Search EXPLORE ADMISSION ACADEMICS PROGRAMS COMMUNITY CALENDAR EVENTS GIVING MYTHACHER Outdoor 1 2 PROGRAMS Horse Outdoor Athletics Visual and Performing Arts Sustainability Global Studies Community Service Independent Projects Off-Campus Programs “Come West, breathe deep, let these hills be your teachers.” - Sherman Day Thacher Determination, self-reliance, grit—we’ve seen firsthand that these qualities go a long way in setting up our students to lead happy, successful lives at Thacher and far beyond. We think there’s no better place to learn these skills than while pitching a tent on a High Sierra pass at 10,000 feet or navigating a topo map as you plot your route through the Sespe Wilderness. List of 3 items. PHILOSOPHY This philosophy has been part of our identity since our founding, when Mr. Thacher invited students to prepare for Eastern colleges with his unique mix of “out of door life and study.” The formula has endured because it works, punctuating a demanding academic term with opportunities for reflection, fresh challenges, and a deep connection to nature. Group travel in the backcountry offers an unrivalled laboratory for young people as they learn how to lead and how to follow, how to care for themselves and how to care for others. TRIPS It’s why the day after our freshmen arrive on campus, we send them to Golden Trout, our High Sierra base camp, for a week of orientation with their prefects and dorm leaders. And it’s why every fall and spring—and during many weekend trips in between—students and faculty pack up and take to backcountry trails for Extra-Day Trips up and down California and beyond. And with the Los Padres National Forest at our back door and other wilderness areas close by, instruction in outdoor sports like rock climbing, winter camping, and sea and river kayaking are there for the taking. FACILITIES To support our backpacking and horse camping programs, Thacher maintains two base camps, one in the Sespe Wilderness and one in the High Sierra. In addition to providing educational wilderness experiences to Thacher students, the High Sierra camp, Golden Trout Wilderness School, offers programs serving a wide range of campers, many of them experiencing the wilderness for the first time. outdoor facilities tour Golden Trout Camp Located in the High Sierra Golden Trout Wilderness, Golden Trout has served Thacher for fifty years as a base camp. Each year it is the site of our freshman orientation camping trip. 1 2 3 4 5 6 back next —Will “At Thacher, the requirements involving horses and the outdoors are not peripheral, they are central. The real growth at Thacher—and in life—comes from putting yourself in environments where you are not completely comfortable.” San Francisco, California Deep Dive Into Camping A college preparatory, coed boarding school for grades 9-12 The Thacher School 5025 Thacher Road Ojai, California, 93023 Tel : 805-646-4377 Fax: 805-646-9490 Email: info@thacher.org Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn MyThacher Contact Us Site Map Careers Privacy Policy Explore Thacher Facts That Matter History and Heritage Thacher Today Admission to Thacher Virtual Visits Tuition and Financial Aid Academics Student Life at Thacher Horse Program / Equestrian Athletics and The Arts Dorms and Campus Map The Ojai Area Faculty and Staff Calendar of Events Request Information Notice of nondiscriminatory policy as to students: The Thacher School admits students of any race, color, national, and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national, and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other School-administered programs. Este sitio en Español (Translate to Spanish) i saiteuneun hangug-eolo (Translate to Korean) Zhège wangzhàn yòng zhongwén (Translate to Mandarin) COVID-19 GUIDANCE CHECKLIST (PDF)