Join us for our last dinner at the old Professor Valley Field Camp, prior to starting operations next spring at our new Taylor Ranch Field Camp.

• When: Saturday, Oct. 11
• Time: 5:00 pm
• Where: Professor Valley Field Camp
• Price: $30 (kids 6-12 are $8, children under 6 free)

Paid reservations by Oct. 10 morning! Limited seating.

• 5:00 Hors d'Oeuvres
• 6:00 Dinner with the Sunset
• Followed by Campfire and S'mores
• Instruments and Stories Welcome
• Overnight optional (bring your own tent or spend the night in one of our tipis
• Free shuttle available depart CFI 4:30, depart field camp 8:00 pm

After 26 years operating a field camp in Professor Valley on land leased from the Bureau of Land Management, Moab-based outdoor education non-profit Canyonlands Field Institute is relocating the camp to neighboring private land this winter. On the evening of Oct. 11 they’re taking the opportunity to celebrate their many successful years at the cottonwood grove location by inviting the entire Moab community to join them for a star spangled dinner at the field camp.

CFI uses the camp to provide school groups from across the nation with space to enjoy a quiet retreat, learn with CFI naturalists about desert plants, animals, geology and public lands management, and have time for their own school curriculum as well.

The field camp is located in a highly scenic setting just 20 miles from Moab in the heart of the Richardson Amphitheater, up State Route 128 beyond the Castle Valley turnoff, nestled in cottonwood grove a-mile-and-a-half up a dirt road along Professor Creek. Kids sleep on cots in Lakota-style tipis, meals are prepared in a semi-permanent kitchen housed within a yurt and daily classes are held outdoors along the creek, on hikes in the foothills below nearby Fisher Mesa, under a shade ramada in camp or inside another yurt set up as a classroom. The camp can accommodate groups up to 40 individuals including kids, school group chaperones and CFI staff.

Two years ago, with the release of the Bureau of Land Management’s Resource Management Plan, it became clear that CFI needed to find a new location by spring of 2014. Given the unique beauty and location of the Professor Creek site, however, the group found it difficult to imagine anything else truly fitting the bill. But with the help of local "angel" Jennifer Speers, they were able to secure private land virtually next door on a 40-acre former ranch situated along the creek just downstream from their current BLM location. Speers purchased the land from rancher Joe Taylor and gave CFI a 25-year lease with option to buy.

Last month, at a special dinner hosted by Jane and Ken Sleight at Pack Creek Ranch, CFI launched the next phase of the change-over which involves site planning and fundraising. The group plans to remove the field camp facilities from the BLM site and install them at the new site over the coming winter so that they will be ready to begin hosting groups at the Taylor Ranch site next spring pending final approval of site plans by Grand County.

The send-off celebration will be held at the Professor Valley Field Camp the evening of Saturday, Oct. 11. A shuttle service from CFI headquarters in Moab will be provided free of charge. The evening will include a social hour and hors d’oeuvres beginning at 5 pm followed by dinner at 6 pm. Guests are encouraged to bring musical instruments and stories for the after-dinner campfire where s’mores will be prepared. Overnight camping is optional, with guests encouraged to bring tents and sleeping bags or to bunk in one of the tipis. Paid reservations are $30, kids ages six to 12 are $8 and children under six are free. Seating is limited.