About Us

With a rich history of Scouting that dates back to 1916, the Golden Gate Area Council (GGAC) serves the Northern California Bay Area communities of San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, Lake and Solano Counties and supports more than 700 local packs, troops, teams and crews. The Golden Gate Area Council was formed in April 2020 by the merger of the San Francisco Bay Area Council, the Alameda Council and the Mt. Diablo Silverado Council. 

 

The Council Headquarters is located in Pleasanton, California near the 580 / 680 hwy junction with a satellite office in Alameda. The Golden Gate Area Council maintains five nationally accredited camps:  Camp Royaneh (Established 1925) – Located near Cazadero, CA along East Austin Creek and the oldest Scout Camp in California still in operation;   Camp Wolfeboro (Established in 1928) – Located east of Angels Camp, CA along the North Fork of the Stanislaus River in the Sierra Nevada Mountains;  Camp Herms (Established 1930) – Located at the top of the ridge in the hills above El Cerrito, CA;   Rancho Los Mochos (Established 1944) – Located in the hills south of Livermore, CA near Mendenhall Springs and Wente Scout Reservation (Established 1959) – Located in the hills east of Willits, CA with 2200 acres, the largest Scout property in California.

Rancho Los Mochos is located 18 miles south of the Northern California town of Livermore and 40 miles East of San Francisco. The 686 acre property was purchased by the Oakland Area Council in June 1944 following donations by the Automotive Machinists Union No. 1546, International Association of Machinists.

 

The camp was dedicated as a wilderness camp for the welfare of youth in the community, in memory of the members of the Automotive Machinists Union who gave their lives in our Country’s wars and to assure that future generations of youth the American Democratic heritage of opportunity and well-being the principles for which said members fought and made the supreme sacrifice.

 

Rancho Los Mochos has long been a popular week-end campsite for Troop Campouts, District Camporee’s, Cub Camping Connections, Wolf / Bear Weekend, National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT), Wood Badge, Order of the Arrow events and not just for the local Council, but for all councils of the Bay Area.

Venturing

Sea Scouts

Exploring

International

Highlander

Shooting Sport

STEM

Scouting for Food

Order of the Arrow

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