Cultivating Intimacy with the Natural World

At its essence, the Ocamora experience offers a relationship to nature that is unusually precious in our increasingly urbanized world. Here survives a rare, quiet space far from the cacophony of civilization, fostering an intimate relationship with the land, soulful connection with community, and transformative personal renewal and regeneration. Explore this site to learn more about the land and place of Ocamora.

The drone footage embedded in this video offers a bird’s eye view of Ocamora’s stunning setting – where the Great Plains to the East meet the foothills of the Rocky Mountains to the West.

Indigenous Mycelium Gathering 2025

In September 2025 the Ocamora Retreat Center had the great privilege and honor of hosting a gathering convened by Ocamora Board Chair, Toby Herzlich. Social change leaders and educators, biomimicry practitioners, and tribal elders from Hawaii, New Zealand, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Southwest Turtle Island came together at Ocamora to explore how nature’s strategies and Indigenous wisdom can guide us in growing an Indigenous-informed, globally connected human mycelium network.

This extraordinary gathering felt like a great blessing to the land and perfectly aligned with Ocamora’s own Mission Statement:

Ocamora is a place that nurtures healing and wisdom through the intimate experience of self and the natural world. Our intention is to change the way we live.

Retreats

For over 40 years Ocamora has offered its extraordinary landscape and rustic charm as an intimate setting for a wide range of public programming including the themes of contemplative practice, expressive arts, eco-psychology, women’s leadership and social change, depth psychology and biomimicry.

The infrastructure offers a beautiful group meeting space, a large common dining room/art pavilion, comfortable common spaces and outdoor benches, private and shared accommodations in either an abode compound or tucked into our 100 year old apple orchard.

Experience

Ocamora offerings are all land-based residential events of typically 5 nights / 6 days in length during the warm months of summer. The facility is perfectly suited to smaller groups of 12 -20 participants. Travel to Ocamora is part of the pilgrimage – the invitation to step out of business-as-usual begins to quiet the mind and cultivate an intimacy with one own inner landscape. As a complement to whatever rich and stimulating program you may be attending, the residential setting offers ample opportunity for reflection and integration via meandering, writing, expressive arts, deep dialogue and rest.

Reconnect

Ocamora’s inherent stillness and quiet can be palpable. The dark night sky at 7500 ft is often brilliant. Home to abundant wildlife including elk, bear, deer, coyote, bobcats, cougars, eagles, hawks, songbirds, and butterflies, Ocamora offers the perfect antidote to the pace and over stimulation of our busy lives. Cultivating intimacy with the natural world helps us RE-MEMBER what is truly important in this one wild and precious life (a bow to Mary Oliver).

Photo Credits
With thanks to the following individuals for sharing some of their favorite images of Ocamora:
Michael Broome, Pattie Cavalletto, Channing Huser, Jan Stein, Kirsten Kairos, Diane Haug, Missy Bruner Mohle, Lynda Carré

A Special Thanks to Rawiri Tapiata
Rawiri (New Zealand) was the photographer / videographer for the Indigenous Mycelium Gathering held at Ocamora in September 2025. His generous gift of images touches us all.