Think you could make it through a night in Asheville’s wilds? If your survival skills need a little brushing up, or maybe you’re still mastering the basics, look no further than local hands-on classes teaching you how to reconnect with nature + live sustainably off the land.

No Taste Like Home

The most popular option offered by this nature education organization is the Foraging Tour, a guided ramble to find wild fruits, nuts, greens + sometimes even mushrooms. It features on-site tasting with an option for a local restaurant to cook up your finds. Anyone else thinking this would make a great holiday gift? The company also offers a Morel + Ramp tour and a Wild Food Immersion, a 10-week course about edible plants + medicine in nature.

Wild Abundance

Wild Abundance specializes in teaching natural-world skills “foundational to human culture for millennia.” Enrollment for a virtual Hide Tanning Course is open through Dec. 1, with an upcoming New Year’s sale to enroll in next year’s online + in-person classes. Pro tip: The in-person classes tend to fill up quickly, so get on the waitlist now for courses like the four-day Survival Skills Class offered next spring.

Firefly Gathering

For those looking for an immersive, multi-day experience, the annual Firefly Gathering at Deerfields in Mills River brings together learners + instructors for over 300 classes like making herbal medicine, food preservation, and more. Next year’s gathering takes place July 7-12, with first tickets going on sale New Year’s Eve. Other ongoing classes here.

Holistic Survival School

For an immersion in skills our ancestors used to rely on the Earth, HoSS offers everything from a 10-month Deep Remembering to private classes you can book for yourself + a group of friends. Coming up in January is a 5-day Build Your Own Bow Class — tickets can be purchased now.

Poll

/**/