10 Fun Camps & Retreats — For ADULTS!
Camp is for the kids at heart, too! These multi-day retreats celebrate adventure, nature, sports, and crafts. Whether you want to learn the art of French pastry or brush up your tennis forehand, here are 10 camps for adults to book for this year and next!
The nostalgia of pulling up to summer camp will never be far from our hearts. Maybe you love it even more now that you’re taking YOUR kids there! For all the adults who want to learn something new, explore new parts of the country, or just get away and relax, there are lots of adults-only camps and retreats for you! These multi-day itineraries are packed with adventure, nature, sports, and crafts. Learn saxophone, fly fishing, astronauting (!?), Italian cuisine, and MORE at these ten camps for adults throughout the South (and a few beyond).
Author’s note: While many of these camps are booked up for this year or have passed, we hope you’ll put them on your radar for next!
Culinary Boot Camps
Culinary Institute of America | San Antonio, TX, Napa, CA, Hyde Park, NY
A CIA Boot Camp is more than just your typical cooking class … it’s a culinary vacation for serious foodies and cooks! It’s a multi-day immersion into the world of food where camp goers learn to bake, cook, taste, and THINK like a professional chef with help from expert instructors. Each boot camp lasts two to five days and focuses on a specific theme like grilling, pastry, Italian, or Mediterranean. Each campus (San Antonio, Napa, and NYC) has a unique “flavor” to their camps, so we suggest you try them all. This sounds like the perfect trip to take with a parent or sibling!
CIA Boot Camps range from $1,095 to $2,500. Find the fees, dates, and topics for upcoming boot camps HERE.
Space Camp
U.S. Space & Rocket Center | Huntsville, Alabama
Head to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and train like a real astronaut. Both the three-day/two-night and the six-day/five-night Adult Space Academy offer intensive, hands-on, interactive space missions led by pros. This is your chance to see what it takes to be an astronaut! You will get to use the Multi-Axis Trainer, construct and launch your own rocket, go on an extended-duration simulated mission, fly jet aircraft simulators, experience neutral buoyancy while SCUBA diving in the Underwater Astronaut Trainer, and more. Meals and lodging are included.
The rate for a three-day camp is $649, and a five-day is $1,699. This year’s are waiting list only, but click HERE to join.
Needlepoint Retreats
Stitching Fox | Landrum, South Carolina
Grab a friend (or fly solo!) and immerse yourself in a luxurious textile setting at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Stitching Fox retreats are the perfect place for needlepoint enthusiasts, hobbyists, or professionals to get expert education and guidance from nationally accredited instructors. You will learn embellishment techniques, sharpen your stitching skills, and more. Each three-day retreat has six hours of instruction daily, a meet-and-greet reception with the pros, coffee, lunch, cocktails, and discounted rooms at a nearby B&B.
Upcoming retreats in July and September are $495 and are currently sold out, but keep checking HERE for future events!
Rock’ n’ Roll Fantasy Camp
NYC and Nashville (coming soon!)
There is no better place to unleash your inner rock start than Rock Camp. No matter your skill level or instrument of choice, music professionals and counselors help you hone (or start) your musical craft. And there is so much more. You’ll hear panels on various music topics, jam out with members of your favorite bands, and perform live at renowned venues on the final. Rock Camp encourages you to step out of your comfort zone, check off a bucket list item, and make some new friends along the way. Coming up, Phil Lesh, John Scofield, and Robert Randolph lead a Rock Camp in October, and there is a The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones one in November (both in NYC, but an all-women Rock Camp and one in Nashville will be announced soon)
Four-day Rock Camps start at $5,599. Check HERE for on-sale camps.
Nature Camp
George Washington National Forest | Vesuvius, Virginia
Nature deserves our celebration and attention now more than ever. Nature Camp in Virginia’s George Washington National Forest is a five-day adult environmental education camp that blends hands-on field study with classroom lectures, crafting, and culture. Embark on wildlife spotting walks morning and evening, and then cozy up to some folk singing at night. You’ll even get the chance to join an Appalachian string band workshop, do some incredible stargazing, hike surrounding trails, and more. Rustic lodging and homecooked meals are included.
