Adult Summer Camps

Indulge your inner child

Nights spent with friends around a campfire, singing and roasting marshmallows, are the stuff great memories are made of. (Volodya Senkiv/Shutterstock)

The joys of summer camps are known to pretty much everyone, including those who didn’t attend one as a child. But rather than relying on nostalgic memories—or if you never went—why not go now?

It’s easy to assume all the aspects of summer camp, from sleeping in cabins and campfire singalongs to canoeing, rock climbing, arts and crafts, and more are only available to kids, but the reality is that a growing number of “camps” are set up strictly for adult-age campers. These range from traditional summer camps to band camps, boat-building camps, and even an adult version of Space Camp.

Below are several examples of summer camps created specifically for adults. Get ready to make s’mores!

Rock climbing can be a bit scary at first, but many learn to love it for the confidence it inspires. (Geir Olav Lyngfjell/Shutterstock)

Traditional Fun

The very apt motto of Club Getaway located in Kent, Connecticut, is “unleash your inner child.” Marketed as a way for grownups to escape from the restrictions of the city, this 300-acre lakeside facility has a wide variety of traditional summer camp daytime activities such as rock climbing on actual rock faces, obstacle courses, swings suspended from huge trees, climbing walls, and zip lines that whisk brave campers along at up to 40 miles per hour.

Other activities include Crazy Olympics, organized sports, water skiing, wakeboarding, tubing, canoeing, water volleyball, and clambering over and across an array of inflatable obstacles. After dark, the activities switch to themed dinners, DJ dance parties, karaoke, and, of course, s’mores parties around a roaring campfire. To complete the summer camp experience, campers stay in rustic cabins.

Horseback riding is a staple of summer camp life; some Western U.S. adult camps gear their programs around equestrian activities.(Olga_i/Shutterstock)

Camp Wandawega, located on Wisconsin’s Lake Wandawega—“the lake nobody has ever heard of”—is another traditionally themed camp set in the deep woods around a lake, but one with a very unique and varied past. Originally created as a speakeasy during Prohibition, it later evolved into a brothel, then a home for displaced Latvian priests, and finally a summer camp catering to adults and families. Activities include archery, tomahawk throwing classes, fishing, hiking, and nightly campfires.

Kayaking down a roaring whitewater river is a thrill for campers of all ages. (OlgaUA/Shutterstock)

Getaways With Like Minds

Campers at WoodenBoat School in Brooklin, Maine, spend their days mastering the skills required to craft a boat by hand, taught by artisans with decades of experience. The 60-acre waterfront facility is a five-hour drive from Boston. Campers choose from courses in which they build a kayak, a canoe, a dory, or even a McKenzie River Drift Boat from start to finish. With other courses focusing on diesel engine maintenance, essentials of fine woodworking, blacksmithing for boatbuilders, building a radio-controlled sailboat, and navigation basics, it’s no surprise that many campers come back year after year to learn new skills. Campers stay in cabins or home-style housing.

Adult campers will enjoy lazy days spent fishing on the camp's lake. (gresei/Shutterstock)

No roundup of summer camps would be complete without a band camp, such as Symphonic Band Camp at Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan. Groups of 80 adult campers participate in programs supervised by the camp’s professional faculty. Activities include daily ensemble rehearsals, faculty/camper rehearsals, and the opportunity to take part in performances. Campers dine in the Stone Cafeteria and reside in the on-campus Stone Hotel.

Located in Huntsville, Alabama, Adult Space Academy is an adventure in which campers immerse themselves in all things space-related. Activities include learning what it takes to be an astronaut on the multi-axis trainer, constructing and launching a rocket, designing a heat shield, and taking part in a realistic simulated space mission. Campers can even participate in an optional underwater astronaut training program.

Campfires are the best place for making new lifelong friends, as you share stories and bond. (DC Studio/Shutterstock)

Camping in Style

Campers who yearn for an authentic American West experience should consider Sorrel River Ranch, on 240 acres of wilderness outside of Moab, Utah. Campers stay in rustic cabins, lulled to sleep by the Colorado River passing by a few feet away. Activities include horseback rides, rock climbing, rafting, UTV tours, mountain biking, hot air balloon rides, pickleball, swimming, and much more. After a long day playing, campers can indulge in a massage at the spa, followed by a cocktail and a gourmet meal.

Many adult summer camps go beyond traditional "kids camp" activities with exciting experiences like hot air ballooning. (Layne V. Naylor/Shutterstock)

Another camp with welcome creature comforts is Summercamp, operated by Martha’s Vineyard Hotel in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts. In operation since 1879 and recently renovated, it has 95 comfortable rooms featuring internet access, 43-inch televisions, and lavish bathrooms. With the largest marina on Martha’s Vineyard and 318 nearby rustic gingerbread cottages, campers can go sailing, play ping-pong and Twister in the hotel’s game room, or grab a snack at the Camp Canteen.

Later, they can use a bike to explore the island, visiting the nearby Jaws Bridge connecting Edgartown and Oak Bluffs, where some of its namesake’s shark attack scenes were filmed. Unlike most summer camps, Summercamp is dog-friendly, with well-behaved best friends welcome.

Summer camp—it’s not just for kids!