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Wilderness Drum > Wilderness Schools > Skills and Survival Coming into contact with a wild animal is like this. It rips us open and brings our world into that of the animals. We feel ourselves looking back at ourselves through those wild eyes. It is as if we are the ones – covered in fur, feathers and scales – gracefully and quietly moving through wilderness. In the peak of these unusual meetings, we recognize ourselves as kin to the very animal we are beholding. There is no separation between us and them; it is the meeting of two as one that stands out prominently in our mind’s eye.

— Cass Adams

The schools listed on this page teach wilderness survival and primitive skills, in a variety of mixes. Some are sheer practical survival schools; some focus on the reconstruction of stone age living skills; some add to the mix wilderness awareness, animal tracking, or various aspects of indigenous culture – all of them in all sorts of combinations. The only sure way to find out a school’s current focus and orientation is to contact it and ask. Don’t forget that schools – and people – can change over time, sometimes precipitously.

It is definitely hard to make a living running a wilderness school. Many schools are a labor of love, run on a part-time basis, usually during the summer. Although there are a few giants, such as the Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS) or the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), which have grown into relatively stable institutions, many wilderness schools derive from the vision of a single person, and thus open and close unpredictably. The list below is intended as a resource; you can find a school in your area, make contact, and make up your mind. Look the Web sites over carefully, too; the care and attention devoted to the Web site may reflect attitudes generally. I am not vouching for any of these schools, unless I specifically recommend a school or teacher in the Featured School section. I know some of the teachers personally; I know some by reputation, or through books they have written; some I do not know at all.

The schools marked with an asterisk in the list below have been described in J. A. Bigley, Aboman’s Guide to Wilderness Schools (Salt Lake City UT: Gibbs Smith, 2000), ISBN 0-87905-952-4. Similar lists of schools have been put up on the Web by Tom Elpel of Hollowtop Outdoor Primitive School, by Doug Ritter of Equipped to Survive, by Chris Smith, keeper of the Wilderness Schools Home Page, and by Tim Smith of Jack Mountain Bushcraft. For now, we are only listing schools in North America. The list below is as up-to-date as I can make it. I would be grateful for any additional information.

Featured Schools

Hollowtop Outdoor Primitive School
CONTACT Tom Elpel
12 Quartz Street
P.O. Box 691
Pony, MT 59747-0697
406-685-3222

Hollowtop is run by Tom and Renee Elpel, who are, in my opinion, the absolutely nicest people in the history of the world. Tom teaches firemaking, shelter construction, hide tanning, weaving baskets, making pottery, finding and cooking edible plants, and basically how to live off the land. He has written a number of books on wilderness and primitive skills, including Participating in Nature (Pony MT: HOPS Press, 2001), ISBN 1-89278-404-1, and Botany in a Day (Pony MT: HOPS Press, 2001), ISBN 1-89278-407-6. Just walking around and looking at plants with Tom is a great pleasure. He greets them like old friends, and I truly believe that they treat him the same way. The following quote is typical of the way Tom teaches primitive skills:

Primitive living is a metaphor we participate in and act out. Life is simplified down to the bare essentials: physical and mental well-being, shelter, warmth, clothing, water, and food. We go on an expedition to meet those needs with little more than our bare hands. In our quest we learn to observe, to think, to reach inside ourselves for new resources for dealing with challenging and unfamiliar situations. We build up our personal strengths, and at the same time we interact with and learn about the world around us. In a story we can only join a quest in our imaginations. But in primitive living, we physically leave the contemporary world. We journey into the world of stone-age skills, and we return with knowledge, wisdom, and strength to enrich our lives in contemporary society

Tom does not schedule classes. One of the challenges he has encountered in teaching primitive living and nature awareness is that rigid class schedules are, he believes, inherently unnatural. “The true essence of primitive living,” he says, “requires a certain blend and flow with the opportunities and necessities of the moment. The simple act of scheduling a class and establishing an itinerary ultimately disrupts that ebb and flow which we seek to be in tune with.” Thus, his teaching style has evolved over the years from regularly structured classes towards increasingly unstructured, free-form experiences, ultimately becoming a formless school with few scheduled classes. “A school without classes may seem like an odd way to run a business,” he says, “but then the path of nature rarely follows conventional wisdom.” This is the same approach that led Tom and Renee to decide, one day, to walk five hundred miles across Montana to Fort Union on the North Dakota border. Tom will work with you to set up a class – or an expedition – that fits your needs and experience.

