Join us for classes, hikes and workshops with camp directors Kim & Chris Chisholm!
Springtime Adult and Family Workshops
Saturdays in Puyallup WA from 9:30-5:30 and designed for adults, but youth may enroll with parents.
April 5, 2025: Wilderness Survival & Fire by Friction includes training on the order of survival, natural bivouac shelters that work in real emergencies, the best methods of making fire in all weather conditions, and knife training to carve a bow drill kit for fire-by-friction. Cost for this workshop is $145, plus $120 per additional friend/family member registering in advance, with scholarships available.
April 12, 2025: Wild Edible Foods Foraging & Herbal Medicine Making includes hands-on harvesting, cooking of wild edible plants, and making herbal medicines from plants
around Blue Skye Farm as well as near-by fields and forests in our beautiful bioregion. Cost for this workshop $195 for one person, plus $150 per additional friend/family member registering in advance, with scholarships available.
April 26, 2025: Wildlife Awareness, Bird Voices, Tracks & Trails has a name that says it all, but let’s just say that after today you’ll be able to use wildlife field guide and apps to identify critters most people can only guess at and be amazed at how bird calls and animal tracks can keep you safe as well as bring you intimately close to nature. Cost for this workshop is just $95, plus $90 per additional friend/family member registering in advance, with scholarships available.
May 3, 2025: Backcountry Safety, Natural Navigation, Map & Compass includes risk management training for hikes and backpacking trips, lost proofing, and orienteering with map and compass, among other critical skills for when venturing alone or leading others into the wilderness. Cost for this workshop is just $145, plus $120 per additional friend/family member registering in advance, with scholarships available.
Summer Classes return in 2025
The following adult and family classes cost $35 for one person, $30 per additional friend/family member. Register as they are listed on our Outdoor Education in King County meetup site.
June 30, 2025 Monday Morning from 9:30-12:00 Natural Navigation, Wildlife Safety & Awareness – This class will be a fun and informative way to learn how to exponentially increase your senses of sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing to get your bearings in the wilderness. We will introduce you to 15 ways to navigate in the wilderness, and practice what to do in case of encounters with bears, wolves and mountain lions.
June 30, 2025 Monday Afternoon from 1:30-4:00 Lostproofing, Map & Compass – This class can be taken as a stand-alone class, but it will also build upon the morning class, continuing with 15 more ways to navigate including our special Wolf Camp 4 Step Methods of using map and compass.
July 1, 2025 Tuesday Morning from 9:30-12:00 Birds and Their Voices – In this class, you will also learn how to identify birds quickly and how birds communicate, both with one another as well as with other animals and humans. In so doing, you’ll know where those big animals are moving through the forest. Register on our Meetup Site.
July 1, 2025 Tuesday Afternoon from 1:30-4:00 Tracking & Trailing Wild Animals – We will start class with an overview of wildlife tracking to help you recognize tracks and other signs of animals, including track characteristics of mammal families present in our bioregion. Your instructors will arrange a “tracking scenario” consisting of track “cut-outs” to solidify your understanding of track identification, plus educated interpretation of what animals are doing based on their tracks. We will also choose some volunteers to demonstrate “animal forms” which are the way animals move, as this is critical to really understand how tracks get laid on the ground. Finally, we’ll embark on a real-life tracking expedition into the depths of the park, trailing what we find. Register on our Meetup Site.
July 2, 2025 Wednesday Morning from 9:30-12:00 Wilderness Survival including Best Emergency Shelter – The world can be a dangerous place sometimes; one never knows when they may end up in a survival situation. This class seeks to give you a run down on all the skills needed for any short term survival event, whether that is a day hike gone wrong, a disaster emergency or a fun two hour class for the whole family. Register on our Meetup Site.
July 2, 2025 Wednesday Afternoon from 1:30-4:00 Old School Fire Making including the Bow Drill & Fire Steel – We will walk you through the best way to make a fire and view a variety of materials to see how they burn as tinder. We will start the bow drill portion of the workshop by reflecting the symbolism of the parts of the bow drill kit, and you will realize why this method of fire-by-friction was preferred (and superior even to matches) for lighting fires in cold and wet climates. It should only take 10 seconds to create a coal if your kit is well constructed. Register on our Meetup Site.
July 3, 2025 Thursday Morning from 9:30-12:00 Wild Edible Food Plants & Critters – We’ll start this class by practicing honorable harvesting methods and plant stewardship as we select the plant parts we need and carefully collect and store them for later use. You’ll learn when and where to look for the Top 10 Edible Plants of our region, and how to identify and prepare them. We’ll also spend some time examining poisonous look-a-likes and we’ll discuss safety in the forest. Finally, we’ll go on a foray for wild edible insects! Register on our Meetup Site.
July 3, 2025 Thursday Afternoon from 1:30-:400 Wild Plants for Medicine & Craft – In this class you will be introduced to the myriad wild medicinal plants in Clark’s Creek Park, plus go deeper into neighboring state land to harvest a variety of materials that can be used for basketry and rope making. You will learn techniques for creating strong natural cordage, learn about gardening herbs and turning them into medicine. Join us in an herbalist’s paradise where we hope this will be just about the best intensive learning experience you can find on utilitarian plants anywhere. Register on our Meetup Site.
