Montana!
Yes, this is a good one in Durango. I know a couple of students who went there recently from OOS. Totally for outdoorsy types.
Dartmouth, Williams, Hamilton, Middlebury, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, St. Lawrence
Deep Springs comes to mind.
If your kid likes sailing as well as kayaking, look into St. Mary’s of Maryland.
Another Fort Lewis nod here…Durango is awesome, there is a ski-hill adjacent campus and hundreds of miles of biking/hiking trails accessible without driving to a trail head. They offer loaner equipment for camping, climbing, biking, kayaking - you name it. They have a 20 time national champion mountain bike team, an official adventure program and just bought a rafting company.
https://www.fortlewis.edu/outdoor-pursuits/
https://the-journal.com/articles/101344
They are a little selective but, not hard to get into. As a public school aren’t absurdly expensive and they offer some merit based discounts. If your kid loves the outdoors, it doesn’t get much better.
my son leaves tomorrow to start his sophomore year in a few weeks and rides for the mtn bike team.
I agree that Berry College is a beautiful campus with lots of options for outdoorsy types. The outdoorsy culture is not dominant, so you will find all kinds of students on campus. But even the non-outdoorsy students will be wearing Chacos and hanging outside in their Eno Hammocks.
UNH, UVM, UME, VA Tech, St. Lawrence University…
College of the Atlantic https://www.coa.edu/
“Pink granite mountains, spruce forests, island-studded bays, and miles of rugged coastline: the landscape of Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island has inspired awe in artists, vacationers, and local residents for centuries. But COA’s location surrounded by Acadia National Park and the Atlantic Ocean isn’t just a spectacular place to live and visit; it’s a rich and multi-faceted laboratory for learning in the field.”
Cornell - wonderful hiking, rock climbing, ski club, etc…
Thank you all. They’ve (twins) been hiking, rafting, kayaking and camping. Both enjoyed been out in the wilderness tremendously, which surprised us with one of them. I was just curious as to what was out there, especially if anyone had any first hand knowledge. I had never even thought about sailing.
Unity College of Maine – https://www.unity.edu/
Green Mountain College – http://www.greenmtn.edu/
Marlboro College – https://www.marlboro.edu/
Hampshire College (and part of the Five College consortium with Mt. Holyoke, Smith, Amherst and UMass amherst) – https://www.hampshire.edu/opra/outdoor-programs
Reed College – https://www.reed.edu/sports_center/rope/index.html
Warren Wilson – https://www.warren-wilson.edu/about/
Lewis and Clark – https://www.lclark.edu/programs/college_outdoors/programs/nst/
University of San Diego – https://www.sandiego.edu/outdoor-adventures/
Boise State
Rafting/Kayaking: check out the North and South Forks of the Payette, especially the North Fork Class V run. The South Fork is a little tamer, mostly Class IV. The Boise runs through campus, but people generally float that in an inner tube.
Hiking: check out the Ridge to Rivers trail system and all the trails at Bogus Basin. If you’re willing to travel farther, the opportunities become nearly endless.
Camping: I don’t even know where to start, there are so many different options. Maybe Garden Valley? Or Blue Lake near Cascade? There’s everything from glamping to hardcore backpacking.
Maine is loaded with these “outdoors” colleges. It depends on what you want to study.
Look at Unity College for environmental and wildlife studies.
College of the Atlantic for environmental studies.
Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin Colleges.
As already mentioned, U Maine. All New England students receive a tuition discount at U Maine.
If you are STEM directed and like the ocean, check out Maine Maritime.
Another plug for U of Utah - https://campusrec.utah.edu/programs/outdoor-adventures/
For skiers, hikers and climbers, nothing compares to Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Utah for the Rockies, and California schools (San Francisco, Davis, Sacramento, Fresno) for Sierra Mountains and Lake Tahoe ski resort access. Sorry little East Coast icy slopes, but nothing approaches vast acres of Rocky Mountain champagne powder and high altitude sunshine under cerulean skies.
Eckerd College is located on Boca Ciega Bay and has a full watersports program including sailing and sailing lessons, kayak, wake board, search and rescue training, fising equipment, paddle boards, camping, hiking.
www.eckerd.edu/waterfront/
www.eckerd.edu/waterfront/ecsar/
Whitman has an award winning outdoor program which offers low cost rentals of all outdoor equipment for students. They can go on their own or go on one of many organized trips led by experienced students. Skiing, kayaking, rock climbing, backpacking, and biking. It’s a very outdoorsy place.
USA Today took a brief look inside Hamilton’s outing club when they wrote about the simultaneous ascent by Hamilton students of all 46 Adirondack high-peaks: