What exactly is an adventure camp?

All summer camps are an adventure in one way or another, but specifically, outdoor adventure camps focus on developing skills, building confidence, and promoting individual growth through activities and challenges in natural environments. Classic camp pastimes like hiking and kayaking fall under the adventure camp category, as do challenge courses, wilderness tripping, and learning primitive survival skills.

If your kids can handle more excitement, adventure camps centered on mountain biking, rock climbing, or whitewater rafting kick the thrills up a notch. Outdoor camps aren’t all rivers and hills, of course—there are also coastal and lakeside camps for sailing and scuba diving.

Whatever the activity, adventure camps strive to expand a child’s boundaries with an emphasis on learning, team building, overcoming challenges, and improving skills. The ultimate goal is to encourage your child’s personal growth and build their self-confidence.

Are adventure camps good for all ages?

While an individual camp might not be appropriate for every age, there are more than enough different adventure camps for kids, teens, and adults to find the right environment for them. Think carefully about the activity each camp specializes in and whether it’s a good fit for your child—more strenuous ventures like rock climbing might be too much for young kids, for example, but there’s sure to be another camp where they can have fun at a comfortable pace.

Search for Adventure Summer Camps

Now’s the time to start looking at adventure camps for the upcoming summer season. With our camp finder, your family can search by activity, location, or program type (residential, day camp, travel, etc.) to find a list of the different outdoor camps for children, teens, or adults in your area. When your family discovers the ideal camp, you’ll see that leaving the sofa for a summer of adventure is truly a breath of fresh air.