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Get Away and Play at 8 Summer Camps for Adults

Places around the country where grownups can have adventures

spinner image gathering of adults around a campfire singing and playing instruments
SummerSongs camp in Stony Point, New York, features singing, songwriting and performances.
Chris Kunstadter

Why should kids have all the summer-camp adventures? These eight camps are just right for adults who want to learn new skills or enjoy the outdoors (or do both) with other fun-loving grownups. Sign up early to secure your spot, or if your favorite is sold out, start planning for next year now. 

Singing camps 

Each summer in late-July, a group of about 70 singers and songwriters ages 18 and up come together in Stony Point, New York, (about 45 miles north of New York City) for SummerSongs, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The weeklong retreat in the Hudson River Valley, led by a faculty of nationally known songwriters and touring musicians, allows music lovers to immerse themselves in songwriting, singing and performance. Price: $1,349, including lodging and food. 

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The 2023 North American Jewish Choral Festival travels to Tarrytown, New York, for five days of singing, workshopping and community. Hundreds of voices will come together in July, led by a staff of conductors and other music experts. Workshops and seminars focus on a range of skills such as vocal technique and reading music. This year’s festival celebrates the 75th anniversary of the State of Israel through song and music. Price: $1,250 including three glatt kosher meals a day. Accommodations are separate; rates for the Sleepy Hollow Hotel start at $169. 

spinner image six senior women pose in front of an antique wagon on a miniature golf course in the mountains
Adults over 50 years old are welcome at Camp Chief Ouray near Granby, Colorado.
Camp Chief Ouray

Outdoorsy camp 

Adults over 50 who are looking to relive their childhoods, or perhaps experience an old-style summer camp for the first time, can attend the five-day Active Adults Camp in late-August at Camp Chief Ouray. The 5,150-acre YMCA camp with mountains, valleys, streams and meadows is near Granby, Colorado, near Rocky Mountain National Park and about 1.5 hours northwest of Denver. The fun includes activities such as hiking, rafting, zip-lining, horseback riding, archery, canoeing, fishing, dancing, woodcarving, arts and crafts, and much more.

Cost: Fees are $345 for campers ages 50 to 64, and $325 for 65 and older. You stay in double rooms with full bathrooms in one of the Snow Mountain Ranch lodges. (If you don’t have a roommate, you’ll be assigned one, or you can choose a private room for an additional $175.) Dates for the 2024 summer camp will be announced in the winter. ​

spinner image women cooking at The Best of Bootcamp with Chef Hans Welker, Culinary Institute of America
Participants work side by side with CIA chef instructors at various camps across the country.​
Culinary Institute of America

Cooking camp 

For foodies or anyone who wants to improve their cooking skills, the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) offers a series of two- to five-day boot camps at locations around the country. The CIA is introducing a handful of new camps including Street Foods: Bowls and Skewers, Boot Camp Asian and Seafood Boot Camp. During the five-day Boot Camp Asian in Napa, California, and Hyde Park, New York, boot campers will learn about the common bonds that all Asian cuisines share, and at the same time  discover the distinct ingredients, flavor profiles, dishes and cooking techniques that make them different from each other.

Price: $2,450 for Boot Camp Asian, $1,050 for the street food camp and $2,175 for the seafood camp. Accommodations are not included. Single-day classes are available for chefs short on time.

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spinner image people swimming at Quimby Camp
Guests can enjoy fishing and other water activities at Quimby’s camp in Vermont.​
QUIMBY COUNTRY

Classic camp

Quimby’s, the 130-year-old family resort and camp on 1,000 acres in Vermont’s Great North Woods Forest, aims to help all generations unplug — and to make it truly easy to enjoy the vast and unspoiled wilderness around it. You stay in one of 19 private cabins, each named for fly-fishing lures, and pack your daily schedule with activities from massages to archery. Bikes and canoes are on hand, as well as counselors to take your kids or grandkids fishing or hiking, should you feel like doing something else (say, sitting in your cabin’s screened porch, spotting loons on the lake with a novel in your lap.)

Price: Cabins are $135 to $165 a night (including continental breakfast) for early and late summer 2023. During the summer high season, it’s all-inclusive, with rates about $132 to $232 a night per person (including a cabin and all meals). The camp also offers “get acquainted” discounts for first-time visitors. 

spinner image instructor doing a demo to an adult class in a clay studio
Three- and five-day art camps include painting and sculpture lessons at the Morean Workshop Space in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.​
Courtesy of Morean Workshop Space

Art camp

Calling all artists! The new Morean Workshop Space in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, is hosting its first three- and five-day Summer Camps for Grown-Ups as part of its Summer in the City Series. The sevenimmersive camps include tile making, pottery, glassworks and sculpture lessons. 

Price: Five-day camps have a $500 registration fee, and three-day camps have a $300 registration fee. In addition to working alongside like-minded artists, campers can enhance their experiences by staying on-property for three- and five-day sleepovers for an additional $150 and $275, respectively. 

spinner image symphony band and conductor at rehearsal
Participants learn and play music at the Symphonic Band Camp at the Interlochen College of Creative Arts in Interlochen, Michigan.
Courtesy of Interlochen Center for the Arts

Band camp

Nearly 100 music enthusiasts 18 and older join together in early August to attend Symphonic Band Camp at the Interlochen College of Creative Arts in Interlochen, Michigan, about 30 minutes southwest of Traverse City. During the week, instrumental faculty teach master classes; lead daily ensemble rehearsals and sectionals, and chamber music reading sessions; and play in the full ensemble with participants. This year, the collective band will perform the world premiere of James Stephenson’s Symphony No. 4 for Wind Symphony, a commission in honor of the Symphonic Band Camp.

Aside from learning, rehearsing and playing, musicians’ social activities include a welcome dinner, a faculty concert, a chamber music concert and an outdoor jazz concert hosted by a local winery. 

Price: $625 registration fee for the Symphonic Band Camp. On-campus lodging is available in hotel-style rooms, cabins, cabin studios and multibedroom lodges, all at varying price points. 

spinner image participants harvesting grapes at an adult sparkling wine summer camp
The winemaking process is part of the fun at Camp Schramsberg Fall Harvest Session in Napa Valley, California. ​​​​​​
Matthew Levy/Schramsberg Vineyards

Sparkling wine camp 

Oenophiles and those who have an interest in sparkling wine will want to check out Camp Schramsberg Fall Harvest Session in Napa Valley. The three-day experience in mid-September includes immersive activities like harvesting grapes alongside a vintner and winemaker; following the winemaking process from “the crush” and its juices to becoming sparkling wine; hand riddling (or rotating bottles to loosen sediment) in historic caves; learning to saber a bottle of bubbly; and, of course, plenty of tastings. 

Cost: $1,650 per camper, not including transportation and lodging. Camp Schramsberg’s fall session fills up fast, but there’s always next year’s spring blending session in March, and another fall harvest session in October.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on May 28, 2019. It has been updated to reflect new information. 

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