WHY VISIT A RECREATION RANCH?

recreation: rec•re•a•tion

refreshment by means of some pastime, agreeable exercise, or diversion

recreation: re•cre•a•tion

the act of creating anew

We already know that recreation—that is, leisure activity—fosters a wealth of health and social benefits: it improves physical and mental health, strengthens communities, promotes social bonds, and so much more. (NPS 2005)

Another way to say this: recreation fosters recreation.

Withlacoochee Outpost at Panther Bend is a land laboratory designed around this notion of recreation for recreation—a place where people can come together to challenge themselves and one another; to learn new skills and to hone old ones; to engage in iterative play in the service of building skill, strength, competency, and resilience; and to foster self-complexity to help us better navigate change.

Science offers a great model by analogy: directed evolution is “the laboratory process by which biological entities with desired traits are created through iterative rounds of genetic diversification and… selection”. (Cobb et al, 2015)

At Panther Bend, our goal is to build the infrastructure, craft experiences, and cultivate a community to foster our own adaptation of “directed evolution”, wherein the place itself is the land laboratory, people are the biological entities, and the recreational experiences are the iterative rounds that bring about recreation.

We hope that you’ll join us soon for one of our experiences—retreats, camping trips, workshops, and other explorations that will encourage you to reconnect with nature and all of the other living things we share it with.