Scouting in the Prairielands Council began with the first troop being organized in 1919. Champaign County Council had been chartered and operated under that name until 1923. A new council, C-U Council was chartered that year. Camping was conducted at its camp Weldon Springs near Clinton, Illinois. This camp was called Hatetokwitit. It was used for 10 years.

A new camp was needed. Scouters began soliciting funds for this purpose in the name of “General” Bob Drake, who had been the scout executive until his death in 1929. Service clubs such as the Rotary Club & the Lions Club took the lead in seeking funding for the purchase of the land, and later, for the other facilities needed for a scout camp. The dining hall, an old Civilian Conservation Corp building was used for that purpose, was moved to the new site found near Catlin, Illinois. The new camp was named Camp Robert Drake and was dedicated on May 28, 1932.

The story goes that the first time a prominent scouter named A. R. “Buck” Knight visited Camp Drake he picked up an arrowhead. One year later, the new council containing a larger area was formed and he caused it to be named Arrowhead Council. Two years later, in 1935, Douglas County was added to Arrowhead Council when Kaskaskie Council with headquarters in Mattoon, Illinois, went out of existence.

A new era in camping began. Campers used concrete block cabins built on cabin row on the bluff above the Salt Fork River which flowed through the camp property. The “Pollywogs” created by strip mining of part of the camp property provided a place used for canoeing and rowing and to build the “crib” for swimming.

The first service organization was the Fire Crafters. The members of this group provided the charter members for Illini Lodge 92, which was chartered in 1936. The members of this lodge have served the camp & the Order with distinction since that time.

A new dining hall was added in 1968. Other buildings and facilities have been added over time. In 1992, the Arrowhead Council and Piankeshaw Council merged to create Prairielands Council. Again, a new camping year began when Scouts from nine counties in East Central Illinois and West Central Indiana came together for Scouting Adventure at Camp Robert Drake. The camp is now on it's 93rd operational season of summer camp. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic the camp held a week of camp virtually and in person (albeit small). The camp is served by the Arrowmen of Illini Lodge 55 and holds weekly callout and Ordeal ceremonies during the summer. The camp also regularly hosts the council Klondike derbies and camporees outside of the summer. Their is also cabins available for renting throughout the year around camp.

Some mascots of Camp Drake are chronic make chronic appearances on camp patches. Two of which are constantly features the first, Sammy Stave, is a personified stave (wooden pole or dowel used for pioneering projects). The second, the Pollywog Man, is a more cryptic feature of the camp who is said to have been a man who had a unjustifiable hatred towards the camp which drove him to exploding a dam upstream on the Salt Fork River in hope of destroying the camp but it instead resulted in the death of the Pollywog Man's son. And as a result of this he now wonders the grounds of camp looking for the soul of his son before he can move on. Keeping in theme with the lodge totem and the Illinois state mammal white-tailed deer can also often be found with in camp insignia.

The camp has about eleven areas that campers can choose to take classes at which include. The Range and Target Sports facilities which offer merit badges like rifle shooting and shotgun. The Atkins Forge which was constructed in 2023 and offers classes like metalworking and welding. Scoutcraft offers classes like pioneering and orienteering. Handicraft which offers more hands-on classes like basketry and leatherworking. The much loved Aquatics facility which includes the pool and offers classes like mile swim and snorkeling. Ecology offers classes more related to nature and the outdoors. The First Aid building is where injured scouts can go for aid but also to learn crucial merit badges like emergency preparedness and first aid. The Sports field sits on the slightly elevated part of camp called the plateau and you can take classes like golf and athletics. Lantern offers a place for campers to get their eagle required merit badges and more academic classes. Their is also the First Year area which is specially for first year scouts who can take the Pollywog Program to get requirements for up to First Class rank. Last but not least, their is also Poncho Pond which gives campers a escape to boating and earn badges like small-boat sailing and canoeing.

Like a lot of scout camps, each year these area create new shouts that can be used to raise the energy of campers, for example the captain of the pool can call out "AQUATICS" to which campers would respond with "SPECIAL DELIVERY". But other areas keep the same chants every year for simplicity, for example if the program director of the camp says that "their is a staff meeting at the propane tank following this meal" the campers can respond with "PROPANE- CLEAN, SAFE, EFFICIENT".

Their is also some camp traditions that happen everyday. During lunch the camp staff look for the Suzy Stick which is a simple clothespin which is clipped on a random camper each day in which once the stick is found the attached campers spins the Wheel of Suzy which has such prizes as "free slushies for your entire troop from the trading post" or "read the rainbow rock clue three times during dinner". Which segways into the other camp tradition. The Rainbow Rock is a large rock that is hidden each day and campers are given a clue to find it during dinner but the clue is only read twice. The prize for finding the rock is a free slushy for the finder(s).