Best Camping Channels

Steve Wallis is a Canadian heating contractor from Alberta who has been camping year-round since 2010 under one self-imposed rule: ABC — Always Be Camping. His channel is built around stealth camping — setting up overnight in unusual, unexpected or technically off-limits locations like industrial estates, storm drains, under bridges and inside roadside signs — and winter camping in temperatures down to −32°C. He is cheerful, practical and completely unafraid of looking ridiculous, which is what makes the channel work. With over 2 million subscribers and 362 million total views, Camping With Steve has become one of the most recognisable camping personalities on YouTube, notable for making the mundane genuinely entertaining.

The stealth-camping premise is entertaining but sits in a legal grey area, and copying it without understanding local rules could land viewers in real trouble. The format is repetitive by design — once you’ve seen the setup a few times, the novelty can wear off — and it’s built around personality and entertainment more than teaching transferable skills.

Shawn James is a Canadian outdoorsman who spent two years building a hand-hewn off-grid log cabin alone in the Ontario wilderness using only traditional hand tools — no power tools, no outside help. The documentary series he made of that build became one of the most-watched bushcraft and wilderness living series on YouTube. With 2 million subscribers and nearly 500 million total views, the channel is a sustained, honest account of what it actually takes to leave modern infrastructure behind. The cabin-building content is gripping in a way that has nothing to do with drama and everything to do with craftsmanship, patience and the sheer scale of what he undertook alone.

The slow, meditative pace and long-form builds aren’t for everyone — viewers after quick tips or weekend-camping advice will find it demands patience. The lifestyle shown also rests on owning suitable land, significant skill and serious time, so it’s more aspirational documentary than a replicable how-to for most people.

Mike Pullen is a British outdoorsman who built his 2.5 million subscriber channel around one central idea: how did people before us actually live? His projects have included a full-size Viking longhouse, a Saxon pit dwelling, a Native American wigwam and a cabin built entirely from pallet wood — all constructed by hand in the forest using traditional tools and techniques. Alongside the historical building projects, the channel covers solo wild camping, bushcraft skills, fishing and hunting, all filmed with strong production values and Mike's relaxed, knowledgeable approach. One of the most ambitious and consistently impressive bushcraft channels on YouTube.

The flagship historical builds are spectacular but represent enormous time and resource investment that few viewers could realistically attempt. Upload frequency on the big projects is naturally slow, and the channel’s range — from authentic bushcraft to large set-piece builds — means the practical, learn-this-tonight content is more scattered than on a dedicated skills channel.

Joe Robinet is a self-described "regular Canadian guy" who has been documenting solo bushcraft camping trips in the Ontario wilderness since 2007. His channel covers solo overnighters, extended canoe trips and multi-day backcountry expeditions — sometimes in a tent, sometimes under a tarp, sometimes in the open — always honest about what works and what does not. He appeared in Season 1 of the History Channel's survival show Alone, and later filmed a TV series with his dog, but the YouTube channel remains the most genuine version of him: unscripted, unpolished and genuinely enjoyable to follow into the bush. A recent serious injury has slowed his output, but he has been returning to the wilderness throughout 2024 and 2025.

The deliberately unpolished, regular-guy style is part of the appeal but means less structured instruction than a dedicated skills channel — you learn by watching rather than being taught step by step. Output has also been less consistent following a serious injury, so the upload schedule is more irregular than it once was.

Lilly is a self-taught Austrian survivalist who has been building shelters, fires and skills in the forests near her home since 2011. Her channel covers wilderness shelter construction, bushcraft techniques, gear reviews, archery and solo camping trips across Europe and further afield. She appeared on Season 15 of Naked and Afraid, which introduced her to a significantly wider audience. What distinguishes Lilly from many survival YouTubers is her emphasis on being genuinely self-taught — she has no military or professional background, and she is upfront about mistakes and learning. That transparency has built a loyal and engaged community around her channel.

Being genuinely self-taught is a strength for relatability but means some techniques are her own trial-and-error solutions rather than established best practice, so it’s worth cross-checking critical skills. The channel also leans toward gear reviews and survival scenarios that can feel removed from everyday recreational camping.

Beau Miles is an Australian outdoor educator and filmmaker with a PhD in outdoor education from Monash University, who makes cinematic short films about what he calls "meaningful and pointless expeditions." He has run a mile every hour for 24 hours while doing odd jobs around his property, kayaked 4,000 kilometres around the southern tip of Africa, walked to work across an entire state, and built elaborate structures from other people's discarded junk. The production quality is genuinely high — this is filmmaking, not vlogging — and the writing, pacing and soundtrack are a cut above anything else in the camping and adventure space. One of the most creatively distinct channels on all of YouTube.

This is adventure filmmaking rather than instructional content — you’ll come away inspired, not necessarily with new camping skills. The cinematic, essayistic style and infrequent uploads (each film takes a long time to make) mean it scratches a very different itch from a practical bushcraft channel.

Corporals Corner is run by a US Army veteran who has been posting solo overnight camping and bushcraft content since 2012. The channel centres on solo camping trips — usually overnight — where he builds shelters, makes fire, cooks over open flame and documents the whole process with a quiet, methodical approach. His underground shelter builds are among the most-viewed in the genre, and his consistency over more than a decade has built a loyal audience that values practical knowledge over performance. With new solo overnight videos dropping weekly into 2025 and 2026, Corporals Corner remains one of the most reliably active and genuinely useful channels in the bushcraft space.

The quiet, methodical solo-overnight format is reliable but stylistically narrow — most videos follow a similar shape, which some find repetitive over time. It’s firmly focused on solo bushcraft and shelter work, so there’s little here on group camping, family trips or gear-based car camping.