Nature-Based Retreats at the Yakima Canyon
A different kind of gathering
Step away from the everyday and discover what happens when your group has room to explore, connect, and think differently.
Located at the Yakima Canyon Interpretive Center and Helen McCabe State Park, just south of Ellensburg, KEEN's Outdoor Learning Campus offers a distinctive setting for organizations looking for something beyond a conventional meeting room.
Gather in our yurt spaces, step outside into the shrub-steppe landscape, and experience the Yakima Canyon through guided environmental education, nature exploration, and hands-on stewardship.
Whether you're planning a staff retreat, board gathering, team experience, university program, or volunteer day, KEEN can help create an experience tailored to your group's interests and goals.
The Nature Reset
A short, guided outdoor experience for teams that want to step away from their usual routine, explore the landscape, and reconnect.
Cost: from $300*
A guided experience of approximately two hours.
*depending on group size. Discounts offered to nonprofits and school groups.
Half-Day Nature Retreat
Combine gathering time in our yurt space with a guided outdoor experience, nature-based activities, and facilitated group reflection.
Cost: from $500*
Approximately three to four hours of gathering and guided outdoor programming.
*depending on group size. Discounts offered to nonprofits and school groups.
Full-Day Field Retreat
Spend a day learning, exploring, and working together. Build your program around canyon ecology, wildlife tracking, water and wetlands, outdoor skills, or an appropriate habitat stewardship project.
Cost: from $1,000*
An immersive experience of approximately six hours.
*depending on group size. Discounts offered to nonprofits and school groups.
Custom Team & Stewardship Experiences
Bring us your group's goals. We can work with you to develop a customized outdoor learning experience for your business, nonprofit, university department, board, or community organization.
Custom programs, transportation, meals, additional facilitators, and specialized activities can be quoted separately. Final pricing depends on group size, program design, staffing, and site availability.
Contact Us!
A retreat that gives back
KEEN (Kittitas Environmental Education Network) is a local nonprofit dedicated to cultivating an active understanding of climate change impacts on the endangered shrub-steppe and fostering environmental stewardship through culturally relevant, nature-based education.
For more than 25 years, KEEN has connected people with the natural world through outdoor learning, habitat restoration, and community partnerships.
When your organization books a retreat with KEEN, you're helping sustain that work and expand opportunities for people to learn from and care for the landscapes around them.
Plan your retreat
Tell us a little about your group, what you'd like to accomplish, and when you'd like to visit. We'll work with you to explore program options and develop a retreat that fits.
Interested in bringing your team to the Yakima Canyon?
Contact KEEN to discuss dates, group size, program ideas, and a customized proposal by filling out the form below.
Retreats are offered by advance arrangement and are subject to site availability, approved capacity, and program requirements. Yurt use is for approved day-use activities; overnight accommodations are not currently offered.