Nature Camp starts at $350 per person. Check HERE for future dates.
Cliff Drysdale Tennis Camp
Omni Amelia Island Resort | Amelia Island, Florida
Adult tennis camps at Omni Amelia Island Resort are truly a one-of-kind camp-meets-vacation. Nestled under a canopy of ancient, moss-drench oak trees, Racquet Park boasts 23 courts for day and night play. Whether you enroll as a family, individual, couple, or friend group, there is some top-notch tennis instruction, competition, and well-earned relaxation to be had. This camp includes a two-hour group lesson and a one-hour private lesson daily, luxurious accommodations, unlimited court time before and after camp, daily ball machine usage, video analysis of plays, access to the fitness center, and, of course, all of the magic of Omni Amelia Island Resort — a 1,350-acre natural paradise between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway.
Tennis Camp rates start at $639 per day, and you can find out more information HERE.
Golf Academy
Pinehurst, North Carolina
The Pinehurst Golf Academy is unparalleled in its unique blend of situational practice and on-course instruction. You’ll golf with a pro each day, then test what you’ve learned on the course on the practice range with an instructor. There are a few different schools to choose from — from short-game focus to parent-child to women’s only. Each comes with luxe accommodations at Pinehurst, three delicious meals a day, a round of golf upon arrival, a round of golf each day of instruction, computerized swing analysis, club assessment, and access to the full swing and large short game practice areas. Plus, there is so much to see in the Village at Pinehurst.
Weeklong seasonal sessions (with four days of instruction) start at $2,877, and weekend seasonal rates start at $2,596. Begin your registration HERE!
Dude Ranch Camp
Black Mountain Ranch | McCoy, Colorado
An all-encompassing, week-long Western adventure awaits you in Colorado Vail and Steamboat Springs. For one price and no extra fees, dude ranchers have unbridled access to “horseback riding (and riding lessons), an overnight pack trip, a longhorn cattle drive, whitewater rafting, fly and spin fishing, rifle and trap shooting, line dancing, leather working, a trip to the local rodeo, and more. And all set in the majestic Rockies at a historic luxury ranch.
Rates start at $2,850, and there are six adults-only weeks planned and announced for 2023. Check them out HERE.
Camp Halcyon
Camp Lakotah | Wautoma, Wisconsin
Arguably the country’s most upscale adult camp, Wisconsin’s Camp Halcyon should be on your list for future summers (this one’s sold out!). Surrounded by gorgeous scenery, campers choose from an array of favorite, classic camp activities … plus some for the of-imbibing age. You can canoe and swim in the morning, craft and taste a wine flight in the afternoon, then spend the evening unwinding to live music by their signature Campfire Lounge + Cocktail Bar. Camp Halcyon sounds like a dream.
Camps run three times a season, Thursday through Sunday, and the flat fee of $499 includes all events, food, drinks, and a gift bag.
Camp No Counselors
Florida, Los Angeles, and New York
This all-inclusive sleepover camp for adults invites you to “play like a kid, party like a grown-up.” The camps run year-round and shift locations at real summer camps throughout the country, but you can currently book Los Angeles and New York. Curate your dream camp day and fill it with water skiing, capture the flag, archery, tubing, or jumping on the beloved blob. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner come with unlimited adult beverages, and there are happy hours throughout the day. When the sun sets, camp-wide activities like talent shows, and DJ-spun, themed dance parties last past midnight! Sounds like a rootin’ tootin’ good time, and we hope this comes back to the Southeast soon.
The all-inclusive, four-day camp starts at $750, and you can book the two upcoming camps HERE.
Send yourself to camp, why don’t ya?!
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Zoe Yarborough
Zoe is a StyleBlueprint staff writer, Charlotte native, Washington & Lee graduate, and Nashville transplant of eleven years. She teaches Pilates, helps manage recording artists, and likes to "research" Germantown's food scene.