Training Center FAQs

• Registered Scouters: Any registered member of Scouting America is eligible to attend the conferences. 
• Families: The PTC also offers programs for all members of the family, from infants to adults, while the Scouter is in conference. 
• Volunteers and Professionals: The training center focuses on providing leadership training for both volunteers and professionals within Scouting 

Yes, you can attend the Philmont Training Center even if you’re not participating in a traditional backpacking trek.  

Here are some of the ways you can participate in the Philmont Training Center: 

• Attend a Training Conference: The PTC hosts a variety of training conferences throughout the year, focused on different aspects of Scouting and leadership development. You can find courses for Cub Scout leaders, BSA alumni, commissioners, and more. 
• Participate in Family Adventure Camp programs: Philmont offers programs designed for families to experience fun activities together at the training center. 
• Experience activities through an Adventure Pass: The Adventure Pass grants access to pre-scheduled activities at the Training Center based on program availability, including evening programs. 
• Stay & Play: Stay at the Training Center as a registered Philmont crew arriving before or staying after their trek: This allows crews to acclimate to the altitude pre-trek or relax post-trek. 
• Attend Fall, Winter, and Spring Programs: The Philmont Training Center offers programs like Conferences, Philmont Leadership Challenge, Leave No Trace courses, and more outside the traditional summer trekking season. (include links to each of those pages/sections) 

Check in at PTC is 2:00 PM. 

There are a number of things that you can do: 

1. Tour the Villa Philmonté. Schedule your tour with the National Scouting Museum. 
2. Visit the National Scouting Museum. 
3. Visit Cimarron and enjoy galleries, museums, and shops. 
4. Visit the Tooth of Time Traders located at Camping Headquarters. 
5. Visit the National Scouting Museum. 
6. Visit Philmont’s Kit Carson Museum at Rayado (link to Museums/Kit Carson), located 7 miles south of PTC on Highway 21.  

Please contact the Training Center if you know you will be late to check-in. PTC staff will assist you in arrival and late check-in procedures. 

We have both wheelchair accessible terrace tents and a limited amount of ADA roofed housing. If you have special requests or questions, please contact the Training Center. Our Luxury Deluxe Tents are not ADA accessible. 

There is a shuttle bus that leaves from the Welcome Center at Camping Headquarters at specific times that goes back and forth to Cimarron, with a $5 per person round-trip fee. This service is only available during the summer months (June – August). 

Yes, we will do our best! Please specify your request if you and your spouse have separate registrations or use different last names. 

You are not able to pitch your own tent at the PTC during our summer program months. Special approval is required for a non-summer month program. 

If you have a participant in the National Advanced Youth Leadership Experience or Philmont Leadership Challenge, their check-in begins at 8:00am Sunday. Only families with one of these programs’ participants or an early arriving Philmont shuttle rider may arrive early to the Philmont Training Center. If you are planning or would like to arrive a day early, lodging is available in nearby Cimarron or you can use our overnight accommodation link to reserve housing and meals at PTC.. 

Yes, we do our best to keep families close to each other. Please specify any special requests in your registration information. 

Families staying in the Terrace Tents will need to bring their own bedding and linens for their stay unless a Bed-in-a-Box was rented during online registration. Families that choose to upgrade their housing to the Luxury Deluxe Tents, Lodge Rooms, or Villa Bungalows will have bedding and linens provided by Philmont.

Daily housekeeping services will not be provided in the upgraded luxury deluxe tents or roofed housing options for the duration of your stay. 

Refrigerators are available in the Tent City Offices for Terrace Tent and Deluxe Tent communal use; each roofed housing option has a private small refrigerator.

Parking is available at the Philmont Training Center for RV’s, campers, and trailers, but electrical, sewer or water hookups are not available, and no cooking is allowed within RV’s that are in the parking area.  Participants with RV’s will be assigned tents and are expected to reside in these tents throughout the week.  We ask that you do not utilize the tent electricity for your RV. There are two RV campgrounds in Cimarron if you wish to stay in your RV. 

It is $1.00 to wash a load of laundry.  $0.25 will dry a load of laundry for ten minutes, you can add additional quarters for an additional ten minutes of drying time. 

BSA Family Adventure Camp: Very often! BSA Family Adventure Camp is designed to have families experience programs together! In fact, for all Philmont Family Adventure Camp activities, minors (under 18 years old) must be accompanied by at least one adult family member 18 years or older. We strongly recommend you make group decisions as a family with the goal of participating together.

Conference Youth Program: You will be able to see your child(ren) in the morning before program, during lunch (11:30am – 1:30pm) and in the afternoons after program ends at 4:30pm. During Wednesday Family afternoons, your child(ren) will be with you to participate in a fun program for everyone to enjoy the afternoon together.

NAYLE: Youth in NAYLE will be in the backcountry beginning Sunday through their departing Saturday. You will not see your child during this time. 

The Philmont Training Center does not offer classes or special programs to earn merit badges. However, if you feel something your Scout has done could work towards a Merit Badge, we would be more than happy to provide information about what the Scout has done.

Note: It will be up to your Scoutmaster/Merit Badge Counselor to decide if a PTC experience can or will apply. 

Wilderness First Aid is not required to attend Philmont Training Center Programs. Our staff facilitating activities are trained in Wilderness First Aid.

The iconic Philmont Landmark will only be available as an adventure activity option for 2020 Family Adventure Camp Full-Week participants and NAYLE participants! BSA Medicals parts A, B, and C will be required for this hike, and children must be 6 years or older to participate.

All other programs are unable to hike the Tooth of Time however, other hikes are available during Wednesday afternoons for Conference Attendees, Conference Youth, Backcountry Sneak Peak, and PLC participants. 

Please Note: All PTC hikes are Philmont staff-led. Hiking in Philmont’s backcountry without a Philmont staff member is not allowed.

Yes, please see the specifications below: 

NAYLE: BSA Medical Parts A, B, and C (which requires a doctor’s signature and height/weight restrictions) are required for each participant involved in any backcountry experience that involves a Tooth of Time hike or spending the night in the backcountry.

PLC: BSA Medical Parts A, B, and C (which requires a doctor’s signature and height/weight restrictions) are required for each participant involved in any backcountry experience that involves a Tooth of Time hike or spending the night in the backcountry.

BSA Family Adventure Camp: Participants must have filled out and completed BSA Medical Form Parts A and B to participate in the Family Adventure program. Some program activities, like our day-long backcountry hikes, are strenuous, and families should discuss abilities before arriving to program – learn more about specific program requirements in the Family Adventure Guidebook. Full-Week participants wishing to do the Tooth Hike will need BSA Medical Part C (which requires a doctor’s signature and height/weight restrictions).

Conference Attendee: BSA Medical Form Parts A and B are required for all conference attendees. These groups have limited hiking and backcountry time.

Conference Youth: BSA Medical Form Parts A and B are required for all conference youth – Small Fry, Bandits, Mustangs, and Trailblazers. These groups have limited hiking and backcountry time.

Under no circumstance will any individual over 295 lbs. be allowed to participate in backcountry programs, regardless of height or age. This limit is necessary due to the limitations of rescue equipment and for the safety of Philmont personnel.