Offline maps for the miles with no signal.
The trip planner for paddlers and campers, and the skills to back it up. Offline satellite maps and the AI Coach come with Premium. 15 field guides and a community that actually goes. Built for people who are done winging it.
200+ members and counting, and a top 200 hobby community on Skool. Built by the people in it.
Fifteen field guides you can hold.
Every guide is free to read online. The printed copies are the ones that ride in the boat.
The app, on real trips.
Planning a route at the kitchen table, following it with no signal, checking a gauge before the boat goes in.
Join Camping Wilderness Skool. The first 7 days are free.
- Start the free trial.Seven days inside THE CAMPFIRE, the community and the classroom.
- Explore the system.Open the Classroom, choose Hiker, Paddler or Hunter, and work through it.
- Stay, or do not.Keep going and you get the full library, Premium in the app and the weekly call. Pricing and billing are handled inside Skool.
Three ways in, one system
THE CAMPFIRE
A real crew of hikers, paddlers, and hunters who share what actually holds up in the field.
Start the 7-day free trial ›The CWS app
A trip planner with offline maps for where the signal dies, a float plan that tells somebody at home if you are late, GPS tracking, and a plan built around your skill gaps. Offline maps and the AI Coach come with Premium.
See the app ›15 field guides
From your first overnight to leading a self-reliant expedition. Navigation, canoe, hunting, survival, first response, and more.
Browse the guides ›
What's inside Camping Wilderness Skool
Not just a link to a community. A full system you can put to work tonight — the training, the app, and a crew that answers when you ask.
Want to judge it for yourself first? Flip through the Wilderness Skills Series free, no signup ›
15 field guides · 160+ lessons
From your first overnight to leading an expedition. Real topics: reading a river, loading a canoe for a headwind, meat care in the heat, land nav with a dead phone, shelter when the weather turns.
See the guides ›Plan the whole trip
Offline maps for the miles with no signal, a float plan somebody at home can count on, GPS tracking, and a plan built around your skill gaps. Offline maps and the AI Coach come with Premium.
See the app ›Real trips, broken down
Our films and paddles written up into what worked, what didn't, and what we'd pack differently. Free to read — no signup.
Read Field Notes ›How THE CAMPFIRE actually works
"Join the community" is vague, so here's the real thing: you post a question, people who've actually done it answer, and you plan trips together. The kind of questions that get worked out at the fire:
Three steps, no stumbling
1 — Say hey at the Campfire so we know you're here. · 2 — Pick your trail: Hiker, Paddler, or Hunter. · 3 — Open the Classroom tab and start your first lesson. That's it — you'll never be left wondering where to start.
Join THE CAMPFIRE ›Most people learn by getting it wrong out there.
Dead phone GPS at mile 12. A canoe loaded wrong in a headwind. Meat spoiled because nobody knew the 30-minute rule. These are not gear failures, they are preparation failures. CWS is the system you build before you leave the truck.
Where do you want to go?
Pick your trail. We will show you exactly where to start.
Hiker & Backpacker
Navigation, survival, all-weather skills, and traditional woodcraft that does not need a signal.
Start with Foundations ›Paddler & Canoe
Canoe camping systems, river reading, advanced strokes, and expedition fishing.
Start with Canoe ›Hunter & Angler
Ethical scouting, shot placement, field dressing, and field-to-freezer processing.
Start with Hunter's ›Real people. Real results.
The app goes in the boat with you
A trip planner that works where the signal dies: GPS tracking, weather, and a plan built around your skill gaps. Premium adds offline satellite maps and the AI Coach, and comes with your membership. Free to install on the App Store and Google Play, and it runs in your browser on any device.
Rodney and Tina Thompson
Everything taught here came off the water first. We run these rivers out of Saint George, Georgia, film every trip as it actually happened, and write up what went wrong along with what held. CWS is simply the system we use, handed over. One thing worth saying plainly: I am not a certified instructor. What I have is years of running these rivers and a camera that was running when it went wrong. That is what this is built on. The first response course will teach you how to think when help is hours away, but it is not a certification, so get properly trained for that as well.
Already pay for a map app?
CWS is not another list of trails. It puts the parts a map app leaves out in the same place as your route: a float plan that tells somebody at home if you are late, offline maps for the miles with no signal, a plan built around your group and your skills, and the courses to close the gaps. See how a canoe trip plan works ›
Stop winging it.
Join 200+ members at THE CAMPFIRE and get the full library and Premium in the app with it.
Join THE CAMPFIRENot ready to join yet?
Get the weekly. Water levels, what is running, and what we learned the hard way, every Tuesday, straight from the river. One email a week. Leave any time.