5 Summer Camps for Adults

Classic Camp

Sleep-away camp is a place where friendships are forged. And Canadian Adventure Camp’s adult summer camp is no different. On a private island on Northern Ontario’s Lake Temagami, grown-ups take over the bunks on the last week of the summer and get to be kids again: water-ski, kayak, canoe and jump on the trampoline. The only difference? Evenings incorporate a bit more of a pub-like atmosphere, but with campfires and marshmallows, and counsellors who let you sleep in.

Band Camp

Sorry you snoozed through childhood piano lessons or that your high school trumpet is collecting dust? The Lakefield Music Camp, at Lakefield College near Peterborough, Ont., offers a remedy. The week-long August camp brings together amateur musicians for full days of classes accompanied by jam sessions, open-mike nights and concerts. The musical options are vast: will it be a cappella vocals, double-reed technique or guitar ensemble?

Dino Camp

While you can play paleontologist in Alberta’s Dinosaur Provincial Park on guided excavations, these two- and three-night programs aren’t simulations for kids. They’re real scientific digs where any found fossils are carefully collected, measured and sent to the scientists at the Royal Tyrrell Museum for analysis. Hundreds of specimens have been found in the bonebeds of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can sleep and eat like research staff in furnished trailers, and spend your days in the dusty Badlands, digging for centrosaurus bones or tyrannosaur teeth.

Art Camp

Imagine a holiday that rekindles your artistic spirit. Fredericton’s edVentures program does just that at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design. Pick from more than 50 workshops that include basketry, pottery, weaving and painting. July classes run mornings and afternoons with time in the day for walking tours and dining out, so you can also explore the town’s riverfront trails and art galleries. You never know where artistic inspiration will strike!

Zombie Survival Camp

Boy Scouts meets the zombie apocalypse. This three-day outing—held near Bancroft, Ont., and Steinbach, Man.—focuses on archery, martial arts and survival skills. On the final day, campers put what they’ve learned into practice with a simulated outbreak in which “survivors” must prepare shelter, build fires and avoid transforming into zombies themselves. However you fare, you’ll certainly have lots to write home about.