Prince William District 2025 Fall Camporee

September 26-28, 2025

Theme: Kon Tiki Race
Where: Silver Lake Regional Park, Haymarket, VA
Who: All Scouts, Venture Crews, Explorer Posts
What: Teams of Scouts build and race their own rafts on waterfront.  
Cost: $20/person for overnight camping ($30/person late registration after September 1); $10/Scout for Saturday only ($20/Scout late registration after September 1)

The "Kon-Tiki raft race", in the context of Scouting, is a patrol competition during which teams of Scouts build and race their own rafts. This competition is named after the famous "Kon-Tiki" expedition led by Thor Heyerdahl in 1947, when he crossed the Pacific Ocean on a balsa wood raft to prove that ancient South Americans could have reached Polynesia. Essentially, the race is a fun way to commemorate the challenges of Heyerdahl's voyage, focusing on scout teamwork, raft construction, and navigating open water.

The Scoutmaster of Troop 1369 introduced this event to our District in 2019, patterned on the annual event in his hometown which has been held since 1930.  Troop 1369 has held the event several times and has invited other Troops to participate, hoping to draw attention and establish this race as a Prince William District event. Prince William District will hold a Kon-Tiki Raft Race on 27 September 2025 at Silverlake Regional Park waterfront from 0900-1730. 

This Camporee is set up for Patrol Competition. Units may enter more than one raft, but each raft must be designed, constructed and crewed by members of the same Patrol or provisional patrol by the participating unit.  Other members of the Patrol and Unit are encouraged to attend the race and cheer for their raft(s). Units will camp at Silver Lake Regional Park in Haymarket, VA on 26-28 September 2025.

See the Leaders Guide for additional details.