If you have landed here searching for “boy scouts near me”, you are probably a parent with a boy somewhere between ten and fifteen, a vague sense that scouting would be good for him, and no idea how any of it works. This page is the plain answer.
It is written by BSA Troop 199, which has met in Fishers since 1993. We would obviously like you to visit us. But the questions below are answered honestly whether you do or not, including the one about the other troops in town.
BSA Troop 199, Fishers
The questions parents actually ask
What is the difference between Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts?
Cub Scouts is for younger children and is run by adults, with families taking part alongside them. Scouts BSA — what most people still call Boy Scouts — is for ages 11 to 17 and is run by the young people themselves.
At Troop 199 the Scouts elect their own leaders twice a year and the Patrol Leaders Council plans the programme. The adults train them, keep them safe and then get out of the way. It is the point of the whole thing: a boy who has led a patrol of his peers through a wet weekend has learned something a classroom cannot teach.
What age can a boy join a Boy Scout troop in Indiana?
Boys join Scouts BSA at 11, or at 10 if they have finished fifth grade or earned the Arrow of Light in Cub Scouts. They can stay until their 18th birthday.
There is no Cub Scout requirement. Plenty of Troop 199 Scouts arrive at 12, 13 or 14 having never camped in their lives.
Is it too late for my son to join?
Almost certainly not. Scouts who join later still get the camping, the friendships and the leadership — and many still reach Eagle, though the older a boy starts the tighter that timetable gets.
If Eagle is the goal, the honest answer is that starting at 16 makes it hard and starting at 11 makes it comfortable. Come and talk to the Scoutmaster about it rather than guessing.
Which Boy Scout troops are in Fishers, Indiana?
There are several troops in Fishers, all part of the Monon District of the Crossroads of America Council. Troop 199 is one of them: chartered by Legacy Bible Church, meeting Tuesday evenings, founded in 1993.
The official BSA unit finder at beascout.scouting.org lists every troop near a given postcode, including ours. Troops differ a lot in size, in how much they camp and in how much the Scouts run things, so it is worth visiting more than one.
How much does Boy Scouts cost?
There are three parts: the national BSA registration fee, annual troop dues, and the cost of each campout, which is billed per trip.
Dues cover registration, advancement awards and troop gear. Fundraising opportunities are available to offset the cost, and no Scout is turned away from Troop 199 for financial reasons — ask the Treasurer, and it is handled quietly.
Do we need camping gear before we start?
No. Come to a meeting with nothing at all. Gear is gathered over the first few months, and the troop has a packing video showing exactly what is needed and what is not, so nobody spends money on the wrong sleeping bag.
Food is never something a Scout brings — patrols shop and cook for themselves on every campout.
How do I visit a troop meeting?
Turn up. Troop 199 meets Tuesdays from 7:00–8:30 PM at Legacy Bible Church, 13490 Howe Rd, Fishers. Visiting is free, there is nothing to sign, and nobody will follow up with a sales call.
Parents are welcome to stay and watch the whole meeting. Most families visit two or three times, come along on an outing as a guest, and only then decide.
What does a year in the troop actually look like?
Meetings every Tuesday. A campout roughly every third weekend, every month of the year — including the cold ones. A week at summer camp after the Fourth of July. Courts of honor, service projects and Eagle projects through the year.
Highlights include Survivorman, where patrols sleep under a tarp they pitched themselves, Via Ferrata climbing at Red River Gorge, and the Winter Camporee against the rest of the district.
Fishers, and everywhere within a short drive
Troop 199 draws Scouts from Fishers, Carmel, Noblesville, Fortville and the communities around them. Howe Road sits on the eastern edge of Fishers by Geist Reservoir, which puts it within an easy weeknight drive of most of southern Hamilton County and the north-east side of Indianapolis.
- FishersHome. Meetings are on the Geist side of town.
- GeistMinutes away — the church is just off the reservoir.
- McCordsvilleA short hop east on 113th and Olio.
- FortvilleAround fifteen minutes north-east.
- NoblesvilleFifteen to twenty minutes up the road.
- LawrenceStraight down Olio and Fall Creek.
- CarmelAbout twenty-five minutes west.
- WestfieldHalf an hour, via 146th Street.
- Indianapolis (north-east)Roughly half an hour.
How to pick one — including if it isn’t us
Fishers has several Scouts BSA troops and they are genuinely different from one another. Some camp four times a year and some camp twelve. Some are adult-run and some are Scout-run. Some have thirty Scouts and some have a hundred. None of that shows up on a website, which is why the only sensible way to choose is to walk into two or three meetings and watch.
Three things worth asking whichever troop you visit: how many nights did the Scouts camp last year, who planned this evening’s meeting, and how many of the boys in the room have been here more than three years. The answers tell you nearly everything.
The official BSA unit finder lists every troop near a given postcode, ours included, with its meeting times and a contact. If a different troop turns out to be the right home for your son, that is a good outcome — the aim is that he is in scouting somewhere.