, and Trinity). Known for it annual "Golden Gate Bridging" where Junior Girl Scouts bridging to Cadette Girl Scouts walk across the
Golden Gate Bridge. This event was started in 1981 with one troop, but now has several thousand scouts involved each year, many of them from outside of the council. The council has also joined with
NASA Ames to have several Girl Scout robotics teams nicknamed
Space Cookies; including the 80 or so strong troop/team that competes in the
FIRST competition and another troop with multiple teams that participates in the
VEX competitions.
Camps • Camp Bothin is in a canyon in Marin county north of San Francisco. • Camp Butano Creek is located in old growth redwoods in San Mateo County next to
Butano State Park • The Cove is a wilderness camp near
Napa, California • Camp Deer Lake is a high adventure camp located at in
Tahoe National Forest (Closed) • Camp Sugar Pine is located in
Calaveras County, California in the Sierra Nevada foothills • Twin Canyon is in the East Bay hills near to
Briones Regional Park • Camp Two Sentinels, located at on Lake Kirkwood in Eldorado National Forest Two Sentinels Girl Scout Camp - Home • Skylark Ranch on the Pacific coast north of Santa Cruz and near to
Año Nuevo State Reserve. • Hidden Falls has in the redwood forests of the
Santa Cruz Mountains.
Camp Bothin Camp Bothin officially known as the Bothin Youth Center, is a
Girl Scout summer camp. Since 1948 it has been located in
Marin County, California. The site is managed by Girl Scouts of Northern California and supported mostly through private foundation grants and individual donations.
Convalescent home In 1905 Camp Bothin was established as "Hill Farm", a
convalescent home for women and children, near
Fairfax, California, on property then owned by
Henry E. Bothin. Before
antibiotics, medicine had few treatments other than rest and good food for many illnesses, especially
tuberculosis (TB). The patients were initially housed in an old farmhouse. Normally, Hill Farm was home to 30 patients, but during the summer the mild climate allowed as many as 60, who were housed in tents and slept on cots. During this time, Miss Elizabeth H. Ashe was director. In 1910, the officers formed the corporation named Bothin Convalescent Home for Women and Children. Mr. Bothin deeded of land to this corporation. The old farm house was torn down and a rustic building, now known as Manor House, was erected that could accommodate 40 patients. It had deep sleeping porches (fresh air was considered important for TB patients) and an outdoor
dining room. That same year the Arequipa
Sanatorium, directed by Dr. Philip King Brown, was opened to serve women in the first stages of TB. At the time, the only known treatment was rest and good nutrition, in the hopes that the lungs could recover and heal. The name
Arequipa, taken from a
city in Peru, was said to be a
Native American word signifying 'place of rest.' Following the
1906 San Francisco earthquake, dust- and ash-filled air had contributed to a tuberculosis
epidemic in San Francisco. With the help of local artists and members of the area's
philanthropic community, Dr. Brown introduced therapeutic
handcrafts to the women, to combat idleness and avoid the stigma of charity. The hospital hired potter
Frederick Hurten Rhead to teach patients and develop a pottery studio. Work from the
Arequipa pottery is now highly prized among
collectors. In 1913 Rhead was dismissed for not being sufficiently businesslike, as he led his students to experiment with glazes and techniques, and tried to get the best materials for them. His successor at the pottery was directed to reduce production costs. In 1917, the Bothin Helping Fund was incorporated. This organization, now known as the
Bothin Foundation, was responsible for raising the $30,000 needed to build Stone House. It was here that professional and business women could come to rest and recuperate after illness. As treatment methods for TB changed, the need for the Bothin Convalescent Hospital was reduced. The Bothin property was abandoned from 1922 to 1940.
Girl Scout camp In 1948, Miss Ashe offered a small building now known as Little House to the San Francisco Girl Scouts for troop camping. A few years later she made Manor House available for Girl Scout use, and by 1955 the entire Bothin property was offered to the Council for its use. The Girl Scouts developed the property as a camp, and added a swimming pool. They changed the name to the Henry E. Bothin Youth Center. In the 1950s, Arequipa was closed as a hospital. In 1959 the property was leased to the Girl Scouts. By 1963 both sides of the property began to operate as the Henry E. Bothin Youth Center.
Timeline ;1905:Hill Farm convalescent home for children opened by Henry E. Bothin ;1910: • Bothin Convalescent Home Board founded and is deeded. • Manor House built. • Arequipa built. ;1917: Bothin Helping Fund was incorporated to distribute funds under the terms of H. Bothin. ;1919: Stone House completed. ;1922–1940: Bothin was abandoned. ;1948:Use of Little House and Bothin property was offered to Girl Scouts. ;1948–1953: During this time, 181 troops, representing 2221 Girl Scouts and 556 leaders, made use of Bothin. ;1954: Severely crippled and intellectually disabled Girl Scouts attend camp sessions. ;1955: • Use of Bothin offered to Girl Scout for at least 10 years. • Name changed to Henry E. Bothin Youth Center. ;1959: Use of Arequipa offered to Marin Girl Scout Council. ;1963: Entire property becomes Henry E. Bothin Youth Center.
Girl Scouts of Orange County The council serves nearly 18,000 girls and 12,000 adult volunteers representing every zip code in Orange County (OC). Council offices are located in Irvine, CA.
Properties The Argyros Girl Scout Leadership Center (GSLC) located in Newport Beach is Orange County’s hub for Girl Scout STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) programs. Visits to the GSLC provide OC Girl Scouts various opportunities to practice leadership the Girl Scout way as they explore 21st Century careers and learn how they can take action to make the world a better place. In addition to The Argyros Girl Scout Leadership Center, Camp Scherman, and Council Office, Girl Scouts of Orange County operates 4 program centers, located in Anaheim, Laguna Beach, Yorba Linda, and Seal Beach. Beginning in the fall of 2020 Girl Scouts of Orange County began operating two new Girl Scout Activity Centers located in the Brea Mall and the Shops at Mission Viejo.
Camps •
Camp Joe Scherman Girl Scouts San Diego The council serves about 35,000 members in San Diego and Imperial counties. Girl Scouts San Diego operates three services centers, based in the city of
San Diego, the city of
Escondido, and
Imperial Valley. The local camps are Camps Winacka and Whispering Oaks both in the
Cuyamaca Mountains near
Julian. Winacka has with two small lakes. Whispering Oaks has .
Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council This council serves more than 10,000 girls in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Council camps are Camp Azalea Trails with high in the
San Jacinto Mountains near
Idyllwild and Camp WiWoCa in
Yucaipa.
Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada In California it serves girls in southern Inyo country.
Girl Scouts of The Sierra Nevada This council serves 4,500 girls and 2,000 volunteers in northern Nevada and northeast California Camps: • Camp Wasiu II was founded in 1988 and is located on 45 acres near
Sierra City, California ==International Scouting units in California==