Boulder Outdoor Survival School
CONTACT Josh Bernstein
PO Box 1590
Boulder, CO 80306
800-335-7404
303-444-9779

BOSS is in many ways the opposite of Hollowtop. Famous for its grueling 28-day field trips, BOSS has expanded its offerings to include shorter field trips – they are just as grueling but the pain doesn’t last as long – as well as courses in primitive skills, Wilderness First Responder and outdoor educator courses, and living skills courses among indigenous people on Isla Tiburon on the Sea of Cortez and the mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico. BOSS also offers courses in desert navigation, canyoneering, and winter survival, as well as a hunter-gatherer course, in which you get to live for ten days in the wilderness carrying only the tools you have made yourself. The instructors at BOSS are outstanding. All of them are knowledgeable, articulate, patient, thorough, and clearly devoted to their lifestyle. Yes, it is more expensive than some of the smaller outfits, some of which also do an outstanding job of teaching. Yes, under the direction of Josh Bernstein, BOSS is moving in the direction of training corporate yuppies how to be more productive. But when it comes to their core mission – the teaching of wilderness survival and primitive skills – no one does it better.

Wilderness Schools
Alabama
*Randall Adventure and Training* CONTACT Jeff Randall 60 Randall Road Gallant, AL 35972 256-570-0175	*Stalking the Wild* CONTACT Darryl Patton P.O. Box 8481 Gadsden, AL 35902 256-547-2453
Alaska
*Learn To Return* CONTACT Brian Horner 230 E. Potter Dr. Anchorage, AK 99518 907-563-4463	*World Survival Institute* CONTACT Chris Janowsky P.O. Box 394 Tok, AK 99780 907-883-4243
Alberta
*Boreal Wilderness Institute* CONTACT Bruce Zawalsky P.O. Box 76090 Edmonton, AB T6H 5Y7 Canada 403-914-4410	*Karamat Wilderness Ways** CONTACT Randy Breeuwsma Box 483 Wildwood, AB T0E 2M0 Canada 780-474-5405 877-527-2628
*The Trapper* CONTACT Ross Hinter P.O. Box 246 Tomahawk, AB TOE 2H0 Canada 780-797-3808
Arizona
*Aboriginal Living Skills** CONTACT Cody Lundin P.O. Box 3064 Prescott, AZ 86302 520-636-8384	*Ancient Pathways* CONTACT Tony Nester 1931 E. Andes Flagstaff, AZ 86004 928-774-7522
*Native American Self-Awareness Institute* CONTACT John Standingbear Hoopingarner 2422 North 72nd Place Scottsdale, AZ 85257 480-970-8811	*Raven’s Way* CONTACT Vince Pinto PO Box 16367 Portal, AZ 85632 520-403-5085
*Reevis Mountain School** CONTACT Peter "Bigfoot" Busnack HC O2 Box 1534 Roosevelt, AZ 85545 928-467-2675 480- 961-0490	*Willow River Wilderness School* CONTACT Randy Kinkade 141 W. Forrest Feezor Corona, AZ 85641 520-360-6868
Arkansas
*Cedar Creek Nature Studies* CONTACT Randy Teague 1796 Cedar Creek Road Hot Springs, AR 71901 501-262-0567	*Native Way Wilderness School* CONTACT Mike Thennes 10430 Reed Road Alexander, AR 72002 501-821-4911
British Columbia
*Survivors Edge* CONTACT Jackson Wagner P.O. Box 864 Sooke BC, VOS 1NO Canada 250-642-0628	*Windwalker Programs* CONTACT Wes Gietz 471B Anderton Road Comox, BC V9M 1Y9 Canada 250-339-3197
California
*Earth Skills** CONTACT Jim Lowery 1113 Cougar Court Frazier Park, CA 93225 661-245-0318	*Headwaters Outdoor School* CONTACT Tim Corcoran PO Box 1698 Santa Cruz, CA 95061-1698 831-423-3830
