Welcome to Ascend Wilderness Experience Registration
Scroll down to apply for a summer adventure with Ascend Wilderness Experience—Youth Trips, Teen Internships, or Adult Experiences.
For a look at this season’s schedule and trip descriptions, click here.
Register for Youth and Teen Trips from April 1 - May 15.
Late applications are accepted for the waitlist—and spots often open up!
Adult Trip registration is open until the trip date, though spots fill quickly.
Early registration is recommended.
Signing up at least one month in advance helps us plan meals and logistics. Later registrations are welcome, but last-minute spots may require creative food and gear solutions, including providing your own food.
Youth Trips
Join the Adventure – 2026 Youth Trip Registration
For over 20 years, Ascend Wilderness Experience has fully funded youth backpacking trips (ages 6–14), ensuring cost was never a barrier. These trips introduce young people to the wilderness while fostering confidence, resilience, outdoor skills, and a lasting connection to nature.
This year, due to funding challenges, we are introducing program fees for the first time. We are actively pursuing grants and hope to provide subsidies, and any funding received will go directly toward reducing costs for families.
Sign up regardless of your ability to pay. We’re committed to making these experiences accessible to all. Please see the Trip Fees section in the application for more details.
Applications received April 1 - May 15 are evaluated equally (there is no first-come, first-served). Applications received after May 15 are still welcome, but placed on a waitlist.
Please take Ascend's Youth Survey
***We’d love your input to help us plan future programs and keep our youth trips accessible to all. Please take a moment to share whether cost is a barrier to participating. Your feedback will help us better understand community needs, explore funding opportunities, and ensure that every young person has the chance to experience these trips regardless of financial circumstances. Click HERE for the survey.***
Click here for Youth Registration
(See below for printable application instructions)
Teen Internships
2026 Teen Internship Opportunities
We’re excited to offer a variety of teen internships for those eager to gain hands-on outdoor experience. These trips provide real-world skills, connect you with local organizations and agencies, and best of all, they’re really fun!
Teens may apply for as many internships as they like. If space allows, we’re happy to welcome you on multiple trips.
Treat this application like a job application. Our Teen Internships are growing in popularity, and thoughtful, careful applications increase your chances of placement.
Early-career individuals (ages 18-21) are also welcome to apply.
Applications received April 1 - May 15 are evaluated equally (there is no first-come, first-served). Applications received after May 15 are still welcome, but placed on a waitlist.
Click here for Teen Registration
(See below for printable application instructions)
Adult Trips
2026 Adult Stewardship Trip Registration
Join us for an unforgettable outdoor stewardship experience! All of our adult stewardship trips are completely free.
We know a 7-day trip is hard to accommodate. If you can only attend for partial trips, no problem! Give us a call, and we’ll see what’s possible
Click here for Adult Registration
(See below for printable application instructions)
Printable Application Instructions
We prefer you to fill out our digital application. (So much easier for us!) However, if you need to fill it in by hand, we are happy to accommodate. Please contact the staff at Ascend Wilderness Experience at 530-739-1177 or information.ascend@gmail.com so that we can get a paper version of our application(s) to you.
Incomplete packets or pages left unsigned will not be considered!
Email To:
information.ascend@gmail.com
Subject line: Summer Application for [NAME] Attached
Send Application Packet To:
Ascend Wilderness Experience
PO Box 3263
Weaverville, CA 96093
OR: information.ascend@gmail.com
Drop-Off Application Packet Locally:
Ascend's Downtown Weaverville Office
420 Main St. (Behind/Underneath building via Forest Ave).
The application drop box is outside our office door, which faces Forest Ave., next to White Wolf Gym.
Please be sure to send or drop off the ENTIRE packet with all pertinent information included
Thank you for your interest in participating in Ascend's programs!
What to Expect next:
Once you have completed our digital application, rest assured, we've received it! You should receive an email confirmation from information.ascend@gmail.com.
If you do not receive the confirmation email, check your spam folder and/or contact us.
Parent Announcement:
We understand you’re trying to plan summer trips, juggle work/life, etc. For Teen & Youth applications, we begin reviewing all applications after our May 15 deadline. We will reach out to the first round of confirmed participants by the end of May. Waitlisted youth are often not contacted until the first week of June. We appreciate your patience - these things take time.