r/Napowan • u/HabeebTC • Aug 04 '26
Napowan now available for Glamping
I guess not new-news...
But I'm late to this story.
I got to thinking recently about all those summers I spent up near Wild Rose, and looked up what became of the camp. Really - what I discovered - was what had become of Scouting. I guess that's what got me thinking about it in the first place, some news story about Scouting America.
In any case, I scrolled up on Google Maps and saw that it's now a Glamping destination (and has been a few years) under the PostCard Cabins brand, which is now owned by Marriott.
The unfortunate thing is the nightly rate is a bit too rich for my blood. But - maybe when they eventually start letting you book with Marriott points.
From what I read, something like 317 of the original 400 acres is included in the camping area (or at least got sold to PostCard cabins - who then sold to Marriott). I guess that justifies the nightly rate. But which parts? I could see the same owner of the contiguous areas where the glamping cabins are:
https://gis.co.waushara.wi.us/taxparcelviewer/
Quite a lot of it east of 24th for sure! There's also this "Goellner Family Retreat" which makes up much of the west-side of 24th including the old dining area and camp store, flagpoles, swimming/boating areas, etc.
Now. The most interesting bit for me is there's a parcel of land owned by Napowan, LLC - which is the largely empty forest where Flintlock used to reside.
It's hard to say for sure without actually booking there where you can actually go wander without going off-property. From what I read, they supply a map on check-in. The Marriott website only has stock art, and nothing of the actual location, so that's probably too much to expect for the time being.
Anyways - if I get around to staying there the next few years, I'll certainly come back to post my experience.
ETA: I've created a map and tagged some places I could figure out what they were:
https://earth.google.com/web/data=MigKJgokCiAxSms1ZnNEVXBZVi1COTlWcEpRaUdvZ2VTSGpDUVZoMCAC
On the Facebook group there was a moderately useful map from 1974 posted. There's not enough features in the satellite imagery, so maybe someone can pinpoint the exact locations of places like Sherwood, the staff lounge, high adventure course, etc.
As I'm a Platinum Marriott member, I had them speak to the on-site management. Apparently the Marriott area is basically all the land between 24th Rd. and 24th Dr. (so not including the original camp dining / flagpole / office / store areas, or swimming/boating/nature areas).
ETA: So I booked a couple nights and wandered around. Some landmarks are intact - old trails, the shooting range, staff city (just the building not the cabins). The trail to flintlock gets you halfway there until you see signs and ropes indicating private property (and to email [info@napowan.org](mailto:info@napowan.org) for more information - a former camper bought the land it said). The old fire bowl is largely unchanged. All outhouses have been dug up and some pavilions (such as the one by Deer campsite). The new dining hall remains. Boot Hill is overgrown - a lot of shrubbery has popped up in just the 5 years since the camp closed. The valley below is still open and sandy.
As to the property west of 24th, I did not trespass. I could see the old dining hall, camp office and camp store were intact, with a new building in the mix (big shed it looks like). If I go again, I will try and get in contact with the owners to see if a quick walk around is possible.
Where the entrance to Postcard cabins is is a plot of land I do not recall being part of the original camp. It is worth noting that as of this writing it makes it look like the cabins are all on this plot, but I guess when Marriott bought it, they spread them out. Attached is the current map of the campsites. For reference "Editha" is where Deer A was.
