Golden Trout Wilderness School is a non-profit educational center located at Golden Trout Camp in the Southern Sierra Nevada. Operated by The Thacher School, under a Forest Service Special Use Permit, Golden Trout Wilderness School offers educational programs from June through September. Here's a look at what Golden Trout is offering this coming summer...

GOLDEN TROUT WILDERNESS SCHOOL SUMMER PROGRAMS
​2023



RANGE OF LIGHT
​WILDERNESS IMMERSION PROGRAM
"The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness." John Muir
The Range of Light Wilderness Immersion Program offers a three-week intensive wilderness learning experience. The course begins at Golden Trout Wilderness School with a five day primer in which students are certified in Wilderness First Aid and wherein they learn the fundamentals of backcountry travel and safety. Students then depart into the neighboring wilderness for a two-week odyssey focused on leadership, natural history education, and outdoor skills. The course includes a two-day solo, student-led teaching, mindfulness training, and the profound lessons of a prolonged wilderness experience.

OUR WILDERNESS AND WELLNESS INITIATIVES

​Experiences in the wilderness that establish a deep connection to nature are an essential part of promoting individual and community wellness. In our increasingly technology-centered world, opportunities to check in with our bodies, quiet our minds, and fashion a link to the fundamental components of the world are both valuable and rare. The Wilderness and Wellness Initiatives attend to this need by offering free and low-cost programs to high-school students, creating meaningful experiences that emphasize curiosity, nature observation, self-discovery, and sustainability.

Other programs and opportunities

YOUTH OUTREACH
Kids. Wilderness. Health. 
We're working at the moment with local organizations in Oakland, California to bring young men and mentors together in providing black land-based education at Golden Trout.  
 PARTNER WITH US!
GTWS strives to partner with schools and other organizations to bring students to the high country for week-long wilderness workshops. Our aim is to empower teens from diverse backgrounds, helping reconnect them to nature so they can become the leaders their communities—and our planet—needs.  Students will learn about the area's natural history while adventuring in the Cottonwood Lakes basin and beyond. 
OUTWARD BOUND ADVENTURES
We partner with OBA to bring underserved youth to Golden Trout Wilderness School, connecting young people to nature while strengthening character. 
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diverse outdoor leadership institute

THACHER'S SOPHOMORE PROGRAM
Thacher's second-year students meet to start the school year under the stars...
THACHER NATURAL HISTORY WORKSHOP
Alumni and family convene to celebrate the camp's history, learn about alpine ecology, and reminisce...
DIVERSE OUTDOOR LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE TRAINING
​DOLI trains its leaders before they bring  the youth of OBA to Golden Trout...
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe."

John Muir