The San Jose Council of the Boy Scouts of America was founded on August 20, 1920 by John Crummey (president of Bean Spray and Pump Company (later known as Food Machinery Corporation)), Robert Bentley, Jr. (president of Muirson Label Company) and Archer Bowden (San Jose attorney). Bentley served as the first council president, Julius Rainwater was the first scout executive, and Edmund Richmond was the first council commissioner.

In 1922, the council changed its name to Santa Clara County Council, and took over administration for all of Santa Clara County. The council was incorporated in 1923, and oversight of San Benito County was added the same year. Monterey and Santa Cruz counties were added in 1927.

In 1933 San Benito, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties were split off to form the Monterey Bay Area Council. In 1939 the area around Palo Alto split off to form its own council, the now-defunct Stanford Area Council. That council, which had been the smallest BSA council in the nation by area, merged with San Mateo County Council in the 1990s to form Pacific Skyline Council.

Santa Clara County Council currently operates two camps, and has operated several others in the past.

Camp Hi-Sierra is a Boy Scout camp located in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, only minutes away from the small town of Longbarn, California. This camp is notably high, with the majority of its buildings standing at approximately 4,800 feet and the highest point of the mountain standing over a mile high at 5,300 feet. The camp is used year round with eight weeks of Scouting camp during the summer, one of which is the International Rendezvous every even year. During the 'off season' Camp Hi-Sierra is used for training sessions as well as council activities.

Camp Hi-Sierra was created in 1949 with land that the Santa Clara County Council bought within the Stanislaus National Forest. Before the camp was a Scout Reservation though it was inhabited by the Miwok Indians. When logging scions discovered the forest, they decided to start logging in the spot where the camp is now located. To this day, as one walks through camp, they can still see remnants of the logging industry, bits of the old mill, etc... Currently small-scale logging continues along the main camp road.

As of now, the Santa Clara County Council maintains the camp as well as a full time ranger who lives in the camp year round, he is the caretaker for all of Camp Hi-Sierra. The current Ranger is Alan Buscaglia as of August 2010.

This camp is located within the Stanislaus National Forest. Its official postal address is in nearby Long Barn, California, although it is about one mile southeast of Cold Springs, California. The turn-off is about 30 miles East of Sonora and nearly one mile West of Cold Springs Market on State Route 108. The tourist town of Pinecrest, California and its popular Pinecrest Lake are approximately five miles further East on Hwy 108.

Camp Hi-Sierra offers a range of Scouting programs to meet participants' skill levels and experience:

Buildings at Camp Hi-Sierra include a staff bunkhouse, dining hall, office, and other structures. The camp is bisected by the North Fork of the Tuolumne River. On the western side is Staff Hill, home to the camp staff during the summertime. Also, this side contains the camp office, health lodge, dining hall, flag meadow, and the ranger's home. On the southern-most end of the camp property is a small seasonal man-made lake.