Our Signature Experience, and a once-in-a-lifetime Journey!
Smith Rock
We meet at Smith Rock at 1:00, and have our first circle where we share intentions or reflections on what we’re coming into this journey with.
We then spend the day here. We offer a variety of day hikes, or you can just relax. With plenty of rock walls and the Crooked River, it’s a great place to do what you want, let go of your everyday mindset and find presence.
In the evening, we will stay in shared accommodations in the Bend area. We’ll have yoga and hold another circle in preparation for the upcoming journey. You can also meet with your facilitator separately.
We wake up with a light breakfast, optional yoga, and then move to the service center for the magic mushroom part of the experience with your facilitator.
You must purchase a facilitated mushroom experience separately. You can read more about this on our sister site, mushroomeric. You can also skip this part of the experience if you choose, and we have several activities you can engage in.
We spend the night in Bend again to rest before moving on to our next spot.
Crater Lake
We start the day slow, with breakfast in Bend. We pack up and move on afterwards.
We visit Crater Lake, Oregon’s National park, in the afternoon. This was a volcano the size of Mt. Rainier or Mt. Hood that erupted and blew its entire top off! Now, a massive, deep lake sits in the center of the mountain, a place unlike anywhere else on earth. It’s a great spot to sit and let the magic of the place sweep over you, as the gust of the wind sweeps across the lake. There’s also an optional hike up one of the peaks.
After our time there, we start our decent into the Umpqua Valley. We set up camp riverside that night. This is the first full day of integration, and we’ll explore and deepen into the insights gained during your time in the medicine.
Exploring The Umpqua Valley
The day begins at the campground for breakfast, and we check out the waterfall lined North Umpqua Valley.
With fresh springs sprouting right out of the ground, a ton of different falls, and even hot springs on the side of the river. There’s more to do here than we have time for!
In the afternoon, we launch the rafts for the first of two days on the river. The North Umpqua, a.k.a. the Emerald Jewel, is an incredible river lined by the iconic PNW forests that Oregon is famous for! It’s a class III, beginner-friendly river yet still exciting, with plenty of places to play and swim. Being on the river invites a conscious flow, along with plenty of excitement!
That night we camp riverside. We have a final circle, and people choose how they spend their last night (in community, by themselves in this deep, gorgeous nature, or a mix).
On the final day of this epic journey, we start with breakfast, have a final circle at camp, and raft through the morning.
We close with lunch at the delicious Steamboat Inn or snacks on the road.
We then take you back to either Bend or Portland.
*We have an additional day of camping for those who feel called to have one last night with a smaller, more intimate group.
Early season is for the rugged!
We begin offering this journey at the end of May. In May, dates are more flexible, there are fewer people on the river and it is a more adventurous ride as water levels are still high.
It can still be cold and rainy, and Crater Lake may not be accessible due to snow. We have alternatives, to Crater Lake, including a trip to a natural hot spring.
This is the time for the more adventurous to come out.
June is the perfect middle ground, and a beautiful time of year to go on this trip. The water levels are still high enough for an exciting ride, and the weather typically gets warmer as the month goes on.
July is great for those who want a warmer, more floaty, relaxing type of trip.
The water levels start to drop off, and we have more capacity to just chill, including float spots in the river. There are also more people on the river
We typically stop offering this journey in late July due to the number of people, low water levels, heat, and it starts to get into smoke and fire season in Southern Oregon.
Check out our Cascade Camp for our late summer offerings (late July and August).
*Contact us for private group availability!
**Dates may be subject to change prior to booking
Before earning his M.A. in Cultural & Psychological Studies with a certificate in Ecopsychology in 2013, Eric worked in mental health and education for over a decade. He knew how vital and overlooked nature connection was in the mental health world, so he opened Evolve Wild to facilitate people’s connection with wild nature. In 2023, the first year Oregon officially began offering legal psilocybin services, Eric completed his psilocybin facilitation training at InnerTrek.
Eric is thrilled to be able to use his decades-long background in guiding nature-based experiences, particularly rafting trips, to enhance the psilocybin journey and to help you explore deep connections with wild nature. He will handle the trip structure and ecopsychology aspect for the group and at the personal level, but will not be facilitating the actual medicine journey this summer.
Leslie is a board-certified Family Medicine/Obstetrics physician and Licensed Psilocybin Facilitator. She pivoted her career to offer psychedelic-assisted therapy after working in primary care and obstetrics in the Salem, Oregon, community for over a decade.
As a primary care physician, she witnessed her patients struggle with treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, and PTSD and how the current medical system continued to fail as they encountered barriers to care and tried multiple medications without relief. While searching for a better option for her patients, she experienced how psychedelics helped to heal her own trauma and improve her mental health. She wanted to be able to offer this type of healing to her patients, as well.
Evolve Wild offers the journey around the legal psilocybin experience in Oregon, but is an outfitter operating in places where psilocybin is still illegal.
If you’re curious about the psilocybin journey itself, check out our sister site, mushroomeric, for a better understanding of the ins and outs of psilocybin mushroom facilitation.
Psychedelics were done communally to help people connect with themselves, each other, and the natural world for millennia. This can create powerful experiences and bonds and restore people’s faith in humanity. And it can drastically change your relationship with wild nature. Our journeys encourage all of that.
But we also get that you would want to meet your group. We hold space for the group to interact online beforehand so members can get a feel for each other and to see if the fit is right. You can also engage with others in public groups in the larger community. After your journey, you can create your own groups on as well. This provides a container to help people what they find on their journey back into the world.
Short answer: It’s entirely a legal matter.
A lot of our journey is in national forests and Crater Lake National Park, which we are permitted to operate in. Psilocybin mushrooms are illegal here, and go against our permits.
