There’s nothing quite so manly as cooking your own food over a fire you built. It’s perfectly fine if that food is a package of low-sodium sausage from Whole Foods, and the fire is fueled by a Duraflame. You’re still muy macho, although you might want to take the time consider a different destination. Bachelor partiers who prefer the absence of civilization take to camping, sport hunting, fishing and general bonding with the wilderness. Pack your fleece and boots and escape the modern comforts of city life at these great spots known for the simple life of the great outdoors. These places are more Bud Light commercial than Duck Dynasty, so you can still camp without a shotgun—but bring one anyway because, Bigfoot.
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Willamette National Forest, Oregon
Willamette National Forest, Oregon, USA
The Willamette National Forest in Central Oregon has it all: mountains, campgrounds, lakes, volcanic craters and even lava river caves. The sleepy lumber town of Bend, your launching point. While you’re camping out here in the woods, you’ll be hiking, kayaking, forest bathing (yes, that’s a thing), hanging hammocks between trees, fishing, hunting elk and deer (while in season) and experiencing the best stargazing ever. You’ll even hear coyotes in the distance, that’s how remote you are. But if you can’t give up the comfort of an actual bed, you can stay in a lodge rather than sleep on the ground, and you’ll still be immersed in nature.
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Lake Placid, New York
Lake Placid, NY, USA
About five hours by train from New York City, Lake Placid in the Adirondacks is the ultimate destination for woodsmen. It’s hard to believe a place like this could exist so close to NYC. To be totally transparent, Lake Placid is rather pricey, (including some of the most expensive resorts in the state like Lake Placid Lodge. These high-end luxury resorts are ideal for bachelor party groups willing to splurge. But, you can still pitch a tent in the wild, go fishing for trout, meet a black bear (yes, they roam around here) and hunt game like wild turkey.
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Florida Keys, Florida
Everglades National Park, Florida, USA
While the Florida Keys offer many day camping options (lots of campgrounds feature RV sites), it’s one of few rare camping spots with consistently good weather and beaches surrounded by woods. The reason why it’s a must visit is because you won’t ever get sunsets like this along the coast from your pitched tent, and you can fish right on shore. It’s not your typical camping destination (don’t expect to be super primitive here), it’s much more recreational.
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Southeast Louisiana
Venice, Boothville-Venice, LA, USA
If your crew loves hunting, fishing, and meeting people who have never ordered from Seamless (or even know what it is), make a beeline to Louisiana around the Venice area. Endless acres of wildlife offer camping, deer hunting, lakes for fishing and even swamps and marshes if you want to wrestle a gator. Stay long enough and you might develop a southern drawl and affinity for tabacky. Bonus: you’re going to have to go through New Orleans to balance it all out, so that’s a plus.
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Wisconsin
Devil's Lake State Park, Park Road, Baraboo, WI, USA
The state of Wisconsin has so many amazing national parks where you can camp, and many have breathtaking landscapes filled with all manner of fauna so you’re going to want to plot and plan properly. Wisconsin is home of the badgers because you’ll actually see them here, but you can’t kill them, because they’re state protected. You’ll also see grey wolves, American black bears and even puma. Bachelor parties have camped in Wisconsin for decades, including Wyalusing State Park (with bluffs 500 feet above the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers) and Devil’s Lake State Park with its gorgeous lake with sandy beaches, not to mention 500 foot bluffs as well and 29 miles of hiking trails. If ATVing is your thing, Black River State Park is it.
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Colorado
Grand Junction, CO, USA
Colorado locals are attracted to the abundance of outdoor activities. Many move here to work in ski resorts, national parks, river rafting, whatever it takes to be one with nature full time. They’re always camping on the weekends, so you know that you’re going to be sharing grounds with cool folk and you’re not going to run into a Deliverance situation. Grand Junction has the motherlode of elk not to mention trout lakes for days. There’s just way too many national forest camping spots to choose from. In the heart of the Rockies, Breckenridge is also a hot spot and super close to Denver.
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Grand Canyon, Arizona
Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA
The mother of all natural attractions in America, the Grand Canyon is sprawling with camping (best accessed via Arizona). Camping here is a great way to get to know the area rather than a quick tour, and bachelor party groups can actually get to experience Grand Canyon in a closer way without touristy crowds. Get ready to be blown away by sunrises/sunsets, waterfalls, and scores of wildlife (including bison, mountain lion, coyote, rabbit and bear). You can’t hunt here (you need a license but chances are very slim because there’s a balance of wildlife they closely monitor) but most people come just to be among the wildlife. And if you need any further help planning this one, point your eyeballs here.
