Sasquatch

Sasquatch screen capture from the Gimli Patterson film
Scientific Name
None

Size
6-10 feet tall, upwards of 500 pounds

Habitat
Remote forests

About

Few creatures have more speculation and anecdotal evidence surrounding them than Sasquatch does. Before the 19th century, when stories about the mysterious “ape man” began circulating in the American West, most Native American tribes had their own legends surrounding the enigmatic creature. Sasquatch, most commonly spotted in the Pacific Northwest, is usually described as a bipedal ape-like creature, significantly larger than the average man, and completely covered in dark brown or reddish hair. Although the scientific community remains skeptical and little evidence exists in support of a modern day Bigfoot, there are a lot of people out there who are confident that some sort of ape-man roams through the depths of North America’s most remote forests and devote their lives to finding them.


Eagle Creek by Evan Marx

Sasquatch may be a part of Oregon lore, but its habitat is real. Oregon Wild fights for the protection of Oregon’s wildlands, waters, and all wildlife. Learn more about our work and how you can get involved.

Explore Oregon Wild


Why does it need our help?

If there really is a Sasquatch out there, there is definitely more than one, and in order to maintain a healthy breeding population a species of hominid (as Sasquatch is assumed to be) would need extremely vast expanses of uninterrupted forest. Remote Wilderness areas would be prime habitat for Sasquatch, so if there are any out there to protect, making sure Oregon’s forests get the protections they need to stay untrammeled is of the utmost importance.

Did you know?

  • The name “Sasquatch” comes from an adaptation of the Halkomelem tribe’s in British Columbia term, and was coined by a Canadian journalist who wrote a series of articles about Bigfoot in the 1920’s.
  • The world’s only Sasquatch trap is located in Oregon in the Siskiyou National Forest.
  • The hotbed of Sasquatch sightings in the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains of northwest California and southwest Oregon led to the creation of the Bigfoot Trail.

Watch the 1967 Patterson-Gimlin footage of a “Sasquatch”:

Join Our
Newsletter.

Staying informed is the first step to becoming a public lands and native wildlife advocate.

Skip to content