EarthWalk – Fairbanks

at Matsinger Forest

EarthWalk learning is a fully immersive experience with the land (ALL outdoors!) and with a small community group of learners. Our year-round programs for children, teens, adults, and elders embrace these principles:

• Learning together with Nature

• Practicing outdoor living skills 

• Building caring communities, and

• Nurturing land stewardship

EarthWalk has been inspiring and growing caring communities rooted in nature since 2005.

Some EarthWalk Learning Activities are: making crafts, foraging wild edibles, listening to birds, sharing gratitude, shelter-building, making a fire, carving a spoon, wading in the brook, nature journaling, basket-weaving, exploring wetlands, singing songs, cooking over the fire, making cordage, finding medicinal plants, wildlife tracking, sharing nature stories, bow-drill fire-making, helping others, stewardship projects, storytelling & more!

Youth Camps & Forest School

With Nature as the primary teacher, and with the support of skillful and caring mentors and elders, children can learn to feel comfortable, joyful and at home in the forest, meadows, and along the waterways. EarthWalk mentors honor each child as a unique learner and valued community member, meeting each individual where they are, so they feel excited to learn and make strong connections with each other and the land.

Forest School

Thursdays
9:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Forest School is for students ages 8-12.
Each session is limited to 12 students.

• WINTER Session 2025: Jan. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 & Feb. 6 & 13
• SPRING Session 2025: May 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 & June 5 & 12

• $455/student (members)
• $490/student (non-members)
• $20/child sibling discount

Matsinger Forest Location: Thaddeus Stevens Road at Danville-Peacham town-line.
EarthWalk-Fairbanks Site: a short walk into the forest with a rustic shelter and amenities.

Forest School (ages 8-12)

Join us through the seasons for a weekly outdoor learning adventure in Matsinger Forest.

WINTER Session 2025: Jan. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 & Feb. 6 & 13

Come experience learning together with the land in deep Winter! Let’s learn about our wild neighbors by following the tracks and signs they leave behind. We will do lots of exploring and discovering, as well as building quinzee snow shelters, practicing bow-drill fire-making, and cooking snacks over the fire. Let’s make crafts and carve utensils and tools; sing songs and share stories, and we always make time to play epic games! Learn to be warm and dry outside during the coldest and wettest time of year—-and have a lot of fun at EarthWalk-Fairbanks Forest School!

Spring applications begin Feb. 13. 

To apply, please fill out an online application for each student. We will review all applications and get back to you within a week.

The Forest School application includes important questions because we value nurturing and supportive relationships, and we believe in growing a caring community together. We want to take steps to make sure the Forest School is a good fit for your child. Thank you for your understanding!

Registration is complete once payment has been recieved or a payment plan has been approved. Full payment is required before the start of the program.

Winter Wildlife Tracking Presentation

January 24, 5:30 – 7:00 PM at the Fairbanks Museum

Learn to read the stories of the land in this engaging slide show presentation of some of the tracks, signs and stories of our wild neighbors, with EarthWalk founder, seasoned nature educator and tracker, Ange Gibbons.

$10 suggested donation.

Adults are encouraged to register for one or both of the Tracking the WILD Workshops in Matsinger Forest.

Workshops for Adults

1:00 – 4:00 PM at Matsinger Forest

For adults, elders, teachers, and teens

Fee: $25/member $30/non-member (includes instruction and materials)
Each workshop is limited to 15 people.

Join Ange Gibbons and guests, for this series of EarthWalk-Fairbanks workshops, learning together with the land through the seasons. Let’s expand our naturalist knowledge; share outdoor skills; make crafts, grow our community and learn to steward the land.

Winter

January 25 AND February 8, 2025 1:00-4:00PM (Sign up for one or both of these field programs.)

Two Tracking the WILD Workshops
All Tracking Levels Welcome.

Let’s explore the Matsinger Forest together, and discover what our wild neighbors are up to this time of year, by the tracks and signs they leave behind. Tracking is science, ecology, storytelling, discovery, mystery and a whole lot of fun. Join us!

SPRING

March 15: Forest Sugaring
Let’s sugar the old way, by making a spile to tap a Maple tree and rock-boil sap, enjoying the sweetness of the forest!

April 19: Making a Bark basket

May 10: Spoon Carving

June 7: Spring Foraging 

Matsinger Forest Location: Thaddeus Stevens Road at Danville-Peacham town-line.
EarthWalk-Fairbanks Site: a short walk into the forest with a rustic shelter and amenities.

EarthWalk – Fairbanks

at Matsinger Forest

EarthWalk has been inspiring and growing caring communities rooted in nature since 2005. For more than 15 years, from the Plainfield location adjacent to Goddard College, EarthWalk Vermont, offered transformative education programs, annually serving over 300 families in Central Vermont. Since EarthWalk Vermont ended their programs in 2021, founder, Angella Gibbons, has continued EarthWalk’s vision of mentoring all ages, to care for one another and the earth, building strong resilient nature-connected communities in Central Vermont. In January 2024, Angella formed EarthWalk L3C, where she is excited to be offering nature and community programs through land partnerships with families, libraries, schools and now a new EarthWalk partnership with the Fairbanks Museum at Matsinger Forest.