Primitive Pursuits – Wilderness Skills Training

Mission Driven Nature Education

Since 2001 we have offered skills and experiences that create life-long connections with nature. Our staff works in the field year-round, using time honored mentoring techniques and cutting edge curriculum.

Primitive Pursuits is a non-profit program in partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension. We provide leadership and wilderness skills education to hundreds of toddlers, youth, teens and adults throughout the Finger Lakes region.

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An Enduring Mission:

For more than 15 years it has been our mission to steward the health of our community by fostering life-long relationships with the natural world through exceptional mentoring and nature education.

A Focused Vision:

Through our mission, we work daily to achieve a cultural intervention that will bring back into our modern lives a necessary and healthy relationship with the natural world and within our human communities. We have studied with the country’s leading naturalist educators and survival skills programs, and have honed our outdoor skills around the world.

Who We Are:

We share experience teaching in primary schools and universities as well as other wilderness education programs. Our curriculum has helped to shape college degree programs and is available in print.

Our interests include birding, tree lore and cultivation, bow-making, primitive technology, winter survival, permaculture, and animal tracking. More importantly all our staff share a passion for teaching skills that strengthen our relationship with wild nature.

With over 40,000 hours of combined outdoor education experience, you won’t find a more competent and dedicated staff anywhere.