events, retreats & Programs
Ekone Calendar of Events
Not just Summer Camp! Ekone is a busy place year-round, and you’re invited. We host and offer a wide variety of programs for kids, adults, and families, all with the participatory, land-based, inclusive community flavor of all of our work.
Ekone Events Calendar
You can also host your own program, event or school trip at Ekone. Contact Michelle at michelle@ekone.org to discuss your event.
Spring ‘26 Events at Ekone & White Eagle
Spring Workparty
March 13-15, 2026
Help us shake out the cobwebs and get the ranch ready for action!
Animas Valley Institute Quest for Women: Into the Dark Womb
April 8-19, 2026
This is a unique ceremonial gathering designed specifically and intentionally for women-identified humans seeking greater connection, depth, and clarity about life purpose and meaning.
Application deadline is January 30, 2026
This program is offered in partnership with Animas Valley Institute and facilitated by Laura Gunion and Palika Wilding.
Adult Horse Connection Camp
May 14-17, 2026
Ages 18+
Tuition $600 base rate, $750 restoration rate
For anyone wanting to foster a more connective relationship with these wonderful, intuitive, reflective, wise, and relational creatures! And go deep with Ekone’s #1 horse fan, advocate, caretaker, and self-proclaimed nerd, Jenna Milton.
Memorial Day Sunday Open House at White Eagle Memorial Preserve
May 24, 2026
This annual Open House is a great opportunity to spend some low-key time on the land, and to learn more about natural green burial and White Eagle. This event will be held on Sunday, to allow people to be more flexible with their travel plans and traffic...
We gather in the Ekone Ranch valley to begin the day with a tour of Ekone Ranch and some lunch at the Yummy Tummy, then walk or drive out to White Eagle. WEMP stewards will host a guided tour of the cemetery in the afternoon.
Ekone *Bird Nerds* Spring Excursion
May 24-25, 2026 (Memorial Day Weekend)
Ages 18+
Tuition $85 base rate, $115 restoration rate
Join with ‘experts’ and ‘beginners’ for this birding blitz adventure. We’ll wander, watch, look and listen to birds in a mix of places around the Ranch. This includes dinner, snacks, brunch, a shared bunkhouse overnight, breathing room and wildflower beauty too. We are looking for 15 adventurous adults. Grab your binoculars and get your name in early!
Summer ‘26 Events at Ekone & White Eagle
Family Camp
August 20-23, 2026
All Ages! Bring your babies, bring your grandmas!
Base Tuition $350; Restoration Rate $500; per person aged 6+
Bring your whole family to Ekone for a long weekend of forest walks, ponies, rope swings, music night, and delicious meals! “Family” could include parents, kids, grandparents, pals, coworkers—whoever you want to share some Ekone Magic with. (Kids are most welcome but not required! You can also come solo!)
Sacred Groves Spirit n’ Soul Quests
August 27-September 1, 2026
A gentle, lightly-facilitated time of quiet on Ekone land. The intention is to feel a sense of being held, nurtured, and “be-longing” with the earth, the group, the land, the plants, trees, and creatures, and the spirits.
This program is offered in partnership with Therese Charvet & Tere Carranza of Sacred Groves.
Fall ‘26 Events at Ekone & White Eagle
Ekone’s Barbed Wire Ball
September 26, 2026
It's a family festival and hootenanny and the best party of the year, with 300 of our favorite people (you!) come together to celebrate stewardship, community, and a little bit of something right in the world. Pony rides for kids, beer garden for grownups, and games, home-cookin', live music, hikes, and fun times for everyone. The auction and pledge drive support Ekone's work, but there is no ticket price to attend. Come for the day or camp overnight!
Click below for everything you need to know & to save your spot
Adult Trail Ride Camp
October 14-18, 2026
Ekone’s horses are not the “dude ranch” plug-and-play variety—you won’t just be a passenger on these rides, but an active partner learning, listening, and responding to your equine friend as we collaborate to explore as many miles of beautiful Ekone Ranch as we can cover in three days of riding!
Shonie and Jenna will be your wranglers for a fun and relaxed adult camp; this trail-ride intensive will build riding skills and horse communication for successful adventuring.
Adult Personal Retreat Camp
October 14-18 or 16-18, 2026
We often are asked whether it’s possible to simply come and stay at Ekone for a time—to camp on the land and have solo time in contemplation, or stay in the cozy bunkhouse and explore ALL the beautiful trails, or have spacious time for reading or art, and be fed delicious meals at the Yummy Tummy Cafe.
This is the window in the Ekone year when you can!
Forestry & Gravedigging Workparty
November 6-8, 2026
For anyone who wants to get hands-on with Ekone’s human-powered forest stewardship, learn about our use of prescribed fire, learn to run a chainsaw, or participate in the sacred labor of gravedigging.
Here’s everything you need to know about Ekone workparties.
Remembrance Day at White Eagle Memorial Preserve
November 8, 2026, 11am-4pm
This gathering in service to the land and the spirits of our loved ones is a yearly tradition. All are welcome; join us to honor a loved one in the earth at White Eagle, celebrate your ancestors in a simple, non-denominational way, learn more about our natural burial practices, or just to spend some time on the land.
Get prepared
Coming to an Event at Ekone?
Here’s everything you need to know to get ready.
Finding Ekone Ranch
We are located east of Goldendale, in south-central Washington State just north of the Columbia River Gorge, in the homelands of the Kah-Milt-Pah, now one of the confederated bands and tribes of the Yakima Nation.
Google maps sometimes sends you down a goat trail - so please see step by step directions here.