I met the wonderfully diverse community keeping the Bigfoot legend alive and it surprised me at every turn

A hidden community of artists, scientists, skeptics, and storytellers is keeping the Bigfoot legend alive in ways far stranger and more revealing than the fabled creature itself.

The legend of a towering, elusive figure roaming the forests has always intrigued me, not just the possibility of the creature itself, but the diverse community of people who keep its story alive. Over the years, I’ve sought out experts, skeptics, and tradition bearers who, each in their own way, ensure the mystery endures.

For a creature that has never officially stepped into the scientific record, the figure at the heart of the Bigfoot legend has a remarkable way of drawing people in. Not just into the woods, but into creativity, scholarship, community, and story. Across the Pacific Northwest and far beyond, artists, scientists, skeptics, and tradition keepers have each found themselves pulled toward the same towering mystery. Sometimes in search of evidence, sometimes in search of meaning, and sometimes simply in search of joy.

Their approaches couldn’t be more different: one turns a costume into a social-media phenomenon; another brings hard data and a healthy dose of doubt to every footprint and hair sample; a culture bearer preserves generations of teachings about beings who move between the seen and unseen worlds; and a naturalist follows the legend the way he follows butterflies, letting curiosity lead him into deeper forests and deeper questions.

Together, they reveal something essential about why this creature endures. Bigfoot isn’t just a question of biology. It’s a mirror for imagination, skepticism, heritage, humor, and the human urge to believe in something larger, wilder, and still untamed.

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By Mike Hipple / Freelance Photographer and Writer

Mike Hipple is a Seattle-based freelance photographer and writer whose work has appeared in publications such as Fast Company, Sunset, Bicycling, and National Geographic. He is the author of "80s Redux," and "Lived Through That: '90s Musicians Today," two collections of intimate portraits and interviews with influential musicians of the 1980s and 90s, and hosts the companion podcast Lived Through That, where artists revisit pivotal moments from their lives and careers.

(Source: zmescience.com; December 9, 2025; https://tinyurl.com/25l5avqy)
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