14 Fun Camping Activities for Adults: Campfire, Classic, and Active

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So you’re going camping. What will you do to pass the time? In this post, you’ll learn about 14 fun camping activities for adults. Let’s get started!

14 Fun Camping Activities for Adults

Just because you are all grown up doesn’t mean you are too old for camping activities. In fact, this list of 14 fun camping activities for adults will have you feeling like a kid again before you know it!

Spending time without cell phone service doesn’t have to feel like the end of the world. While there are quite a few exciting camping activities for adults, the 14 on this list can be divided into 3 primary categories.

You can choose between campfire, classic, and active games. Don’t let boredom set in when there are so many fun things to do!

Check out this huge guide to camping games for families and kids.

Campfire Games for Adults

1. Name that Song

For camping trips with musical friends, name that song will entertain as well as amuse. This game has been played for hundreds of years, and there are almost that many variations!

Here’s a simple one.

1. If there is a musician in your group, they begin playing their song of choice.
2. Whoever guesses the song first wins!
3. No one in your group has musical talent? Hook someone’s phone up to a Bluetooth speaker and let the games begin!

Although you love your obscure underground tunes, chances are someone in your group hasn’t heard them.

The key to this game is to play songs most people have heard. If you are camping with a large group of people, try breaking into teams for even more fun!

2. Two Truths and a Lie

Two truths and a lie is a great way to learn more about other people in your group. If you are camping with people who don’t know one another well, this can be a useful icebreaker game to get the fun started.

Gameplay is easy.

1. Each person tells two truths and one lie about themselves.
2. Then, other players have to guess which statement is a lie. To excel at the game, draw on experiences that are somewhat unique.
3. Example: Everyone has had stuff happen that is almost beyond belief. Things like, “once a Poodle saved my life”, “I used to eat paper”, and “the Vice President attended my college”.

I bet you can’t guess which one is the lie! Remember, the more creative and vulnerable you are, the more memorable the evening!

More reading: 55 Best Campfire Songs of All Time

3. Murder by Winking

This game is a fun camping activity for adults. It is terrific to play around the campfire. The dancing shadows make for some interesting accusations.

Here’s how it works.

1. One person is designated as the neutral Godfather, and everyone around the campfire closes their eyes.
2. The Godfather chooses a murderer by walking around the circle and tapping their person of choice on the head. When the Godfather has chosen, everyone opens their eyes and campfire conversation continues as normal.
3. Then, if the murderer winks at you, you die. When you die, sit back down and slump over. If someone witnesses the assassination they can call out the murderer and win the game. However, don’t be a snitch!
4. If you are wrong, you join the rest of the dead. The goal is to discover the murderer before they kill everyone.

4. The Voting Game

The voting game is another camping activity for adults that can be played in front of the fire. It works as an icebreaker as well!

This game is kind of like voting on most likely to succeed in high school, except way more fun.

1. Go around the campfire, and each person takes turns asking a question like, “who would beat a bear in a fist fight”?
2. Then, everyone can vote anonymously on who they think would beat a bear in a fistfight.
3. When all votes are in, the person who asked the question will announce the answer. You can also go around the circle and cast your vote out loud.

Both ways lead to fun stories and interesting perspectives.

If you don’t actually want to fight a bear, here’s how to keep them away from your campsite.

How are your fire-making skills? Check out our Ultimate Guide to Starting a Campfire (6 Ways)

Classic Camping Activities for Adults

5. Truth or Dare

Truth or dare is a fun camping activity that is typically thought of as a kid’s game. However, it can be just as fun for adults as well!

Just ask the commanders and kings of olden days!

It is believed truth or dare has been played for centuries and began as command games for the powerful. They would ask their subjects a question, and if the leaders did not think the answer was true, they would force them to follow a dare.

These days we don’t have to worry about any extremely negative consequences for answering truth or dare. That being said, know your audience. Offending, calling someone out, or making others feel awkward can end a fun night quickly.

6. Twenty Questions

In this fun camping activity for adults, one person is chosen as the designated answerer. The object of the game is to figure out what the answerer is thinking about!

1. Everyone else takes turns asking yes or no questions until they guess the object or run out of questions.
2. If you are the answerer, try to pick something others in your group have a chance of guessing. It can be fun to completely stump everyone, but sticking with something knowable will lead to a better time!
3. To begin, it is customary to ask if the object is a person, a place, or a thing. Although this takes up 3 of your questions, chances are it is one of the three!

