Canoeing, lakeside cabins, starry nights, campfires. Summer camp was always a good time, and it doesn’t have to be a thing of the past. These eight lodges and camps around the United States offer a more grown-up version of the summer-camp life, complete with bunk-bed cabins and group suppers.
Taylor River Lodge
Crested Butte, Colorado
Set on the banks of its namesake river, the new , which opens in June, has six stand-alone cabins and two single-family homes (from $1,720 per cabin). Picture archery, ax throwing, a climbing wall, bikes for borrow on site, a casting pond, and a private concierge to orchestrate your stay. Fly-fishing for trout on local rivers and mountain biking nearby Crested Butte’s legendary singletrack are both on tap. Cabins come with steam showers, minibars stocked with fresh food, and an in-house chef who cooks you three meals a day.
Grünberg Haus Inn and Cabins
Waterbury, Vermont
is what summer camp would look like if it took place in the Austrian Alps. The 11-room European-inspired chalet and neighboring cabins (from $110) are located in Waterbury, with the . Your stay includes a gourmet breakfast spread and an on-site tool shed for storing and tuning your bike. As a bonus, the Ben and Jerry’s factory is right out your door.
Camp Wandawega
Elkhorn, Wisconsin
This place started as a Prohibition-era brothel and speakeasy, then became a Catholic church camp in the 1960s. In 2004, a husband-and-wife duo bought it and set about turning it into a hip summer-camp-style escape. You can now rent vintage lakefront bunkhouses and cabins (from $550) at —they’re not fancy, but you’ll have access to the ground’s canoes, treehouses, and campfire pits.
Under Canvas
Zion National Park, Utah
A new luxury tent camp is opening on the outskirts of Zion National Park this August. Called , this village of luxury tents (from $189), set against the backdrop of Zion’s redrock desert, will be open for lodging from August through November. Sign up for activities—rock climbing, canyoneering, mountain biking, horseback riding—and skilled guides will show you the way. Plus, breakfasts and dinners are cooked for you under the open sky.
Far Meadow
Oakhurst, California
You can rent a one-bedroom cabin or a retro-chic A-frame (from $250) 12 miles from the south entrance of Yosemite at , located on 20 acres of private land near a high-alpine lake. Rock climbing, lake swimming, and Yosemite hiking are all in your backyard. No mess hall or color wars, but you’ll have a kitchen to yourself and can organize your own yard games.
Camp Lucy
Dripping Springs, Texas
There’s no roughing it at , located in the heart of Texas Hill Country, where you’ll stay in plush cottages (from $269) with stone bathtubs and wake to homemade waffles and freshly brewed coffee. But it does feel a little like camp: you’ll have access to gear for fishing, biking, and birding, plus an evening supper club and outdoor fire pits with s’mores supplies.
Sleeping Lady Resort
Leavenworth, Washington
You can sleep up to eight people in the , an upscale stand-alone cabin (from $740 for eight guests) with queen and twin bunk beds (plus bathrobes for walking to the sauna) at the , outside the funky Bavarian town of Leavenworth. (If bunks aren’t your thing, you can choose a more standard hotel room.) Some packages offer activities like fly-fishing and whitewater rafting, or you can explore the Cascades on your own. No matter which package you choose, there’s yoga on the premises, and breakfast and dinners are included.
White Pine Camp
Paul Smiths, New York
What was once the summer house of President Calvin Coolidge is now , a historic Adirondack compound with 13 cottages (from $165) on the shores of Osgood Pond. Relax in the iconic Japanese teahouse that’s accessible by a wooden bridge to a small island, go hiking or biking into the northern Adirondacks, or grab a canoe to paddle into the nearby .