Come get in touch... with your wild side!

Welcome to Outdoor Wilderness Living School (OWLS)

Established in 1991 as Hollowtop Outdoor Primitive School.


At Outdoor Wilderness Living School (OWLS) it is our mission to awaken children and young adults to the beauty and value of the natural world, while giving them the skills, not only to survive, but to thrive in nature.

We feel that kids in the modern world are missing a crucial aspect in their lives—nature connection. At OWLS we connect kids and nature through indigenous survival skills, nurturing a love and appreciation for the natural world.

Through  more than twenty years experience running kids programs, we have built a unique program encompassing many skills, such as building natural shelters, handdrill and bowdrill fire-starting, edible and medicinal plants (ethnobotany), stalking wildlife, craftwork such as basket making and hide tanning, and many other skills. We feel that kids learn best when they are having fun, so our teaching style is geared toward passion-based learning with lots of games and playing. We offer our special Classroom in the Woods programs to public and private school groups, home-schoolers, and nonprofit groups such as the Boy Scouts. We also offer a limited number of summer camps.