*Paleotechnics** CONTACT Steven Edholm P.O. Box 876 Boonville, CA 95415 707-793-2287	*Primitive Ways* CONTACT Norm Kidder P. O. Box 82 Sunol, CA 94586 925-862-2600
*School of Self-Reliance** CONTACT Christopher Nyerges P.O. Box 41834 Eagle Rock, CA 90041 323-255-9502
Colorado
*Boulder Outdoor Survival School** CONTACT Josh Bernstein PO Box 1590 Boulder, CO 80306 800-335-7404	*Earth Knack** CONTACT Robin Blankenship PO Box 508 Crestone, CO 81131 719-256-4909
*Enviro-Tech International* CONTACT Programs P.O. Box 2135 Montrose CO 81402 800-994-2434 970-249-7590	*Nature Knowledge** CONTACT Mel DeWeese 1825 Linden Street Grand Junction, CO 81503 970-242-8507
*OutdoorSafe* CONTACT Peter Kummerfeldt P.O. Box 62039 Colorado Springs, CO 80962 719-593-5852	*SPECOPS* CONTACT Jay Stanka P.O. Box 5694 Woodland Park, CO 80866-5694 800-713-2135
*Touch The Earth* CONTACT Bob Hemenger PO Box 2136 Pagosa Springs, CO 81147-2136 970-264-5430 800-995-2327	*Wilderness Institute of Survival Education* CONTACT Don Davis 8415 Coyote Run Loveland, CO 80537-9665 970-669-9016
Connecticut
*Two Coyotes Survival School* CONTACT Scott Eldridge PO Box 427 Kent, CT 06757 860-927-4870
Florida
*Global Principles Survival School* CONTACT Eric Metzger 653 West 23rd St. #294 Panama City, FL 32405 850-722-7870
Georgia
*Medicine Bow* CONTACT Mark Warren 104 Medicine Bow Dahlonega, GA 30533 706-864-5928
Idaho
*Backtracks* CONTACT Dave Wescott PO Box 905 Rexburg, ID 83440 208-359-2400	*Four Paw Power* CONTACT George Michaud P.O. Box 1139 Driggs, ID 83422 208-354-3250
*Salmon Outdoor School** CONTACT Joseph Bigley P.O. Box 17 Tendoy, ID 83468 208-756-8240
Illinois
*Ancient Lifeways Institute* CONTACT John White Michael Hollow Road Michael, IL 62065 618-576-9255	*Medicine Hawk* CONTACT Tom Hanratty Suite 215 3030 Warrenville Road Lisle, IL 60532 630-955-9550
Kansas
*Prairie Wolf* CONTACT John McPherson Box 96 Randolph, KS 66554 800-258-1232
Maine
*Beartraks School* CONTACT Dan Fisher 99 Woodside Road Brunswick, ME 04011 207-729-8616	*Earthways* CONTACT Ray Reitze, Jr. 159 Earthways Road Canaan, ME 04924 207-426-8138
*Maine Primitive Skills School* CONTACT Michael Douglas 716 Church Hill Road Augusta, ME 04330 207-623-7298	*Sandy River Outdoors* CONTACT Adam Cates PO Box 164 Solon, ME 04979 207-431-4729 207-578-2437
*Sunrise Wilderness Skills* CONTACT Matt Pinkham 63 Page Street Brownville Junction, ME 04415 207-965-8784	*White Pine Programs* CONTACT Matt Wild 330 Mountain Road Cape Neddick, ME 03902 207-361-1911
*White Pine Programs* CONTACT Matt Wild 330 Mountain Road Cape Neddick, ME 03902 207-361-1911
Massachusetts
*Survival and Rescue Training* CONTACT Paul Marsters P.O. Box 696 Chicopee, MA 01021-0696 413-530-2736	*Walnut Hill Tracking and Nature Center* CONTACT Nick Wisniewski 325 Walnut Hill Road Orange, MA 01364 978-544-6083
Michigan
*Ancient Arts Folk School* CONTACT Casey Makela P.O. Box 1 Lincoln, MI 48742 989-464-1918	*Timberwolf Wilderness Adventures* CONTACT Len McDougall 13127 Whitefish Point Road Paradise, MI 49768 906-492-3905
*Willow Winds* CONTACT Jim Miller 962 F30 Mikado, MI 48745 989-736-3487
Minnesota
*North House Folk School* CONTACT Programs P.O. Box 759 Grand Marais, MN 55604 218-387-9762
Missouri
*First Earth** CONTACT Bo Brown 3425 North FR 209 Strafford, MO 65757 417-862-5770
