List of the Best Survival Schools in the USA

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One of the best investments I ever spent was enrolling in a 3-day survival school course with my family. Not only did we get to learn a lot of new skills while enjoying breathtaking nature, but we also met a lot of like-minded people. Some of them went on to become good friends!

If you aren’t sure whether a survival school is right for you, I’d check out this post about the pros and cons of survival courses. But if you are ready to push your boundaries and become more self-reliant, here are some of the best survival schools in the states.

Boulder Outdoor Survival School

Sick of living in the modern world where everyone is reliant on tech gadgets for survival? BOSS survival school will give you a welcome break from all that. The school focuses on primitive living skills, and you can expect to live at basecamp with just hand-made materials. It is fun, educational, and a good vacation too.

Location: Utah
Duration: 4-28 day courses
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Primitive survival
Level: Intermediate to advanced
Family Friendly: No
Website: Boulder Outdoor Survival School

Maine Primitive Skills School

This survival school markets itself as the “center for wilderness awareness, survival, self-reliance, and nature connection.” A lot of people will prefer the “earth living” focus over the doomsday mentality, which is used at other survival schools.

Location: Maine
Duration: Mostly 1-5 days
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Foraging, earth living, wilderness survival
Level: Beginner to intermediate
Family Friendly: Youth survival camps offered
Website: Maine Primitive Skills

Sigma 3 Survival School

Sigma 3, or “the Institute for Self Reliance,” is one of the best-known survival schools. They offer a huge variety of courses, from weekend wilderness retreats to customized classes. Everyone I’ve talked to who has taken their survival classes has been very pleased with the instructors and the information learned.

Location: Primarily in Missouri, Virginia, Colorado, Arkansas, and Florida. International courses are sometimes held.
Duration: From 1-day walks to 7+ days
Types of Survival Classes Offered: SERE, wilderness training, anti-abduction and defense, wild plants, survival fishing, trapping, and more
Level: Complete beginner to advanced classes available
Family Friendly: Some classes, yes
Website: Sigma 3

Ancient Pathways

Based in Arizona, Ancient Pathways is best known for its primitive skills courses, such as how to trap, track, and survive with tools you can make yourself. They are also one of the best places to learn desert survival skills. You don’t have to worry if you aren’t advanced – there are all levels of courses. For more advanced people, there are survival classes like “knife only” and field courses.

Location: Arizona
Duration: 1-day, overnight, and multi-day courses available
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Primitive survival, wilderness survival, bushcraft field courses, desert survival
Level: Beginner to advanced
Family Friendly: For kids 14 years and up
Website: Ancient Pathways

Thomas Coyne Survival Schools (formerly the Survival Training School of California)

Thomas Coyne offers some basic wilderness survival courses, but this is the survival school you want to go to for EXTREME experiences. In those all-weather survival courses, you won’t be allowed to use a sleeping bag or munch on Snickers bars that you hid in your pockets. The survival school is very affordable for the level of skill taught.

Location: California, yearly courses held in Alaska
Duration: Mostly 1-8 days
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Skill-based courses (map reading, navigation, basic survival skills, etc.), field courses, bushcraft courses, medical and tactical courses, private survival courses
Level:
Family Friendly:
Website: Thomas Coyne Survival Schools

Mountain Scout Survival School

If you live in New York and don’t want to commit to a longer survival course, Mountain Scout Survival School has a lot of 1-day classes to choose from that cover wilderness survival to emergency prepping. The nice thing is that many of the courses focus on specific topics, so you can go to build one specific skill instead of trying to learn everything at once in an intensive field course.

Location: New York
Duration: Mostly 1-day courses
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Level: Wilderness survival, bugging out, tracking, navigation, family emergency preparedness, fire, women’s survival
Family Friendly: Children allowed but courses designed for adults
Website: Mountain Scout

Wilderness Awareness School

This is a survival school of people who love nature. There are shorter courses on tracking, bird language, edible plants, plant medicine, and other topics that will help you survive while getting closer to nature. There are also intensive survival courses that go through several months.

