Editing Scouting in Connecticut (section)

======Camp Cherokee&nbsp;– Lake of Isles Scout Reservation======
Camp Cherokee opened in 1970. This camp was designated an "Explorer Base" at first and featured patrol cooking with a central commissary. However, the designation as an Explorer Base quickly disappeared, as Exploring became more vocationally oriented in the early 1970s, especially in Connecticut with its Police Explorer Posts. Camp Cherokee was the only camp opened on the eastern shores of Lake of Isles, which had been formed by damming a small stream. The original channel ran through the Camp Cherokee waterfront, making the drop-off between the non-swimmers' area and the beginners' area huge.

At Camp Cherokee, campsites were further subdivided into patrol sites. Each patrol site had a sheepherders stove and wall tents on wooden platforms with bunks and mattresses provided. Scouts would have to make the trek to the commissary three times a day to pick up food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and then cook it themselves. This was the logical camp in the council to hold Youth Leader Training, whether it was called JLTC, TLD or TLTC, as it had the patrol cooking arrangements. There were six troop sites throughout Camp Cherokee's history: Sassafrass Hill, Timbertrails, Haven, Wilderness, Tunxis and Pyquag.

Camp Cherokee had all the usual program features for Scouting: a nature area, a waterfront, a place to practice scoutcraft, a rifle range and an archery range. The lower part of the camp, along the Lake of Isles shoreline, included the campsite Tunxis, the nature area and the waterfront. It was a steep climb up to the rest of the camp, which included the trading post/camp office and commissary and the other five campsites. Some needed amenities were provided at the Reservation level, such as a health lodge and lodging for families of married staff.

From 1970 until 1978, Camp Cherokee was open the same weeks as the other camps, which allowed some friendly competition between camps on opposite sides of the lake, reaching from softball games to a tug of war. Most popular was a battle between "war canoes", where two 12-plus person canoes, representing each camp, headed out on the lake, determined to swamp each other by splashing water into the opponents' canoe. Another favorite activity was to out-shout the other camp during campwide campfires on Sunday evening and Friday evening.

In 1979 and 1980, with continuing declining attendance, Camp Cherokee was open for only three weeks, followed by Camp Pequot for the next three weeks. This allowed the same staff to be hired for both camps. By 1981, Camp Cherokee's patrol cooking operation was moved to Camp Pequot. Thus, despite being the most modern facility on the Reservation, Camp Cherokee was closed for good as a Boy Scout summer camp.