Montana
*Four Seasons Prehistoric Projects* CONTACT Lynx Vilden 1501 Dodge Creek Rexford, MT 59930	*Hollowtop School** CONTACT Thomas Elpel 12 Quartz Street Pony, MT 59747-0697 406-685-3222
*A Naturalist's World* CONTACT Jim Halfpenny PO Box 989 Gardiner, MT 59030 406-848-9458
Nebraska
*Spirit in the Wind* CONTACT Rick Hamilton 87255 464th Avenue Stuart, NE 68780 402-924-3180
New Hampshire
*Jack Mountain Bushcraft & Guide Service* CONTACT Tim Smith P.O. Box 61 Wolfeboro Falls, NH 03896-0061 603-569-6150	*Life Skills Training Center* CONTACT George Drowne 486 Thayer Rd. Dorchester, NH 03226 603-786-9338
*SOLO* CONTACT Information P.O. Box: 3150 Conway NH 03818 603-447-6711	*Virtual Mountain WIlderness Foundation* CONTACT Bruce Carroll P.O. Box 84 Fitzwilliam, NH 03447 603-239-8325
New Jersey
*Primitive Industries* CONTACT Jack Cresson 40 East 2nd Street Moorestown, NJ 08057 856-234-3286	*The Tracker School** CONTACT Tom Brown, Jr. P.O. Box 173 Asbury, NJ 08802-0173 908-479-4681
*Wild Food Company* CONTACT Linda Runyon P.O. Box 83 Shiloh, NJ 08353 856-234-3286
New Mexico
*Earthen Spirituality Project* CONTACT Jesse Wolf Hardin PO Box 820 Reserve, NM 87830 505-533-6446	*The Tracking Project* CONTACT John Stokes PO Box 266 Corrales, NM 87048-8788
New York
*Ancient Skills School* CONTACT Joe Longshore 2969 State Highway 812 Dekalb Junction, NY 13630 315-347-1373	*Bailey Mountain Wilderness Survival School* CONTACT Joe Reilly P.O. Box 31 Wynantskill, New York 12198 518-283-2870
*Deep Wilds* CONTACT Steve Young 121 Sherwood Circle Brattleboro, VT 05301 802-257-8570	*Hawk Circle** CONTACT Ricardo Sierra P.O. Box 506 Cherry Valley, NY 13320 607-624-3396
*Kawing Crow Nature Programs* CONTACT Vince Walsh 32 Hyspot Road Greenfield Center, NY 12833 518-587-4471	*Ndakinna Wilderness Project* CONTACT Jim Bruchac 23 Middle Grove Road Greenfield Center, NY 12833 518-583-9980
*Red Hawk Outdoor School* CONTACT Steven Kane PO Box 493 Plainview, NY 11803 516-827-6998	*Wilderness Learning Center* CONTACT Marty Simon 435 Sandy Knoll Road Chateaugay, NY 12920 518-497-3179
*Wilderness Way* CONTACT Mike Head 744 Glenmary Drive Owego, NY 13827 607-687-9186	*Wildman Steve Brill* CONTACT Steve Brill 320 Palmer Terrace, 2A Mamaroneck, NY 10543 914-835-2153
*Woodfolks* CONTACT John Gibbons 3 Northway Court Plattsburgh, NY 12901 518-563-6780
North Carolina
*Earth School* CONTACT Richard Cleveland P.O. Box 777 Tryon, NC 28782 866-504-3199	*Skills Alive** CONTACT Mac Maness 103 Briarpatch Lane Boone, NC 28607 828-262-9629
*Turtle Island Preserve* CONTACT Eustace Conway 1443 Lonnie Carlton Road Triplett, NC 28618 828-265-2267	*Wilderness Survival Training Center* CONTACT Bob Newcomer 9 Tanbark Circuit, Suite 1426 Werrington Downs, NSW 2747 Australia
*Windsong Primitives** CONTACT Benjamin Pressley 1403 Killian Road Stanley, NC 28164 704-827-0723	*Yonah Earthskills Programs* CONTACT Steven Taylor 901 South Carter Cove Road Hayesville, NC 28904 828-389-9336
Ohio
*Goosefoot Acres* CONTACT Peter Gail 3283 E. Fairfax Road Cleveland, OH 44118 216-932-2145	*Midwest Native Skills Institute* CONTACT Tom Laskowski P.O. Box 31764 Cleveland, OH 44131 440-526-3672 888-886-5592
Ontario
