Location & Pricing

2026 Course List

LocationS:

Most classes are held at our private training facility in Northern Virginia. This site is private property in the forests west of Garrisonville, south of Warrenton, north of Hartwood. Detailed directions are provided upon enrollment. We also run a few foraging classes at Sky Meadows State Park near Delaplane, Virginia.

2026 class PRICINg

One-Day Regular Classes - $149
Two-Day Classes - $299
Three-Day Classes - $449

Check out our option for Survival Class Bundles - new 4-Day option just added!

good to know

30 Years of Teaching Experience

For school owner and head instructor Tim MacWelch, September 2025 marked the 30th consecutive year of providing survival training to the general public and private groups. That’s three decades of showing people how to stay alive in the woods!

The Lost Book

The “lost book” is coming out in 2026. Your instructor Tim MacWelch had a two-book-deal with Skyhorse Publishing in 2019, but only one book was published. COVID hit, and that second manuscript just fell through the cracks. We are all pleased to announce that this lost book on water procurement and fire building is scheduled for a September 2026 release.

The Water and Fire Survival Handbook will be the 14th published book from the school’s head instructor. Check your bookshelf - do you already have a MacWelch Bestseller?

spring Spotlight

Welcome the first days of spring with our Spring Wild Edible Plant class at Sky Meadows State Park in Deleplane, Virginia. This huge park has hosted our plant classes for many years and we are excited to return for the 2026 season. The class on April 4th will cover roughly 4 miles of the park’s trails and include stunning views of the Blue Ridge mountains and rolling hills of the Piedmont.

If your April 4th weekend is busy with the holiday, you can join us on the following weekend at our home location near Hartwood, Virginia for our Spring Wild Edibles class and Wild Medicinal Plants class. Take either day (or both days, April 11-12) and learn about the remarkable wild plants that grow so abundantly in the springtime.

Hope to see you in a class soon - Tim MacWelch

Welcome to the Course List page (updated on 3/23/2026).
This page gives you a month-by-month listing of our upcoming events.

2026 Sky Meadows State Park Classes - Deleplane, Va

April 4 - Spring Wild Edible Plants - $149
June 14 - Summer Wild Edible Plants - $149
November 8 - Fall Wild Edible Plants - $149

2026 Home Location Classes - Hartwood, Va

Home location classes typically run from 9 am until 4 pm (Crash Courses usually run from 9 am to 5 pm)

April 11 - Spring Wild Edible Plants - $149
April 12 - Medicinal Wild Plants - $149
April 11-12 - Foraging Intensive Weekend - $299
May 16 - Sustainable Gardening - $149
May 17 - Raising Small Animals - $149
May 16-17 - Homesteader Weekend - $299
June 13 - Blacksmithing - $149
July 18 - Summer Wild Edible Plants - $149
July 19 - Advanced Herbalism - $149
July 18-19 - Foraging Intensive Weekend - $299
August 1-2 - Wilderness Survival - $299
August 1 - Modern Survival Crash Course - $149
November 21-23 - Primitive Skills (full 3-day version) - $449
November 21-22 - Primitive Skills (2-day version) - $299
November 21 - Primitive Survival Crash Course - $149
November 22 - Primitive Traps and Weapons - $149