What is it?
Camp Wildroot is a camping experience that centers connection with our wild, spiritual selves, while maintaining a root in our Earthly bodies and the natural world.
Camp Wildroot Collaborative Retreat is organized by Bethany Hays and hosted at Ravens Ridge on the Olympic Peninsula. The intent of a collaborative retreat is for each participant to facilitate an activity, so that all campers are owners of the event and invested in the outcome. Folks who want to participate can apply and propose an activity they want to offer to a small group of no more than 14 campers. Proposals are accepted based on which offerings fit best together and align with the theme for the year and the greater vision of Camp Wildroot.
Who is it for?
Camp Wildroot is first and foremost for LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC folks and their Active Allies who engage in activism, social work, healing arts, creative work, and other service-oriented fields, and are committed to embodied spiritual practice in deep connection with nature as a way to strive for wholeness and healing in an unbalanced world.
Campers might call themselves poets, artists, healers, dreamers, facilitators, writers, witches, bodyworkers, dancers, priestesses, chefs, somatic practitioners, visionaries, therapists, activists, storytellers, foragers, survivalists, natural builders, musicians, herbalists, mystics, daydreamers, or some other creative title.
Regardless of identity, all campers share a vision to:
- connect through collaboration with others
- be open to spiritual expansiveness while remaining grounded on our loving Earth
- seek to participate in a group with intent to promote growth and self-discovery in ourselves and others
- deepen our own resilience in order to carry the potential for transformation and healing out into our communities
When is the retreat?
The retreat takes place August 21st-24th, 2025. Campers arrive Thursday evening to get settled and can participate in an optional sit-down dinner created with locally-sourced foods. Once proposals are accepted and campers confirm their commitment, an activity calendar will be created with ample time for rest and reflection scheduled in between camper-led offerings.
Where does it happen?
Camp Wildroot happens on rustic land near Quilcene, WA. The exact location is communicated once a camper accepts their offer and commits to participating in the 2025 retreat.
Accommodations range from bell tents furnished with beds to dispersed tent camping. The land hosts natural wooded areas and a flat open meadow space. There are bucket toilets as part of a compost humanure system, outdoor shower with hot water, a hand washing and water station with potable well water, and an outdoor kitchen with covered area for gathering if the weather turns rainy.
Why did I create this retreat?
Camp Wildroot springs from my own experience of expansiveness and inspiration that grows when slowing down during personal retreats in wild spaces, and observing a need for in-person connection to balance out the isolation that is a inherent in modern life. We need vision and resilience to affect positive change and even just to maintain a baseline of well-being. When we feel safe and supported, we can access the vulnerability needed to create, and we can envision new ways of being that can ripple out and affect the greater world, or at the very least help each of us to feel in touch and connected with our own purpose and sense of belonging.
Amidst increasingly cruel attacks and scapegoating of vulnerable and marginalized people, I asked how I could be of service. I saw the potential for us to act as beacons for one another, taking turns emboldening and supporting when we are fully resourced, and leaning on someone else when we are worn down. I have the privilege to restore my spirit and tend to my fire in this magical wild place and I hope these retreats can help others grow their lights into bonfires that can help sustain our communities through these challenging times.