Soft adventure tourism encompasses activities that provide therapeutic benefits. This study develops a comprehensive analytical framework based on the interactive elements of “Place,” “Process,” and “People” and is grounded in the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model. Through quantitative analysis of data from 427 adventure tourists, three key findings emerge. First, the natural wilderness environment facilitates tourists’ psychological recovery, mediated by perceptions of environmental restoration. Second, perceived challenges and social interaction positively influence tourists’ positive affect, psychological resilience, and social benefits by fulfilling basic psychological needs, whereas risk perception does not play a central role. Third, an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between physical exercise intensity and health benefits, indicating that moderate activity yields the greatest gains. These findings collectively validate and refine the Place–Process–People framework by demonstrating that each dimension contributes to health through a distinct pathway: environmental restorativeness for Place, basic psychological need satisfaction for Process, and a non-linear dose–response pattern for People. This empirically grounded framework expands understanding of soft adventure tourism’s therapeutic potential and offers actionable insights for designing health-supportive experiences in the global outdoor industry.