Search for Bigfoot Amongst the Trees in this Beautiful Northern California Forest Wilderness

***Special Promotion*** All trip participants will receive a Fjällräven Kånken R backpack (valued at $100) generously donated by our good friends at Fjällräven. Made from recycled materials and ready for adventure!

Siskiyou Wilderness | In partnership with the Bigfoot Trail Alliance & Klamath National Forest

Step into the wild heart of the Siskiyou Mountains, where Clear Creek cuts a cold, bright line through deep forest and stone. This week-long volunteer trailworking vacation invites you into one of Northern California’s most pristine mountain landscapes—an emerald corridor threaded with sky, cedar shade, and the steady pulse of flowing water.

From the trailhead, we hike just a mile into the wilderness to a shaded camp tucked beside the creek. Clear pools beckon for afternoon swims, and the music of water against stone becomes the soundtrack to our days—quiet, insistent, timeless.

Each morning, we shoulder tools and turn upstream, giving care to a remote trail that has fallen beneath windthrow, fire scars, and the simple passage of years. We remove downed logs, reset tread, and reopen the path—making way not only for future hikers, but for the unseen migrations of animals, the flow of ideas, and the generations who will pass through this watershed long after us.

Evenings bring us back home to camp: warm food shared beneath fading light, cold water on sore feet, stories exchanged over the hush of the forest, and the sense that our work—small in scale, large in meaning—has mattered.

This is more than a service project. It is an immersion into wilderness, into community, and into the practice of tending a living landscape.

What to Expect

• Hiking: ~1 mile into camp with only personal gear
• Work: Moderate physical activity, 6–8 hours/day with breaks
• Support: Tools, instruction, and guidance provided—no experience needed

Reward: Cold creek swims, forest quiet, and the satisfaction of care given

There is no experience needed to join a Volunteer Vacation! Your expert hosts will provide detailed instruction, tool demonstrations, and project oversight throughout the week. All you need is a willing attitude and to be in good physical condition to participate in moderate physical activity for approximately 6-8 hours a day with plenty of breaks, at your own pace. Find out more about what it’s like to join a Volunteer Vacation and other frequently asked questions here.

Avg. Temperature:

Typical weather for this area during this season has highs of roughly 88–94°F and lows of 60–65°F. Late June in the northern Sacramento Valley is hot and dry, with virtually no rainfall and strong afternoon sun.

Land Acknowledgment:

We honor that this work takes place on the ancestral and ongoing homelands of the Karuk Tribe, whose people have lived with, stewarded, burned, fished, and sung to these waters and forests since time immemorial. Clear Creek and its surrounding mountains are part of a cultural landscape woven with place-names, stories, and relationships that continue today. We acknowledge the leadership of the Karuk Tribe in ongoing stewardship of fire, forest, and river systems, and we invite all who join us to learn, support, and stand in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples whose lands make our time here possible.