The Oregon Health Authority governs the laws about psilocybin, which is federally illegal, though legal and regulated in Oregon. So combining a deep nature experience in these places with a psilocybin journey is a tricky dance, despite how naturally they fit together.
Several guides for Evolve Wild are also psilocybin facilitators, and their time and services are included in the price, though the psilocybin piece of this journey is optional. We are happy to facilitate the nature connection portion of this, even without a psilocybin session.
If you do choose to do a psilocybin journey, you will also need to pay for the room and the psilocybin mushrooms you consume directly to the service center. The total cost is typically between $500 – $800 per person, and the mushrooms can only be paid for in cash on the day of the services.
We do a day hike or float near Bend for those not interested in the psilocybin part of the experience.
This Journey is beginner-friendly. You can choose your own level of participation for the hike, even skipping any hiking options altogether. You could also go on a variety of hike lengths.
The rafting is also beginner-friendly. You will have a life jacket, and clothes to keep you warm if you’d like. You can paddle, or even sit in the middle of the boat if you are worried.
There is no experience necessary for the psilocybin journey either. Your facilitator will work out a personalized plan and dosing with you.
We provide clean food to reduce issues you have with medicine or the energetic experience. This isn’t your typical outdoor eating, either. We bring fresh food and prepare it deliciously with a solid kitchen setup. We are based in the lush Pacific Northwest, where the ingredients are insanely fresh. Our coffee and tea game is on point, too.
We have the ability to accommodate most diets. Whether you’re a vegan, vegetarian, or prefer meat options, we’ve got you covered. We think everyone should be able to enjoy a delicious meal, regardless of their dietary preferences.
Most of our food is naturally gluten free food, as there’s just not much wheat in outdoor cooking.
Just let us know your preferences during booking and we’ll take care of the rest!
The accommodations vary throughout the trip.
Night 1 & 2- We get a group house, or you can stay on your own if you prefer.
Night 3 – We stay at a campground with cabin options (additional $180 for a cabin this night).
Night 4 – Camping along the river.
For the nights we camp, we provide tents, sleeping pads and group equipment. You will have to chose a sleeping bag option:
Sleeping Bags
Sleeping bags are personal items, as they are right up against people. Cleaning sleeping bags causes them to break down quickly, both structurally and insulation wise. But not everyone has one, so we have a few options:
1. Rent A Bag at $35 per person per trip. This covers cleaning and degradation of the sleeping bag.
2. Buy your own. This is our recommended option. Getting your own sleeping bag is a necessary step to you getting outdoors more often. We work with Next Adventure, a Portland based outdoor outfitter, to get you discounted bags. Please let us know in advance if you will be buying a bag.
3. Donate your bag- Don’t want to bring your sleeping bag back home? You can buy a bag and, after you are finished, donate it to local people having housing issues.
Transportation from Bend, Or. back to Bend is included in the price. Driving on the medicine day is prohibited, and shuttling vehicles for rafting is complicated, so you cannot drive yourself for this part of the experience.
If you would prefer to join us on the trip out from Portland, the cost is $80 for the 1st, $50 additional.
We use minivans and light trucks to move around, to make it environmentally friendly and to allow for more personal choice and flexibility.
We get a lot of questions about the toilets. Smith Rock, Bend and the medicine session will have flush toilets. The campgrounds have vault toilets (pictured above). And no, you won’t have to dig a hole.
Showers are available the first two nights. The third night, if you rent a cabin, you can take a shower. The fourth night, there is no shower, but there is a river.
We handle all the gear, guides, and facilitators for rafting and camp. You just need to bring your personal hygiene items and clothes, and to choose your sleeping bag option (see below). We’ll give you some pointers before you come out, but you probably already have everything else you need.
Sleeping Bags
Sleeping bags are personal items, as they are right up against people. Cleaning sleeping bags causes them to break down quickly, both structurally and insulation wise. But not everyone has one, so we have a few options:
1. Rent A Bag at $35 per person per trip. This covers cleaning and degradation of the sleeping bag.
2. Buy your own. This is our recommended option. Getting your own sleeping bag is a necessary step to you getting outdoors more often. We work with Next Adventure, a Portland based outdoor outfitter, to get you discounted bags. Please let us know in advance if you will be buying a bag.
3. Donate your bag– Don’t want to bring your sleeping bag back home? You can buy a bag and, after you are finished, donate it to local people having housing issues.
No. If you have wool or synthetic long underwear, that can help on colder days. We have splash tops and pants, and we have wet suits if need be. But towards the end of June through July, which is when we have most of our trips, it’s hot out and the water gets warm as well, so swim gear is usually fine.
We do ask that you don’t wear open-toe shoes, as they can be dangerous, during the rafting portion of the experience. You can wear sneakers or booties, or use ours.
The river portion of the journey is van supported, so we don’t need to pack your gear, and stuff it into a gear boat. You just need to change into river clothes, put on our safety equipment (life jacket, helmet, and shoes) and go rafting!
We typically require a 25% payment up front for the Nature-Based Journey. Full payment must be made three days before the trip’s start date.
If you book early in the year, we offer payment plans.
If you choose to do a psilocybin journey, you will also need to pay for the room and the psilocybin mushrooms you consume directly to the service center. The total cost is typically between $500 – $800 per person, and the mushrooms can only be paid for in cash on the day of the services. Several guides are also psilocybin facilitators, and their time, skills, and services around that aspect of the journey are included in the price.
100% deposit refund for cancellation 30+ days before retreat start date, or within 48 hours of booking (up to 3 days before the journey begins)
50% deposit refund for cancellation 15-29 days before retreat start date.
0% deposit refund for cancellation 0-14 days before retreat start date.
The remaining balance is due upon arrival.
If paid at the time of booking, a full refund of the remaining balance is available up to the day before your Journey start date.