8 Family Summer Camps You Should Look Into Booking Right Now

Charming, all-inclusive family resort Tyler Place in rural, northern Vermont (about 45 minutes from Burlington) features quaint cottages and suites, programs for kids of all ages (including infants), and every kind of recreational activity a family could want from windsurfing, mini-golf, and tennis, to hayrides, volleyball, and wakeboarding.

A typical day at Tyler Place includes children hanging out with similarly-aged kids and counselors in the morning, followed by whole-family activities in the afternoon. In the evening, children are reunited with their fellow campers and counselors, while grownups get some kid-free time for cocktails and candlelit dining. Not sold yet? The 165-acre property sits on a mile of private lakeshore, it has been in business and run by the same family since 1933, and all meals, lodging, and activities are included in your rate.

An hour from Milwaukee and two-and-a-half from Chicago, Camp Brosius has been creating family adventures and fun since 1921 (meaning they know what they're doing). Located on Elkhart Lake in Wisconsin, the camp offers eight week-long sessions and a four-day Labor Day session. During the day, kids ages 2-18 can participate in camp activities like hiking, swimming, and canoeing, while adults can join in on daytime activities like sailing, volleyball, and attending lectures given by professors from Indiana University, which runs the camp. Families join back together for evening activities like campfires, movie nights, and talent shows.

Choose from a variety different lodging options, including lakefront cabins and cottages. And if you need to add a little luxury to your trip, drive a half an hour to the amazing golfing and spa experiences at five-star resort The American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin, which is perfect for parents who need some grown-up (less grubby) fun.

Ninety miles north of New York City, Club Getaway in Connecticut is a 32-acre camp site that offers six sessions of family camp, each two to four nights long. You'll pack plenty of outdoor fun into your stay during daytime adventures like ziplining, tubing on the lake, hiking, and taking on the ropes course.

Families can choose to stick together during the day, or you can enroll your kids in supervised camp activities while the adults undertake their own adventures like hiking and biking. At night, families join together to compete in games and Olympics-style events, as well as campfires and nightly entertainment. After evening activities, it's time to settle into the camp's cabins, which have beautiful views of the lake and surrounding Berkshire Mountains.

If you're up for a real adventure, take your family to the Peaks 'n Swells Family Surf Camp on the beaches of Costa Rica. Run by a husband and wife who used to be professional mountain bikers, the camp offers technical surf coaching for the whole family, plus activities like yoga, waterfall hikes, tidal pool exploration, and beachfront soccer games. As a cool added bonus, they also have a professional photographer on staff, and her services are included in the price of your trip, as are all your meals and accommodations in your own beachfront villa.

The rustic but charming Rockywold Deephaven Camps on Squam Lake in New Hampshire (two-and-a-half hours from Boston) is the perfect family getaway. Book a multi-bedroom cottage — where you'll find a screened-in porch and a fireplace but no telephones or televisions — for a week, or stay for a shorter period in the lodge. Families can spend their time enjoying the water — with canoeing, kayaking, and sailing — hiking, and playing tennis on the eight clay courts. Nights are filled with traditional camp events like capture the flag and square dancing. All meals are included in the nightly rate and are served in a historic lodge, dating back to the camp's 1897 debut.

Located in the Giant Sequoia National Forest, Montecito Sequoia Lodge Family Camp offers 10 six-night family camp experiences that both kids and adults will love. Kids ages 2 to 18 can sign up for the children's program and, for almost six hours per day, the camp staff will engage them in crafts, projects, and games. While the little ones are busy, parents can relax, take a class, or join in activities like horseback riding, yoga, and tennis. Accommodations include private cabins or rooms at the lodge, and all include buffet-style meals and 24-hour snacks and drinks.

What happens when a stylish couple from Chicago buys the husband's childhood getaway on an unheard-of lake in Wisconsin, 90 miles north of their big city home? All ages-welcome Camp Wandawega is born, that's what. The camp is an Instagram dream with its totally cool yet rustic cabins.

Don't expect all the amenities you'll find at other traditional family camps (reading their Manifesto of Low Expectations is a pre-visit must-do). You'll be responsible for scheduling your own fun — guests have access to a private beach and fishing pier, canoeing, boating, fishing, hiking, biking, archery, and campfires — and making your own meals, but if "cool factor" is on your wish list for a family camping excursion, you won't find a better spot. Summers book quickly, so reserve your cabin on AirBnB ASAP.

From early June to late July, Callaway Gardens Resort in Pine Mountain, Georgia (about an hour from Atlanta) — a 6,500-acre resort complex with about 2,500 acres of woodland gardens, plus biking trails, lakes, white-sand beaches, and golf courses — transforms into a family camp.

Families can book a four- to seven-night package, which includes adventures like water skiing, geocaching, and even trapeze lessons. Children ages 3 to 17 are split into age groups for daily activities, while adults can chose to join-in on those activities or take time to work on their golf games, listen to an organ concert, or try out an astronomy class. Accommodations are in cottages or villas equipped with a full kitchen, screened-in porch, and, for those of us who can't quite get totally into the camp lifestyle, free WiFi.