Northern Tier offers mostly wilderness canoe trips, although other activities such as cold weather camping exist as well.

[3] The main part of the ranch, formerly the property of oil baron Waite Phillips, was donated to the Scouting organization in 1938.

[4] Along with other donations and purchases, it is currently in use as a national high adventure base where crews of Scouts and Venturers take part in backpacking expeditions and other outdoor activities.

In addition to its Scouting America programs, Philmont continues to operate as a ranch, maintaining a stock of cattle, horses, burros and bison.

Other outdoor activities that are popular to the area include Rock climbing, rappelling (abseiling), mountain biking, hiking, geocaching, and orienteering.

Some of the additional activities added with help from Scout feedback at the 2010 Jamboree, are skateboarding, freestyle BMX, mountainboarding, ATV riding, paddle boarding, dragon boats racing, and ziplines.

The purchase was enabled by a $50 million grant from Stephen Bechtel, Jr.[12][13] The Summit is being developed by Arrow WV, a BSA subsidiary.

Consol Energy donated $15 million to build a 700-foot-long (210 m) bridge to connect the main activity area to the eastern property.

Around 1967 it was renamed Northern Wisconsin National Canoe Base, as publications begin referencing the new name during this period.

The primary program was wilderness canoe trips, through the lakes and rivers of northern Wisconsin and the southern edge of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Additional programs for Scouts included whitewater trips on the lower Flambeau Flowage, swimming at the White Sand Lake beach, informal sandlot football and softball games between staff members and Scouts at the base, and winter camping in the cabins left by the CCC.

Numerous interrelated factors contributed to its demise, including Scout leaders and executives lobbying for closure in favor of other bases, declining usage, increased residential development in the area used for its canoe trips, and a heavy snowfall during the 1982-83 winter that collapsed the roof of the dining hall, which was never rebuilt.

It was a highly successful program that exposed thousands of Scouts to the lakes, rivers, and mountains of the North Maine woods, providing them with a lifetime appreciation of wild lands, no trace camping, and self-sufficiency and safety in the wilderness.

In 1993, the Matagamon base reopened as Maine High Adventure,[21][22] an outdoor program run today by the Katahdin Area Council.

Former LBL Staff members removed the High Adventure Base welcome sign in the summer of 1980 and donated it to the National Scouting Museum in Murray, Kentucky.

[25] Through its members, it has been instrumental as the first alumni association to launch capital campaigns in conjunction with the Boy Scouts of America to enhance high adventure base facilities and establish an endowed seasonal staff scholarship program.

[27] Affiliate membership is open to all former adult crew advisors from any Northern Tier National High Adventure program and any adult who wishes to maintain a significant interest in the mission and success of the Northern Tier National High Adventure program.