Redwood National Park Retreats

June 19-22, 2025
August 14-17, 2025

Hike + Heal Redwood National Park is a Wilderness Wellness retreat facilitated in support of Redwood Parks Conservancy, the official nonprofit partner of Redwood National and State Parks.

Healing with the land through environmental stewardship.
Mindful hiking through a diverse and breathtaking landscape.
Guided self-discovery activities to help you reconnect with yourself.
Adventures to help you remember what you’re capable of.
Making memories with friends who feel like family.

📍Yurok and Tolowa ancestral territories include land and resources now contained within Redwood National and State Parks. Tribal Councils and Park management work together on myriad of government to government programs like habitat restoration, the returning of California condors, protection of archeological sites, the use of prescribed fire, and the beneficial sharing of staff and agency resources. Curious about the history of the land where you work, live, and play? Native Land is a great starting point for additional research.

Redwood Parks Conservancy

RPC’s mission is to foster understanding, enjoyment, and stewardship by providing support to their partner agencies – the National Park Service, California State Parks, Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Forest Service – who are entrusted with the care of northern California’s public lands. 

Event Pillars

Environmental Stewardship

We include environmental stewardship projects in our wilderness wellness retreats to foster a deeper connection to nature, empower participants to give back to the landscapes that inspire their healing, and cultivate a sense of purpose and responsibility for preserving these spaces for future generations.

Mindful Movement

We center mindful movement in our wilderness wellness retreats to help participants reconnect with their bodies, enhance their presence in the moment, and deepen their experience of nature as a source of healing and restoration. We move at the speed of our breath and no hiker is left behind!

Self-Discovery

Each retreat has a theme to help you connect the dots between the wilderness within and the wild areas we are exploring and conserving - for this retreat we are exploring Reciprocal Resilience. We draw inspiration from our surroundings in Redwood National Park and take the wisdom of the wilderness home with us.

Blaze Your Own Trail to Self-Love with us.

If you want to dive deep on self-discovery to maximize your experience at our in-person experiences, join us for Blaze Your Own Trail to Self-Love.

Registration: $750

Click the button below to complete your registration information form. We will follow-up via email to collect your registration fee. We have 15 spots available for each event and participants will be contacted in order of applications received.

If you are unable to pay the full fee up front, we require a non-refundable $250 deposit to hold your spot and will set up a payment plan for your remaining balance. If you are seeking a scholarship, please let us know in your registration form.

What’s Included?

  • Since 1979, the Howland Hill Outdoor School has been providing curriculum-based environmental education programs for students between grades Kindergarten and 5th grade, as well as education related rental groups. Howland Hill Outdoor School is located in the northern district of Redwood National and State Parks (near Crescent City, CA) and is one of two outdoor schools within the park.

    Participant Cabins: Four spacious sleeping cabins--Tan Oak, Alder, Redwood, and Hemlock--nestle in the deep shaded forest on top of Howland Hill. Each shelter can accommodate 10-12 participants and their gear. A fifth cabin, Spruce, is available as a wheelchair-accessible sleeping shelter. Cabin windows are unscreened and open directly to the forest, but are high enough off the ground to provide protection from animal intruders. Cabins are not heated. The HHOS cabins are basic cabins with elevated platforms for you to set up your sleep system on (sleeping pad, sleeping bag, pillow). There is no electricity, so be sure to bring a flashlight or headlamp for night trips to the bathroom as it is a short, level walk away.

    NOTE: If you’d like to reserve a private cabin for your group, please let us know on your registration form

    Restrooms: There are four unisex ADA-compliant toilet facilities. The building contains four individual restrooms with flush toilets and hand-washing sinks; one of these units also houses an emergency shower. When on the school campus, all individuals are expected to use the designated facilities. When in the field, proper bathroom etiquette and locations will be identified by the rangers and facilitators.

  • Everything tastes better outside, especially when someone else is doing the cooking! Since everyone has different needs when in the field, you are encouraged to bring your own snacks (and a way to store them). We’ll take care of breakfast, lunch, and dinner on the following schedule:

    THURSDAY: Dinner
    FRIDAY: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
    SATURDAY: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
    SUNDAY: Breakfast, Food for the Road

    NOTE: All meals are vegetarian (can be made vegan by request) and served family style. You can specify additional requests, allergies, and preferences in the registration form.

  • The research is clear, spending time in nature is beneficial for the body, mind, and spirit. On our guided hikes, you will learn techniques to turn any outdoor activity into a mindful experience. Experience the healing power of nature via guided self-discovery activities all weekend long on and off the trail. Participants will be provided with a small journal to take notes in as they hike, and we infuse self-reflection into all aspects of the event.

