"Personally, I hope young people … know that there's fun to be had right in their backyard," Ranger Jacob Follin told Discovering Bulloch in October. He was talking about kids and fishing poles. The same goes for anyone in Sylvania putting together a Sunday school Christmas dinner, a family reunion or an office party this season. One of the nicest rooms in Screven County sits inside a Scout camp at 850 Poor Robin Road, and the camp rents it out by the day.
That camp is Black Creek Scout Reservation. The Coastal Georgia Council of Scouting America owns and runs it. The council's 2025 annual report puts it at 380 acres on Black Creek. Follin says it recently finished its 15th year of summer camp, which makes it the youngest Scouting America camp in the Southeast. It's open year-round, and besides Scout programs it hosts church events, family reunions and weddings. A lot of folks drive past it for years and never go in.
What Comes With The Key
The heart of the place is Reese Dining Hall, and the council books it in separate pieces.
- Reese Dining Room. This is the big room, seating 200. It has high ceilings, reclaimed hardwood floors, a large wood-burning fireplace and presentation equipment. The listing marks it handicap friendly.
- Reese Banquet Room. It seats 50 in a loft-style space inside the same building. It comes with a projector, drop-down screen, Apple TV and sound system. It also opens onto the hall's wraparound porch, which overlooks Eagle Lake, the camp's 40-acre lake.
- Dining Pavilion and Kitchen. This is an open-air pavilion with tables and chairs, and you can add the commercial-grade kitchen to it.
- Reese Dining Hall kitchen. The camp's catalog also lists the kitchen as its own rentable space.
One detail matters most when you're planning. Booking the Dining Room does not include the Banquet Room. If you want both, you book one of the combined options under "Packages." Both rooms run as day rentals, with check-in at 8 a.m. and check-out at 10 p.m. That's a long enough day to set up in the morning, eat at noon and still be out on the porch at dusk.
The rest of the camp tells you what kind of place you're renting into. The Black Creek catalog lists five tent campsites named Eagle, Falcon, Heron, Osprey and Owl, each with twenty canvas platform tents. It also lists a climbing wall, high and low COPE courses, a double zipline and shooting sports ranges. A holiday dinner here takes place in the middle of a working camp.
The Scouts Hold The Calendar First
The camp stays busy. Across its two camps, Black Creek and Camp Tolochee, the council's 2025 annual report counts more than 4,000 participants in 2024 and more than 400 days of use. Black Creek's summer camp grew for a third straight year, to more than 500 participants. November and December fill up the same way. Here's what the council has posted for Black Creek from now through early December:
| Date | Event at Black Creek | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, Nov. 6 | Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills | Registered Scout leaders |
| Friday, Nov. 6 to Sunday, Nov. 8 | Trail to Troop weekend | Webelos and Arrow of Light Scouts |
| Friday, Nov. 20 to Tuesday, Nov. 24 | BCSR Winter Camp, run as two sessions | Scouts, with meals included |
| Saturday, Dec. 5 | Cub Scout Christmas at Camp | Cub Scout families |
None of these are public events. They do mark the stretches when a big outside rental is least likely, so it makes sense to ask about the dates around them first. The weekend right after Winter Camp is also Thanksgiving weekend, with the holiday on Thursday, Nov. 26.
The Paperwork Runs On A Two-Week Clock
The council's reservation page says its camps are open to Scout units, community organizations and businesses. It describes its prices as "always reasonable." Here's the sequence it posts:
- Fill out the Reservation and User Agreement and sign the Coastal Georgia Council Camp Guidelines. Then submit both through the form on that page.
- For pricing, email the completed agreement to [email protected]. The council doesn't post a rate card.
- Have the complete reservation in at least 10 business days before your date.
- Once the reservation is confirmed, pay a deposit of $30 or 10 percent of total fees, whichever is higher.
- Pay the remaining balance three days before your date.
- If you cancel or change plans, call the council office at (912) 927-7272 within 24 hours. If you don't, you lose the full payment.
Ten business days is about two calendar weeks, and the holidays shorten that runway. Say you want a family supper on Saturday, Dec. 12, after the Screven County Chamber of Commerce's Story Book Christmas Extravaganza downtown from 3 to 7 p.m. Your paperwork should be done around the end of November, and Thanksgiving week takes a bite out of that stretch. Because the council quotes by email, plan an extra exchange of messages before anything is final.
Follin told Discovering Bulloch that money from nontraditional Scouting activities helps offset the camp's operating costs, which keeps costs lower for the young people in Scouting programs.
Sizing It Up Against The Room On Millen Highway
Most people in Sylvania already know the other big room in town. The Screven County Recreation Department rents out its community center at 1605 Millen Hwy. It works almost the opposite way from Black Creek. The rate is posted, the booking happens at the office counter, and the room is a plain, flexible hall.
| Reese Dining Room, Black Creek | SCRD Community Center | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 850 Poor Robin Road | 1605 Millen Hwy. |
| Seating | 200 | About 110 |
| Price | Quote by email | $250 per day, paid up front |
| How to book | Online agreement and signed guidelines, at least 10 business days out | Reservation form in person at the SCRD office |
| Kitchen | Rentable commercial-grade kitchen options | Large kitchen with two stoves and a refrigerator |
| Outdoor space | Wraparound porch over Eagle Lake, with the porch listed for the Banquet Room | Pavilion with picnic tables for the renter |
| Hours or access | 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. day rental | Key picked up beforehand and returned the next business day |
The SCRD fee schedule has a few lines that matter for a December party. A $100 key deposit is due at pickup and comes back if the key is returned and the building isn't damaged. Coming in the night before to set up or decorate costs $50. A second booking on a weekend runs $300 a day. Each outdoor inflatable is $50. The department's posting also says plainly that no wall or ceiling decorations are allowed. If your gathering depends on garland hung from the rafters, plan your decorating around that rule.
So the choice mostly comes down to your headcount and your timeline. A group of 60 that wants to book this week fits the Millen Highway building and its posted price. A group of 150, or anyone who wants a fireplace and a lake view, should start the Black Creek paperwork now.
The Lake Most People Only See From The Porch
Renting the hall gets you onto the porch. It doesn't get you onto the water. Follin told Discovering Bulloch that he hears one request regularly, which is that people want to fish at Black Creek. The camp isn't ordinarily open to the public for recreational fishing.
That request is what led to the inaugural Black Creek Outdoor Classic. It was announced for Saturday, Oct. 24, as a fundraiser with the Live Like Aiden Memorial Foundation, which focuses on outdoor education and safety for young people. The plan called for paddle craft and shore-fishing divisions for adults and youth, kayak and canoe rentals, and a $75 entry that included lunch. The tournament's registration page now lists it as suspended and gives no new date. For now, anyone who wants a line in Eagle Lake will have to watch for the next public event the council posts. The porch view comes with any Banquet Room booking, any day the calendar is open.
If you're planning a gathering this season and want a second opinion on which room fits your group, stop by and see us downtown. Between closings we spend a lot of time figuring out where Sylvania families can get together, and we're glad to share what we know. Southland Realty & Properties is here when you're ready to find your place in Southeast Georgia, whether you want to search listings or get a free home valuation.