7. Mafia

The classic game of mafia is perfect anytime, anywhere. If you have never played, get ready to have some serious fun!

1. This game requires a minimum of 7 people and can handle a max of 24.
2. All you need is one deck of cards. This game can be played anytime you are sitting down. Around the campfire, lunch, and dinner can be great opportunities!
3. The players are those in the mafia, the innocents, the detective, and the doctor. The mafia’s goal is to kill off the innocents.
4. The innocents are trying to figure out who is in the mafia before it is too late. The doctor can save anyone they like, including themselves. The detective is trying to guess the mafia members before they can kill the innocents.

There are many variations of this game, and directions can be found below.

Mafia the game began in the USSR as a commentary on the political system.

8. Telephone

Although your cell phone may not work, you can still play with a phone! Most of us remember this silly game from our childhood.

“I love my runts” quickly turned into “you love butts”. Nowadays, our vocabularies have widened and so have our circles.

Gameplay is easy!

1. One person starts by whispering a message into their neighbor’s ear.
2. The fun part comes at the end when the last person yells out the message they heard.

Be ready for some interesting surprises!

9. Would You Rather

Would you rather is another classic game that gives everyone a chance to have some fun? One of the more interesting of the camping activities for adults, you can learn a lot about your fellow weekend warriors.

The question always begins, “would you rather?” You can ask something as silly as, “would you rather have a pet unicorn or t-rex”? Or, your questions can be more serious. Would you rather be silly or serious?

Active Camping Activities for Adults

10. Charades

Charades is an active party game for adults that can easily be made into camping activities for adults.

1. This game can be played anywhere with 4 or more people. Players divide into two teams.
2. Whoever goes first acts something out. It could be the name of a movie, an animal, or anything. The possibilities are endless! Then, everyone else tries to guess. The trick is that the acting character cannot talk. They have to perform everything.
3. Whichever team has the most points at the end wins.

For a unique take on this game, play in front of the campfire. The flames will cast some unique shadows for some fun interpretations!

11. Who am I?

Who am I is one of those campfire activities for adults that can be played in a variety of ways.

1. All you need are post-it notes and an idea for who you want to be.
2. You can choose anyone from real life or fiction. Superheroes, cartoon characters, celebrities, historical characters, and politicians are all fair game. The key is to choose people others have a chance at guessing.
3. Stick the post-it to someone else’s back or forehead. Each person now has no idea who they are, and figuring that out becomes the goal of the game.
4. Players do this by mingling around the space, asking others a total of 20 questions to try and guess who they are.

This is another great icebreaker for groups wanting to know one another better. Simply make the rule that everyone must ask each person a question.

12. Stand up and Shout

Stand up and shout is a game of numbers.

• Count up and remember how many people are in your circle. The more the merrier!
• Each person has to yell out a number, in numerical order, until everyone has shouted.
• Anyone can start, but if two people try to yell the same number at the same time they are both out of the game.
• To make stand up and shout more frantic, the last person to call out a number also loses.

This camping activity for adults can be played almost anywhere. In daylight, exploring the campsite, and hiking are all perfect times to play this active game.

It can be much more challenging at night around a campfire!

13. Glow in the Dark Frisbee

Glow-in-the-dark frisbees are made for nights around the campsite. The only other thing you and your companions need are glow sticks.

These will give you the ability to see your fellow campers in the darkness. Be careful not to trip and fall, and be especially careful around the fire.

This game is best played in an open area near your site like a parking lot or a meadow. To see better in a more rugged place, use the red light on your headlamp.

14. Flashlight Tag

Flashlight tag is another one of the most fun camping activities for adults that children also play. You can use your headlamps for this, but real flashlights are a bit easier.

• One person becomes the seeker, while everyone else goes to hide. Then, the seeker uses their flashlight to tag the hiders.
• Even though this sounds like hide and seek, it’s not. There is an extra component. Everyone hiding can change spots whenever they want!

For variations, you can put some parameters on the gaming area, or split up into teams.

Keep reading: Here are 42 BBQ Games for Adults

And That’s Your Fun Camping Activities for Adults

No cell phone service? No longer will a few nights without it seem boring. These camping activities for adults will make putting down your phones worth it. The difference could be a memorable experience or a forgettable trip.

When you and your crew start living in the now and getting to know one another more, the closer you will become and the more fun you will have. So put down your cell phones and get some face-to-face time at camp!