After appropriate investigations, and a presentation to the Wisconsin River Power Company, the land was given to the Council as a permanent camp. The Wisconsin River Power Company donated the 214 acre tract for the benefit of youth through the Scouting program. It was dedicated during the summer of 1956. 

Senior Scout expeditions and explorer canoe trips were based at the site during 1957 and 1958, and the first full season of Scout camping was 1959. Since then more than 27,000 Scouts have come to the camp with the troops during the regular summer camp season. In, addition, many troops and explorer posts use the camp for weekend outings year-round. 

Castle Rock was developed according to a plan laid out by a group of men representing Scouting leaders from all walks of life; engineers; National BSA camp specialists; and practical business men from the council executive board. The first buildings were financed by funds obtained from the sale of Camp Tichora, the previous council camp, located on Green Lake, and from private contributions. The Peter Rice Memorial Building is dedicated in the memory of an Eagle Scout who attended Camp Tichora, and gave his life for his country in World War II, using funds originally provided for a boathouse at Camp tichora. A permanent ranger's home, the T.J. Sanderson Memorial Building, is named after a Scouter from Portage who was active on the executive board and instrumental in the development of the camp. The Yellow Band Room (YBR) is so-named in honor of the Oscar Mayer Company, who provided funding for the commissary building. The Oscar F. Mayer family provided funds for the health lodge. The nelson Shelter is named for a long-time Stoughton Scouter, founder of the Nelson Muffler Corporation. The Koenig Shelter was built using donations made in memory of "Red" Koenig, a long-time scouter from Middleton. The Tim Brocher Chapel was donated by the parents of this 19-year old Eagle Scout, who died in an auto accident. The swimming beach changing shelter was built using funds provided by the Tichora Lodge of the Order of the Arrow. 

The council is presently developing a master plan for maintenance and facility upgrade to be launched in 1997. 

Adults who camped at Castle Rock in those early years will find that many changes have taken place since the camp first opened. Scouts no longer have to carry their water from a central well. Program areas have moved around, and some campsites were vacated or relocated. A new shooting sports area has been developed, moving it far from the parking lot, and land was cleared for a shotgun range. There are now two aquatics beaches, one for swimming and one for boating. An expanded ecology-conservation program is located in the Koenig Shelter. The showerhouse has been renovated, and will son house the health lodge. The camp has a climbing tower, and conducts a live-aboard sailing outpost program. Over time the program has changed, keeping in step with other BSA improvements. 

But, below the surface, some things about camp never change. Scouts and leaders still gather under "the tree" to visit, or eat a candy bar from the trading post. Scouts still cook their meals, and learn to appreciate the food "back home." And at week's end, the Scouts still gather for a council fire, to sing songs, to present skits, and to make lasting memories. Most important, boys still come for the rugged promise and challenge which Scouting promises in the outdoor program. The council leadership and the staff at Camp Castle Rock continue to seek the means to fulfill that outdoor promise, giving boys the chance to grow through Scouting into responsible adults and leaders. 

On this site was formerly Germantown, and with its river location, was a site for gatherings of the Fox, Sauk and Ho Chunk tribes, where French traders could have pulled up their canoes for the night, it is here that boys become men, growing through scouting. And for far into the future, as over so many years past, at Camp Castle Rock the songs, cheers, the activities of Scouting will continue, where "Character Counts!"