Campno Counselors,
Aug. 11-14, Sept. 22-25, campnocounselors.com/locations/denver/
Whether youwish you could go back to summer camp or your parents never signed you up in the first place, this is your best bet for re-enacting camp as an adult. Camp No Counselors runs events throughout the country, including a three-day weekend camp in August in Sedalia. You’ll find summer camp staples: capture-theflag games, dodgeball, friendshipbracelet-making, a ropes course, ziplining, a giant Slip N Slide, kickball, nature hikes, sailing and, yeah, some tie-dying workshops. There’s even a talent show, so here’s your chance to do a reprisal of that dance routine you mastered to an Ace of Base song back in the 1990s.
But this 21-and-up camp also has a Bloodymary and mimosa bar at breakfast, as well as happy hours at night and boozy lunches. There are also party themes in the evening. Past examples have included “Superheroes and Villains” and “Jock Jams.”
DIY camp in Estes Park,
ymcarockies.org/lodging/; rmconservancy.org
Sure, you might make your annual trek to Estes Park in the fall to witness the elk bugling or do a haunted tour of the Stanley Hotel. But Estes Park, which is surrounded on all sides by Rocky Mountain National Park and national forest land, is a worthy summer camp destination, too, because you can do arts and crafts in this arty mountain town as well as play in the great outdoors.
The YMCA of The Rockies offers cabins to stay in, and there’s also a dedicated arts and crafts cabin where you can learn to weave baskets, make pottery, paint ceramics and make silk screen T-shirts. (Nightly cabin rates at the YMCA of The Rockies start at $154.) It’s a choose-yourown adventure, though, ...