Our groups embark on traveling expeditions throughout the Southwest, which means we don’t just backpack through remote canyons or visit archaeological sites or help restore riparian ecosystems—yyou do all of that as you learn how to live in the wilderness as part of a self-sufficient group.  Imagine yourself embarking on a 1-6 week expedition with 10-15 other Trekkers who will soon become some of your closest friends.  You might start off with a few day hikes and a visit to Chaco Canyon, one of the most mesmerizing archaeological sites in the world, before heading out on foot through the Gila Wilderness of southern New Mexico or the high alpine forests of Colorado.  You might then help with a restoration project in the Rio Puerco, learn about the cosmos from a practicing astronomer, participate in a sweat lodge ceremony led by our local Navajo friends, and crawl through the dried lava tubes of El Malpais.  Every expedition is different, but they are all well-planned, well-executed by our professional staff, and always the experience of a lifetime.

• Our groups have fun: 70% of our Trekkers – and 75% of our instructors, many of whom are full-time educators – return for another summer.  We love what we do, and we keep coming back to prove it.

• Backpack up a mountain, live in a canyon, survey with an archaeologist, go rock climbing, help with a habitat restoration project, silversmith your own jewelry, become best friends with someone you won’t meet anywhere else – all in one summer. 

• You can live and play outside on our Base Camp and nature preserve – 540 acres in the Zuni Mountains of New Mexico full of natural and cultural resources.  At Base Camp, you may find yourself sleeping under the stars amidst the ponderosa pines, or examining a 1000-year-old piece of pottery you found outside your cabin.

• We have been doing this longer than anyone else.  Our 85 years of experience in outdoor adventure and group living set us apart from all other ‘summer travel programs’ out there.  The Gulch was here when the Southwest was completely wild.  Those places are a little bit harder to find nowadays, but we’ve been here long enough that we know where they’re hidden. 

• There is a group for everyone.  Are you a first-time camper?  Or are you a well-traveled hiker who wants to backpack all summer?  Or maybe you want to spend a week digging up dinosaur bones with a paleontologist?  Each of our expeditions is unique, and there is certainly a group that will be a good fit for you.

• Personal attention is assured in each of our small groups.  With 10-20 Trekkers, selected from all over the country and from all walks of life, and with a 5:1 Trekker to instructor ratio, all of our expeditions offer safe, fun and enriching experiences.

• The quality of your experience always comes first.  We are a registered, educational not-for-profit foundation – this is our mission, and we love what we do.

Our Founder, Hillis Howie, said it best in 1938:

The plan is to leave civilization behind and spend the months of July and August in remote and generally unknown regions of the Southwest; to establish temporary camps in sagebrush, pinon, and big timber and at ruin sites, deserted mining towns, and alpine lakes; to investigate the fauna, flora, and geology of each territory; to set a standard of camping which will be a satisfaction to ourselves, and a model to others; to live a physically vigorous life, with a taste of the hardships which the early explorers expected. From this it will be understood that the expedition is not a sightseeing trip nor a deluxe dude ranch.

Our expeditions vary in duration and activities, and there is a group out there for anyone between the ages of 10 and 19.  Our younger Trekkers (ages 10-13) spend a majority of their time at our Base Camp, a 540-acre nature preserve in the Zuni Mountains of New Mexico.  With a variety of streams, forests, mesas, and ruins, Base Camp is a perfect place to immerse oneself in the beauty of our natural surroundings while also having the opportunity to work with our specialists.  Every day at the Gulch, Trekkers can choose to work with our resident artist, naturalist, or archaeologist on a variety of projects.  Real projects.  We are not just learning about our land, but helping to restore it with ecological documentation and native species reintroductions, creating art projects from native cottonwood trees and willow branches, and discovering and recording the wealth of archaeological artifacts left behind by inhabitants of the Gulch over the last 1,000 years.  

All groups will have the chance to spend a significant amount of time at Base Camp, and the older groups (ages 13-18) will spend a large portion of their time traveling around the Four Corners area.  Some groups have a more specific focus—if you have a soft spot for dinosaurs, check out our Paleontology Trek.  Or if you want to work closely with our resident archaeologist on an individual project, the Trek Institute would be a great choice.  No matter which group you chose, you can be assured that we know what we’re doing.  We have been exploring the Southwest since 1926, which means we have a wealth of knowledge to draw upon and plenty of friends—artists, scientists, rock climbers, archers, and park rangers—to add different perspectives to the land we call home.  

Please give us a call or shoot us an email with any questions, even if you just want to know about a good hike in the area.  We love what we do, and we hope to show you how great a summer at the Gulch can be!