Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center

Lead trips in Oregon wilderness areas and local parks!

All of our work is based around one simple idea: people will protect what they care about, and they will care about what they know. Through our outdoor school and backpacking expedition programs, we bring youth and adults face-to-face with the outdoor places that make Oregon great—pristine mountain streams, uncut vistas, and old-growth forests.

Our base of operations has been in the historic mining town of Jawbone Flats in the temperate rainforest of the Opal Creek Wilderness. In September 2020, a wildfire burned much of the old growth forest and destroyed almost all of the buildings of Jawbone Flats. We are designing a new site plan that is in harmony with the land and will support the amazing education programs we continue to offer.