We're in one of the most liberal cities of the country, but the kids were mostly Catholic, and almost all were associated with some church or other. There were 20-30 boys over the time he was in the troop, divided into several patrols, and they went hiking and camping all the time. My son loved it so much that he's still associated as an assistant scoutmaster now that he's turned 18, and went camping with the troop last weekend at Pinnacles. He started in New England in a very rural troop, and had a good experience there, too, and loved going to Frontier Camp, where they did everything with 1800s tech like they were fur trappers, and we flew him back once a couple of years ago so he could finish the four year cycle.

His troop and parents in both troops were way more engaged and active than my feeble ward-based troop when I was a kid and we usually had Scout leaders who'd been assigned as a calling and as often as not didn't want to do it.

I'm glad that kids and leaders who don't like Scouting aren't obligated to do it anymore, and my other boys weren't really interested, but for my son who is super into hiking, climbing, fishing, shooting, horseback riding, and all the other crafts and things, he has loved hanging out with other boys who are into the same stuff.