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Cottonwood Gulch Expeditions

Knowledge through Wilderness Adventure

Facilities & Resources

The Base Camp

Since 1934, the Gulch has developed our own custom outdoor school, which provides the base camp for all the expeditions. The facility designs, which began with cabin plans donated by Kurt Vonnegut Sr in 1934, have always allowed for sustainability and low-impact living with nature. This custom campus is largely non-electric and includes two Navajo hogans, a natural science museum and laboratory, a library, a Native Arts Workshop, and a field archaeology lab. Along with the cabins and composting latrines, residential accommodations include a centralized Mess Hall and kitchen, several campfire rings, indoor and outdoor gathering spaces, a swimming pool and an open-air shower house. Ultimately, the facilities help us live and learn from the land while minimizing our impacts there.

The Gulch Land Preserve

At the center of all our programs, history, and philosophy is the land of Cottonwood Gulch itself. Managed as a land preserve since 1934, the 'Gulch' sits on 540 acres on the northern slope of the Zuni Mountains in northwestern New Mexico. At an elevation of 7,500 feet, the Gulch includes wonderful examples of cottonwood-willow riparian areas, piñon-juniper savannas, and ponderosa forest ecosystems. Sawyer Creek, a perennial stream, provides a particularly unique study in a healthy high desert riparian habitat. Bordering the Cibola National Forest, the Gulch's large undeveloped area provides habitat for a wide variety of species, from owl to elk, and offers rich opportunities for natural science pursuits. Like much of the Western United States, the Gulch was previously logged, farmed, and grazed as American settlement moved through the area. Today it represents a singular educational resource for seeing the impacts of these uses and how ecological restoration can work.

Archaeological resources at the Gulch include unexcavated ancestral Puebloan dwellings, large concentrations of surface artifacts, and the Gulch's own artifact collection and interpretive archaeology lab, including areas for pit firing ceramics, weaving yucca, and artifact curation. The Gulch's Native Arts Workshop offers studio space for silversmithing, weaving, and ceramic projects. This natural setting is a wonderful inspiration for a variety of artistic pursuits, from drawing and painting to music and sculpture.

The Gulch Community

Our community at the Gulch is a passionate one, including alumni, friends and families who remain attracted to our belief in exploration and environmental stewardship. In particular are the 80 years of alumni who now site their Gulch experience as inspiration for their successful careers as congressmen, authors, professors, scientists, artists, activists, teachers, and life-long outdoor enthusiasts. Cottonwood Gulch is also an active member of a diverse local community and enjoys multiple-generation relationships with many residents of the Las Tuces Valley and Thoreau, New Mexico. For many, shared experiences at the Gulch are a family tradition. These strong and vibrant relationships in turn enrich the Foundation's programs, which draw on the combined wealth of knowledge about the people, places and history so generously shared by our alumni, friends and neighbors.