    NOTE: Hikes during this event will be selected based on participant capabilities. Our hikes are supportive, affirming, and enjoyed at a meandering pace. This isn’t about bagging peaks and aggressive elevation gains - we’re here to get our bodies moving in nature and see how much we can notice within us and around us. Typically we walk between 4-6 miles per day depending on the hikes themselves and the walking required during our stewardship projects.

  • THEME: Reciprocal Resilience
    Redwood trees are resilient, and so are you. Join us for guided self-discovery workshops throughout the event to connect the dots between the wilderness within, and the wilderness of Redwood National Park.

  • While our healing journeys are deeply personal and unique to our lived experiences, we all have at least one thing in common: we’ve survived everything life has dealt our way so far. Healing in community reminds us that we are never alone in what we’ve experienced and that together, we rise.

  • We’re providing everything you need for the stewardship project.

FAQ

  • Our retreat location is located within the northern district of Redwood National and State Parks, near Crescent City, CA. Plan to arrive anytime after 3:00pm. Details will be sent to confirmed participants.

    AIRPORT: The closest airport is Rogue Valley International Medford Airport (MFR) in Medford, Oregon (109 miles from Crescent City).

    Advanced Air offers direct flights to Crescent City from Los Angeles and Oakland. CLICK HERE for more information.

  • In summer, we can look forward to highs around 61° F and a low around 54° F.

  • For this event, you will want to bring:

    • Snacks for your hikes

    • Sleeping pad or cot

    • Sleeping bag or blankets

    • Pillow

    • Headlamp

    • Appropriate footwear (hiking boots, trail runners, other shoes you feel comfortable hiking in)

    • Socks

    • Weather-appropriate clothing (we recommend long sleeves, long pants, and a hat for our stewardship projects)

    • Backpack to carry water, journal, snacks, etc while in the field

    • Capacity to carry 2L of water

    • OPTIONAL: camp chair

    We will send a detailed packing list in advance of the event.

  • Our wilderness wellness events welcome individuals from all walks of life who are seeking connection, healing, and growth. Participants include busy professionals, caregivers, and changemakers looking to recharge, as well as adventurers, nature enthusiasts, and those navigating life transitions or recovering from trauma. United by a desire to deepen their relationship with nature and themselves, our community thrives on shared experiences, mutual support, and a commitment to creating meaningful, lasting change in their lives and the world around them.

Retreat Facilitators

  • Sydney Williams is a speaker, author, consultant, and the founder of Hiking My Feelings—a nature-powered movement that transforms pain into purpose through storytelling, community, and time outdoors. Her work bridges personal healing and environmental stewardship, helping people reconnect with themselves and the land.

    Through her firm, Wellness in the Wilderness Consulting, Sydney partners with public land agencies, nonprofits, and mission-driven organizations to design nature-based wellness programs that promote community health, staff well-being, and sustainable stewardship. Her offerings include curriculum development, field institute training, and leadership retreats, all grounded in trauma-informed facilitation and a deep respect for wild places.

    With over 15 years in strategic communications—ranging from launching Oscar Mayer’s first social media presence to leading Fortune 500 campaigns—Sydney now advocates for equitable access to outdoor spaces and the well-being of those who protect them. Her work has been featured in BBC, Popular Science, Health Magazine, HuffPost, Psychology Today, U.S. News & World Report, and at events including SXSW and the Public Lands Alliance Convention.

    She is a certified Wilderness First Responder, an educator at national park institutes, a founding member of the Outdoorist Oath, and was nominated for Woman of the Year by San Diego Magazine.

  • Barry Williams went from high-rises to high altitudes—trading a tech career on Manhattan’s Upper East Side for a trailer in the backwoods of Maine after a single skydiving experience changed the trajectory of his life. Within 18 months of that first jump, he left the world of Fortune 100 clients behind to pursue instructor ratings in the skydiving industry, eventually building a 16-year career as a professional skydiver and mentor.

    Originally from New Hampshire, Barry grew up hiking and backpacking in the White Mountains, where he also earned his Wilderness EMT certification. Today, he brings that same sense of adventure, adaptability, and calm under pressure to his work in our programs and retreats.

    “What does Barry do around here?”

    In short, everything that keeps the train on the tracks. Barry is the behind-the-scenes engine and on-the-ground support—co-leading hikes, facilitating retreats, producing video content, and ensuring participants feel safe, seen, and supported in the outdoors.

    Inspired by the teachings of Bruce Lee, Alan Watts, and Jiddu Krishnamurti, Barry lives by the mantra “be like water.” Whether he’s cooking a soulful meal, dropping “Barryisms” that will blow your mind, or telling UFO stories around the campfire, Barry shows up with presence and purpose - and invites others to do the same.

Contact Us

Contact Us

Have questions about the event? Interested in sponsoring a spot for someone on the scholarship waitlist? We’re here to help!