Healing Nature Walks – Return in 2025
Join original Wolf Camp instructor Nayaret Quezada-Salazar for weekly Nature Healing Walks, usually on Sundays from 2-5 p.m. The walks help participants connect with nature and its medicinal properties, for healing of the body, mind, emotions, soul and spirit. Practice Earthing Meditations (sitting, lying down and moving) to connect with ourselves, as well as the plants, animals and elemental protectors of nature. RSVP via the Northwest Nature Hikes meetup page as events are listed. Contributions requested of between $5-$25 per person when you arrive for the hike to support Nayaret for her time and travel expenses. Initial healing walks include:
- Nature Healing Walk to Seaside Bluffs & Tide Pools – Deception Pass State Park at Rosario Beach RETURNING AGAIN IN 2025 TBA
- Nature Healing Walk to Riverside Raptor Nests & Animal Tracks – Bob Hierman Wildlife Park on the Snohomish River RETURNING AGAIN IN 2025 TBA
- Nature Healing Walk to Owl Nests & Bear Dens – Lake Sammamish State Park, Issaquah WA RETURNING AGAIN IN 2025 TBA
- Nature Healing Walk to Artesian Springs & Old Growth Trees – Clark’s Creek Park Fish Hatchery, Puyallup WA RETURNING AGAIN IN 2025 TBA
Accessible Northwest Natural History Hikes – Return in 2025
These hikes are run by accessibility advocate Matt Budzak and naturalists from the Conservation College on urban and accessible trails. Suggested donation of $15 per person are requested to support the Conservation Luminary program. RSVP via the Northwest Nature Hikes meetup page as events are listed.
- Clark’s Creek Park Birding in Puyallup WA from 12:00-3:00 pm.
- Swan Creek Park Community Gardens & Canyon Rim Trail, Tacoma WA
- Native Plants of Bradley Lake & Pierce Collegein Puyallup WA from 12:00-3:00 pm.
Or email us to be put on our list for the future. We always keep your information absolutely private and will never share it. Have you ever attended one of our programs before? Please review us on our Better Business Bureau, Facebook, Yelp & Google pages.
Previously Recorded Classes: Ethnobotany Series & Survival Series
Series of 10 Recorded Live Classes on Herbal Medicine & Plant Crafts
- Class 1 – The Art & Science of Herbal Medicine, Wildcrafting & Wild Food Nutrition (content example)
- Class 2 – Summer Medicine Cabinet Staples: Mint, Chamomile, Lavender, Plantain & More (content example)
- Class 3 – Winter Medicine Cabinet Staples: Yarrow, Arnica, Rose Hips, Pine Needles, Marshmallow, Elder & More (content example)
- Class 4 – Stinging Nettles for Medicine, Rope & Fiber Crafts (content example)
- Class 5 – Cattails & Sedges for Cordage, Coasters, Weaving & More (content example)
- Class 6 – Grasses & Rushes for Insulative Sitting Mats, Thatching Roofs & More (content example)
- Class 7 – Willows for Medicine, Basketry, Lashing & Shelter (content example)
- Class 8 – Oak Tree Craft Projects & Processing Acorn Flour (content example)
- Class 9 – Top Trees & Shrubs for Digging Sticks, Drums, At-Latls, Bows & Arrows (content example)
- Class 10 – Making Alcohol Tinctures (Yarrow Example), Rose Honey & Glycerites (Fennel Example) as well as the best plants/trees for fire by friction and fire maintenance
Series of 10 Recorded Live Classes on Wilderness Survival & Bushcraft Skills
- Class 1 – The Order of Survival & Four Minutes to establish Personal Awareness, Communication & Teamwork (content example)
- Class 2 – Local Knowledge & Four Hours to Make Shelter (content example)
- Class 3 – Fire Decisions & Four Days to Pure Water (content example)
- Class 4 – Wild Medicine & Four Weeks to Secure Food (content example)
- Class 5 – Wilderness First Aid, Knife & Tool Training (content example)
- Cass 6 – Fire Steel, Tinder, Criss-Cross Fire Making & Burn Bowls (content example)
- Class 7 – Fire By Friction: Bow Drill, Hand Drill, Flint & Steel (content example)
- Class 8 – Rabbitsticks & Bow Making Primer (content example)
- Class 9 – Arrows & At-Latl Dart Primer (content example)
- Class 10 – Special Final Classes on Wilderness Survival & Bushcraft Training, including how to make string, rope and cordage from plants like raffia, cedar and stinging nettle; and a special guest speaker Seth Kantner live from above the arctic circle. Seth is an acclaimed photographer and author of books including Ordinary Wolves, Swallowed by the Great Land, Shopping for Porcupine, Pup and Pokey. Due to the miracle of modern technology, this will be a rare opportunity for us to hear about surviving and thriving in the wilds of Northwest Alaska.