Girl Scouts lead Twilight Camp, build leadership skills in Los Alamos

Twilight Camp turned a familiar Girl Scout outing into hands-on leadership training for girls from Los Alamos, White Rock, Pojoaque and Española. Older Scouts in the Cadette, Senior and Ambassador levels did more than show up for the annual program: they chose the theme, pitched station ideas and wrote activity plans, giving the camp a built-in layer of youth-led instruction. Dee Morrison opened the gathering with a song session, a reminder that this local tradition is built as much on volunteer leadership as on entertainment.

The theme leaned into a modern cowgirl motif, and the activities were designed to build practical skills. Girls worked on knot tying, knife safety and whittling, lassoing and hobby horse racing, leather crafts, tin punch lanterns, target practice, Morse code and beading. The photos captured one of the clearest examples of that approach: a lassoing activity that gave participants a chance to practice an outdoor skill while learning by doing, not by watching.

That mix of ages matters in a county where families often move between Los Alamos, White Rock and nearby Rio Arriba communities for school, clubs and youth activities. Twilight Camp has long worked because older Scouts teach younger Scouts and volunteer adults keep the structure in place, so the event becomes more than a weeknight campout. It becomes a small regional bridge, one that gives younger girls a place to gain confidence and older girls a chance to speak, lead and organize in front of their peers.

The camp’s value shows up in that exchange of responsibility. Girls who take part are not just consuming an activity, they are helping shape it, and that makes Twilight Camp a useful part of the local youth calendar for families who want outdoor skills, public presentation experience and a sense of belonging across community lines. The same volunteer network that made this year’s camp work will be what keeps next year’s version alive for the families who return.