Botany, Plant ID, & Wildcrafting
In this workshop we focus on medicinal plants of the Rocky Mountain bioregion, with an emphasis on plant identification, learning plant family similarities, and gaining awareness of local ecology. Designed to give you confidence in your future foraging endeavors with skillful instruction on how to avoid poisonous look-alikes, and how to feel comfortable knowing common edible and medicinal plants. This course is designed around cultivating relationship with plants - learning how to steward and tend the landscape as part of a wildcrafting practice.
Herbalism & Medicine Making
Delve into the materia medica of the rocky mountain bioregion. We’ll cover indications, herbal actions, safety, and energetics of each herb, while covering Western Herbalism principles and practices. You’ll learn to create medicinal teas, infuse medicinal oils and create salves, as well as create tinctures from the landscape. We'll be using the heat of the hot springs to create infused oils, teas, and more. Participants will go home with teas, tinctures, and salves that they crafted during the weekend.
Ancestral Skills
This weekend will focus on basketry skills, with an emphasis on splint basketry. You’ll craft your own harvesting basket that you'll begin using for gathering herbs during the weekend. You'll also go home with the knowledge of how to gather and process your own basket-making supplies for the future. If you've never woven a basket while hot springing, we can't recommend it enough:)
Class Location and Details: Thursday, Sept. 17th - Sunday, Sept. 20th, 2026 Near Gunnison, CO
Our class site is located about 40 minutes outside the town of Gunnison, CO, at a beautiful private hot spring. Participants may begin arriving to set up camp as early as 3 pm on Thursday afternoon. Friday - Sunday, class will be 9am to ~5:30pm each day, with occasional night time activities. Be prepared to go all day, but with time for breaks and a long lunch. There will be some moderately strenuous activity, mostly in the form of plant walks over uneven terrain.
Camping Details
Car camping, small RV, or tent camping available. Camping is remote, dispersed and without running water. Non-flush toilet available onsite. No dogs or pets please:)
Transportation
Participants must arrange for their own transportation to and from the course. Vehicle clearance of 8 inches or more recommended, though not not required. We'll be driving down a long and occasionaly bumpy dirt road to get to class.
What to Bring
Bring enough food and water for the trip (participants need to supply their own food and water). Be prepared for hot days and cold nights. Class is rain or shine! A full gearlist will be sent out when you enroll in the course.
About The Instructor
Kat is a Registered Herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild and a certified clinical herbalist and nutritionist from the North American Institute of Medical Herbalism, where she studied under Paul Bergner. She teaches workshops on herbalism, wild foods, and botany, while also running her clinical practice through Meet the Green. Approaching her work from a Vitalist perspective, Kat believes in the intelligent life force within us all. For 12 years, she worked at the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism in Boulder and Lafayette, CO, where she served as faculty and Clinical Program Director. Originally from the East Coast, she has a passion for bioregional herbalism, especially the herbs and ecology of the Southwest.
Ready for some hot spring time? Join us for the weekend!
Payment Plans Available Use the early bird code HOTSPRINGS to get $100 off the full course price when you sign up before July 1st, 2026
Course Cancellation Policy and Dates
Full refunds minus a 3% processing fee are available with cancellation anytime before August 17th, 2026 50% refunds are available with cancellation between August 17th - September 1st, 2026 No refunds are available for cancellations after September 1st, 2026.