Location: Washington State
Duration: 1-3 days; intensive courses last 9 months but are broken into weekend segments
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Wilderness survival, nature
Level: Beginner to advanced
Family Friendly: Youth programs available
Website: Wilderness Awareness

Aboriginal Living Skills School

Run by Cody Lundin, this is a renowned survival school that will turn anyone into a survivalist. I like how there are specific skill courses available, as well as intensive survival courses. Cody focuses on primitive survival skills, which means the focus will be much more on exploring indigenous cultures than surviving SHTF disasters.

Location: Arizona
Duration: Mostly 1 day to 1-week
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Primitive skill-focused courses (fire, trapping, edible plants, desert survival…) and adventure courses
Level: Beginner to advanced
Family Friendly: Yes
Website: Aboriginal Living Skills

Jack Mountain Bushcraft School

If you are looking for a more intense survival school for learning wilderness skills, Jack Mountain Bushcraft school has “semesters” which last 2 months. You can even get college credits for these courses! There are also some “folk school” classes which only last a few days where you can learn skills like knife making.

Location: New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont
Duration: Mostly longer classes from 1 week to 9 weeks
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Bushcraft, folk skills (primitive skills), outdoor skills, self-reliance workshops
Level: Intermediate to advanced
Family Friendly: Yes
Website: Jack Mountain Bushcraft

Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School

If you aren’t quite ready to disappear into the wilderness with nothing but a knife, Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School is a good option for learning basics. You will learn which insects are edible (but won’t be required to eat them) and can even stay in lodges if you wish. It’s also a plus that this is one of the more affordable survival schools.

Location: Virginia and Oregon
Duration: Mostly 1-3 days
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Leadership and team building, outdoor skills, wilderness first aid, bushcraft essentials
Level: Mostly beginner
Family Friendly: Yes
Website: Mountain Shepherd

Alderleaf Wilderness College

This is one of the more comprehensive survival schools where you can get certification and college credits (certificate in Wilderness Skills and Education and Ecology). This is great if you want a career outdoors. For people who want to improve their skills, there are also weekend courses available.

Location: Washington
Duration: Weekend courses, week-long courses, and a 9-month certification program
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Wilderness survival, traditional ecological knowledge, wild edibles, permaculture, wildlife tracking
Level: Intermediate to advanced
Family Friendly: No – Must be at least 18 to attend
Website: Alderleaf Wilderness College

Other Survival Schools

I personally haven’t checked out the reviews of each of these survival schools. However, they seem to be reputable and offer a good course selection. If you have tried any of these survival schools, let us know about your experience!

Practical Primitive

Location: New Jersey
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Bushcraft, wilderness survival, self-reliance, primitive skills, traditional living
Website: Practical Primitive

True North Wilderness Survival School

Wolf College

Location: Washington
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Mostly kids camps
Website:Wolf Camp

Hawk Circle

Location: New York State
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Mostly for youth and family retreats
Website: Hawk Circle

Tom Brown Jr.’s Tracker School

Location: New Jersey, some online courses too
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Wilderness survival, primitive cooking
Website: Tom Brown Jr’s Tracker School

First Earth Wilderness School

Location: Missouri
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Bow and arrow, tanning, hunter-gatherer, other primitive skills
Website: First Earth Wilderness School

Ancestral Knowledge

Location: Maryland, DC area
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Primitive skills, family workshops, youth programs
Website: Ancestral Knowledge

Earthworks Wilderness Survival Training School

Twin Eagles

Location: Idaho
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Wild edibles, bow making, primitive skills, youth programs
Website: Twin Eagles

Itchatad Outdoors Survival School

Adventure Out

Location: California
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Desert survival, snow caves and winter survival, fire, arrow making, kayak building, stone tools, and youth programs
Website: Adventure Out

The Human Path

Location: Texas
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Primitive skills, wilderness survival, herbal medicine, off-grid, homesteading
Website: The Human Path

Nantahala Outdoor Center

Learn to Return

Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Offshore survival, rescue, medical,
Website: Learn to Return

Teaching Drum Outdoor School

Location: Wisconsin
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Natural living, primitive living, wilderness skills
Website: Teaching Drum Outdoor School

Reevis Mountain School

Location: Arizona
Types of Survival Classes Offered: Natural healing, self-reliance, growing your own food, traditional living
Website: Reevis Mountain School

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