The Best Wilderness Survival Schools: Learn Outdoor Skills for Any Scenario
From plant medicine to shelter building and group living skills, the schools on this list will teach you and thrive in any situation.
Proper planning and preparation prevent poor performance, or so they say. Whether you plan on going into remote regions with little gear or feel like you have passed the same Juniper tree five times, survival skills and knowledge are going to be your best friend.
It is always great to have your Wilderness First Responder Certification, but even throughout that course, the course relies on a heavily gear-based approach.
Below, are some of the best survival schools that provide experience-based courses to hone bushcraft, survival skills, and urban preparedness. Some of the schools have operated for decades and you can find them across the country, with trips lasting from a single day to several weeks, or in between.
Even if you don’t plan to find yourself alone, naked, and with nothing but a knife in the middle of the jungle, the ability to apply the skills, mental and physical resilience, and creativity of surviving these schools will absolutely assist you in other areas of life.
BOSS has a philosophy of “know more, carry less” and has carried that saying for over 60 years in Boulder, Utah at its survival-based school program. The courses are designed for you to have the confidence to survive in beautiful, remote Utah with minimal gear.
With 7, 14, or 28-day field course options, you can expect to be trekking across the Aquarius Plateau. A true test of physical, mental, and emotional strength, these courses only require some degree of suffering. BOSS Is known for its high safety standard. You will leave having learned skills on how to navigate, survive as a group, and be more resilient than when you began.
The program tends to focus on hard skills rather than extra gear. Some other courses besides the normal field courses that are available to you include a 7-day or 14-day primitive village experience that teaches you fire making, primitive pottery, and trapping to name a few skills. The Two Day Navigator Class and a Wilderness First Responder Class are also offered, as well as a 7-Day Queer Affinity Course for LGBTQIA+ folk.
You can expect courses to start at $1,895.00 and tuition assistance is available.
Wilderness Awareness School
Wilderness Awareness School connects folks with nature by teaching the use of hard skills as well as putting awareness on soft skills as well such as cultivating emotional intelligence, learning and practicing group dynamics, and self-regulation.
The school is located in the Pacific Northwest and has been educating folks since 1983. It is located about 45 minutes outside of Seattle and offers adult and youth programs.
Some courses offered include a Wild Plant Intensive program, a 2-Day Wild Edible Plants course, a Wildlife Tracking Basics course, and several others. Youth programs include day, overnight, and school-year programs.
Prices vary greatly, from $125.00 and up.
Sigma 3 Survival School
Three S’s for Scout, Survive, and Sustain, Sigma 3 has a wide range of courses taught by a number of instructors. Often located in Missouri, you will learn to need less, swapping your gear for the knowledge you gain, and by the end, be able to “walk into the wilderness without nothing but a knife and survive indefinitely.”
Sigma 3 is known for its intensive instructor courses and there are two options currently. There is a 45-day course or an 8-day course (located in Peru). Other courses included survival and bushcraft courses. The school also offers S.E.R.E. (Survival Evasion Resistance Escape) courses.
Courses range from $100 to several thousand dollars. Skill courses range from $395.00 to $695.00.
Alderleaf Wilderness College
Alderleaf offers courses such as Wilderness Survival, Wild Mushroom ID, Survival Stone Tools, and Home-Scale Permaculture. The school is located about one hour away from the Seattle-Tocoma Airport. The school offers 2 to 21-day courses, as well as several month-long courses.
Skills you will gain from the courses offered include flintknapping, tracking and flora identification, purifying water, making bow drills, and trapping. All courses are under $300.
Alderleaf has also developed an Essential Wilderness Survival Skills Online Course to complete from the comfort of your own home. It has seven modules that provide core knowledge such as shelter building, water purification, fire skills, and more.
Cody Ludnin’s Aboriginal Living Skills School (ALSS)
Since 1991, Cody Lundin has been at the center of ALSS and continues to actively teach. A former cohost of Discovery’s Channel Dual Survival and author of two books, Lundin remains and key figure in the survivalist community.
ALSS offers seven skill courses and a few adventure courses. Many of the skill courses are two days and focus on bushcraft knowledge, such as fire making, natural cordage, stone tools, and primitive shelter building. The adventure courses are longer and more focused on the application of skills.
Lundin also provides private courses.
Courses start at $895.00.
