From left, 10-year-old Joseph Lacy of Arvada and his mother, Cindy, visit Sasquatch Outpost in Bailey, Colorado, on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (Photo by Hyun Chang/The Denver Post)
For $650 a pop, Jim Myers sends cryptid-curious people from around the world on a three-day camping trip into the wilds of Park County, Colorado, in search of the elusive Bigfoot.
Myers’ company, Rabbit Hole Adventures, provides tents, meals, guides, first aid kits and satellite phones as part of the expedition. He also brings night vision binoculars, thermal imaging equipment and cameras.
Myers charges $1,400 per person for the horseback trek. For a wallet-friendly Sasquatch hunt, the lifelong Bigfoot believer hosts $125 overnight hikes in hopes of catching a glimpse of the furry creature. On what Myers considers a successful expedition, he said, trekkers have spotted a distinctive pair of glowing eyes through the trees and the large, artfully woven branches that form a Sasquatch nest — evidence that the legendary forest dweller walks among us.
“Bigfoot is a lot more mainstream than it used to be,” Myers said. “Instead of people not wanting to let it be known that they’re interested for fear of being thought of as weird, there’s definitely more people who are openly interested in the topic. America is obsessed with Bigfoot.”
Bigfoot can be big business for Colorado’s rural and mountain towns. The National Paranormal Network hosts an annual Bigfoot Adventure Weekend in Colorado, bringing together Sasquatch enthusiasts to search for the creature, often called Squatchin’. Professional Bigfoot hunters host private forest tours to share their Sasquatch know-how and where to spot them, and businesses around the state rent out shuttles, cars and motorcycles for Bigfoot hunts.
Myers has been a Bigfoot enthusiast since he was a child when he saw the famous Patterson-Gimlin film, shot in 1967, that shows a giant, hairy creature stalking on two legs through the forests of Northern California.
The cryptid had so much control over Myers’ life that in 2012, when he and his wife were restoring their 150-year-old grocery store in Bailey, they got rid of their groceries and dedicated the store to Bigfoot instead.
Now Sasquatch Outpost, a souvenir shop and museum dedicated to all things Bigfoot, is one of Bailey’s most-visited attractions, Myers said.
“For a small town like Bailey, it’s a very popular tourist destination,” Myers said, “and we send people to local restaurants, gift shops, etc. just because when you come to Bailey, you want to do other things, and we try to help others do the same.”
Bigfoot Traveler
Measuring Sasquatch’s economic impact in Colorado isn’t easy — believe it or not, the state doesn’t track the economic impact of Bigfoot tourism.
The Denver Post sent an email requesting an interview with the state’s tourism office to discuss the impact of the unusual tourist attraction on a small rural community. The message was forwarded to an outside public relations firm, which declined to set up an interview.
“The reality is, we don’t know much about Bigfoot tourism in Colorado,” a representative for Handlebar Public Relations admitted.
But Kevin McDonald, special events coordinator for the City of Estes Park, was cryptic in his conversation.
The Larimer County town, which serves as the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, has been hosting its Bigfoot Days festival since 2019, attracting Sasquatch enthusiasts from near and far.
“We celebrate all things Squatchie,” McDonald said.
The festival, which draws about 5,000 people, features Bigfoot-themed vendors, Sasquatch celebrities from reality shows like “Searching for Bigfoot,” live music by Denver-based band That Damn Sasquatch, and a contest to see who can make the best Bigfoot noise.
The night before the event is a Bigfoot BBQ, and while Estes Park has already scheduled one for 2024, the 2025 festival is scheduled for April 26. 150 people purchase tickets to enjoy an intimate meal with their favorite Sasquatch celebrities. This year’s dinner drew people from eight states, McDonald said.
“It’s a very enthusiastic audience, and people travel to find Bigfoot,” he said.
According to McDonald, the 2024 Event Economic Development Study found that about 75 percent of festival-goers surveyed said they came to Estes Park for Bigfoot Days. More than 72 percent of those surveyed stayed overnight in Estes Park, and 88.2 percent said they stayed in a commercial lodging facility for an average of two nights.
According to the latest state tourism report, tourists staying in Colorado hotels, motels and short-term vacation rentals spent a combined $17.3 billion in 2022. Travel spending in Colorado increased 25.2% from $22.1 billion in 2021 to $27.7 billion in 2022, the state tourism report found.
Estes Park and the surrounding forests are filled with Bigfoot legends.
So Andy Hitch, owner of Backbone Adventures, an ATV and Jeep rental shop in Estes Park, wrote a blog post promoting an ATV travel guide for spotting Bigfoot.
At first, Hitch was hesitant to talk about his Sasquatch encounters because he grew up in the mountains around Estes Park.
“I’m not that interested,” he told The Washington Post, acknowledging that “rumors are flying around” about sightings of the creature.
Hitch then admitted to an experience he had 14 years ago while riding his dirt bike through the mountains.
“Something ran in front of me,” he said. “It was tall and had black hair. I can’t tell you exactly what it was, but I’m not one to get angry about anything, but it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I can’t say I saw something, but I can’t say I didn’t see it either.”
Hitch figured other people might be looking for something similar, and he was right.
Since he wrote his article, he said more people have been coming to his store looking for ATVs and Jeeps that can take them deep into the woods in hopes of spotting Bigfoot.
“Go out there and keep your eyes open,” Hitch said. “You never know what you’re going to see out there. You might find some antlers. You might see Bigfoot.”
“The wonder and mystery of what we don’t know”
Bigfoot hunting expeditions don’t generate enough income for Myers to make a living — his main source of income is his Sasquatch Outpost store and museum, and he said the expeditions are more of a hobby that keeps his passion burning.
What continues to fascinate Myers and other squatters?
“That’s the magic of the whole world of paranormal cryptids,” Myers says. “Bigfoot is just one of many unidentified, unclassified species that exist around the world. If Bigfoot is real, and it is, what else is real? Are fairies real? What about the Dog Man? What about the Moth Man? It’s the wonder and mystery of what we don’t know and don’t understand.”
Last year, Bigfoot sightings made headlines in southwest Colorado after photos and video taken from the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad showed a Bigfoot-like creature roaming the landscape, sparking debate over whether the sightings were a marketing campaign or a hoax.
The Washington Post contacted the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad to find out whether the sightings have spurred more Bigfoot believers to take rides on its trains, but railroad officials were tight-lipped.
Myers said Bigfoot has many gifts that most people don’t know about, including the ability to read minds and plant thoughts in people’s brains.
Another skill? The ability to draw a crowd.
Myers said people from all over the world have come to explore, but even more have visited the museum and store to see the wonders of the 6-foot-tall fiberglass Bigfoot replica and the 7-foot-3-inch-tall animatronic Sasquatch. He said about 90,000 people have visited the museum to view the cryptid models, plaster footprints, video footage and educational materials.
Among the 27 real trees that Myers brought into the store, he has displayed his merchandise, which includes Bigfoot and Yeti salt and pepper shakers, stuffed animals, boxer briefs and soaps shaped like Bigfoot’s feet. He also built a cave system for kids to run around in and a small theater where Myers gives his “cave talks,” which are his version of TED talks.
“You won’t find anything like this in the world,” Myers said.
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