Adventures for Adults Abound at These Summer Camps
Your inner child will thank you for the nostalgia – and the knowledge
By Caroline Drew, Fri., June 6, 2025
Life’s learning experiences never stop coming. In adulthood, they can take on the dreary tones of therapy terms, healthy 30-minute meals, and new project management apps. If the shifting seasons have you longing for the days when learning something new meant being one step closer to surviving quicksand or becoming a rock star, it’s time to take yourself to adult summer camp.
Lumber Society Teaches Outdoors Skills for Uncertain Times
“There aren’t too many bars that start survival groups,” says Buzz Mill events coordinator (and former Chronicle staffer) Mark Fagan. With a motto of “Join or Die,” the Riverside beer garden’s Lumber Society doesn’t promise psychological relief from the world’s toils – it promises preparation.
“This is all obviously tongue-in-cheek, but it is really meant to prepare you for a postapocalyptic-type scenario,” Fagan says. “It’s a really casual, fun environment,” but it’s rooted in a sobering question: “[If] there’s no civilization anymore, how do we eat, how do we drink, how do we shelter ourselves?”
Launched by Buzz Mill and Squatch Fitness founder Jason Sabala, the camp offers lessons in firemaking, navigation, shelter-building, knot-tying, and soapmaking, as well as “more arts and crafty stuff” like eco-printing and utensil carving. True to their adult scouts promise, each Lumber Society member joins a troop and earns custom badges crafted by local artist Chad Eaton.
“Whether you’re just curious and you think it’s a fun date thing or you’re super interested in learning these skills, it’s a great entry point into the survivalist world,” Fagan says.
Sherwood Forest Grants Your Wish to Vacation in a Lost World
Did you know Texas’ home of the Renaissance Faire hosts a summer camp? After working a youth program at Sherwood Forest, camp director Teach Minchew says he was “pestered” into opening one for adults.
“Immediately, all the grownups kept saying, 'I wish I could do it. I wanna do something like that,’” he recalls. The forest hosts a three-day stay for adults with several lodging options and all the same activities taught at the kids’ camp, plus a pub and entertainment in the evenings. The classes include blacksmithing, swordplay, and woodcarving, along with ancient arts and timeless theatre. This year, Minchew adds mounted archery and fae studies – “basically how to build a character,” he explains – to the ranks.
To the director, the weekend is all about “a great time, great friends, and great fellowship.”
“[It’s] a chance to just relax and not have to worry about life,” Minchew says. “It’s like going to an all-inclusive resort because once you get there, there’s nothing to worry about – no stress, everything’s pretty much paid for. It’s a chance to chill and make friends and just be.”
Take to the Stage With Girl Guitar and School of Rock
Singer-songwriter Mandy Rowden founded Girl Guitar over 18 years ago to create a safe space for women to pick up the six-string. What began as a simple guitar class has evolved to include vocals, songwriting, and full band classes, as well as workshops and a three-day retreat.
“What I didn’t realize at the time, but I can vouch for a hundred percent now, is the powerful magic that happens when women get together to be creative,” she says. “I’m not anti-dude [and] we’re not a bunch of man haters. It’s nothing like that. There’s just something really special and cool when women are motivated creatively and working together on something.”
Rowden curates the band classes intentionally, taking experience level and musical stylings into account. Most students who join the collective are in it for the long haul, she says. “A lot of the women who have been in our songwriting classes have gone on to make albums.”
Beyond weekly classes at their South Austin and Round Rock locations, Girl Guitar hosts one-off workshops on topics like songwriting for guitar, guitar maintenance, and the music industry in general. On June 12, an event at BMI’s office focuses on performing rights organizations and the legal side of music, while Camp Girl Guitar in Kerrville, which Rowden describes as “a weekend of guitar, yoga, hot tubs, food, dance parties, more food, and talking out by the Guadalupe River,” takes place October 17-19.
“I think there’s too much pressure on music to impress people,” Rowden says. “And so we think if we’re not showoff-y and fast and really impressive, that we’re not any good or that this isn’t worthwhile, and so I’m really big on playing music for our own enjoyment first.”
Adults of all genders can tap into the joy of music at School of Rock.
“Many participants have always wanted to be in a band but have struggled to find others who are interested and available,” says assistant music director Ian MacDougall. “It’s a tough thing to jump into something new like performing in front of people.”
Thus, School of Rock’s adult programming “[doesn’t] just teach formal music training; we help you learn to be in a rock band. You’ll develop skills like stagecraft and stage presence while playing your instrument.
“It’s like joining a creative gym, where you learn with others who share your interests,” MacDougall says.