*Alba Wilderness School* CONTACT Chad Clifford RR 4 Lanark, ON KOG 1KO Canada 613-259-3236 800-477-0423	*Wilderness Arts & Technology* CONTACT Mike Desrochers RR1 Box 79 91 Olive's Lane Palmer Rapids, ON K0J 2E0 Canada 613-758-1092
*Survival in the Bush* CONTACT Gino F. Ferri RR 3 Hanover, ON N4N 3B9 Canada 519-364-4433	*WSC Wilderness Survival* CONTACT David Arama 112 Courtland Avenue East Kitchener, ON N2G 2V1 Canada 519-570-2021
Oregon
*Lifesong Adventures* CONTACT Mark Wienert P.O. Box 135 Idelyld Park, OR 97447 530-859-0539	*Northwest School of Survival* CONTACT Brian Wheeler 2870 NE Hogan Rd, E-461 Gresham, OR 97030 503-668-8264
*Traditional Tanners* CONTACT Matt Richards 3303 Dick George Road Cave Junction, OR 97523 541-592-3693	*Wild Food Adventures* CONTACT John Kallas 4125 N Colonial Avenue Portland, OR 97217-3338 503-775-3828
Pennsylvania
*Earth Star Survival* CONTACT Bob Collins 224 Trinity Avenue Ambler, PA 19002 215-654-9164 267-640-1063	*Harvest Song* CONTACT John Canan P.O. Box 868 Skippack, PA 19474 610-287-7880
*Woods Wisdom* CONTACT Bob Barr P.O. Box 228 Fayetteville, PA 17222-0288 717-352-7364
Quebec
*Nunavik Arctic Survival Training Centre* CONTACT Information P.O. Box 285 Puvirnituq, QC J0M 1P0 819-732-8929
Tennessee
*Spirit Bow Wilderness School* CONTACT Doug Jones 2024 Blue Ribbon Downs Lebanon, TN 37087 615-444-6310	*Appalachia Adventures* CONTACT Richard Farner 130 Payne Mountain Road Tellico Plains, TN 37385 423-261-2747
Texas
*Camp Tonkawa* CONTACT April Holtzman 303 Lake Vista South Highland Village, TX 75077 972-317-1294
Utah
*Lifeways Earth Living School* CONTACT Holly Stokes P.O. Box 504 Spring City, UT 84662 541-554-3258	*Hiking with Mike* CONTACT Mike Myers P.O. Box 68 Hurricane, UT 84737 435-635-0997
Vermont
*Vermont Wilderness School* CONTACT Steve Young 67 Main Street, Suite 13 Brattleboro, VT 05301 802-257-8570
Virginia
*Cliffside Workshops* CONTACT Errett Callahan 2 Fredonia Avenue Lynchburg, VA 24503 434-528-3444	*Earth Connection** CONTACT Tim MacWelch P.O. Box 32 Somerville, VA 22739 540-270-2531
*Mountain Shepherd* CONTACT Byron Kerns P.O. Box 11393 Lynchburg, VA 24506 434-841-0508	*Nature and Vision** CONTACT Charles Worsham 760 Thomas Road RFD 4, Box 446 Madison Heights, VA 24572 804-846-1987
*Nature Awareness School** CONTACT Del Hall P.O. Box 219-I Lyndhurst, Virginia 22952 540-377-6068	*Safe Return!* CONTACT Mike Marcon 1310 Brown's Store Road Heathsville, VA 22473 804-580-4456 804-462-1143
Washington
*Earthwalk Northwest** CONTACT Frank Sherwood P.O. Box 461 Issaquah, WA 98027 425-746-7267	*Simply Survival* CONTACT Greg Davenport P.O. Box 449 Stevenson, WA 98648 509-427-4022

*Wilderness Awareness School** CONTACT Warren Moon PO Box 5000, PMB 137 Duvall, WA 98019 425-788-1301	*WOLF School* CONTACT Chris Chisholm P.O. Box 1108 Monroe, WA 98272 360-319-6892 360-799-1997
Wisconsin
*Native Ways* CONTACT Gregg Weiss PO Box 133 Cornucopia, WI 54827 715-742-3281	*Teaching Drum** CONTACT Tamarack Song 7124 Military Rd. Three Lakes, WI 54562 715-546-2944
*Tracks and Trees* CONTACT Doug Gaulke N7597 County Hwy Y Watertown, WI 53094 920-699-3217
Wyoming
*National Outdoor Leadership School* CONTACT Admissions 284 Lincoln Street Lander, WY 82520-2848 800-710-6657 307-332-5300
Yukon
*Wild and Woolly* CONTACT Dick Person P.O. Box 92 Teslin, Yukon Y0A 1B0 Canada

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