SoCal
Tracking
​
The San Diego Tracking Team Presents
East San Diego County Desert and Mountains
Wildlife Tracking Workshop
and Certification
​
Wed/Thurs: April 2-3, 2025
Sat/Sun: April 5-6, 2025
The San Diego Tracking Team (SDTT) invites you to participate in one of two Wildlife Track and Sign workshops being conducted in the San Diego mountains and desert. These two-day field experiences are fun, participative workshops with an emphasis on learning to identify animal track and sign by looking at real tracks we find across the landscape and discussing exactly how to identify them.
Limited to only eleven participants, we’re bringing in one of the top tracking instructors and evaluators in the United States, Marcus Reynerson, a highly experienced Track and Sign Specialist and a gentle, wonderful teacher and mentor. In the photo Marcus points out gray fox track diagnostic field marks.
The training emphasizes the development of reliable field skills to recognize tracks and identify the animal's behavior. No prior tracking is required to participate but preparation and prior experience is extremely helpful for those for whom obtaining a certificate is important. The underlying impetus, however, lies in the rich educational benefit for all participants.
When is the last time you've had the experience of seeing animal tracks and wondered what animal was there? Was it a dog or a mountain lion? A bobcat or a fox? Where was it going? What was it doing.... and where is it now?
​
If you would like to have the skill to be able to see and interpret wild animal sign that is invisible to "normal people", we invite you to participate in this one-of-a-kind immersive field training.
This two-full-day field experience in the East San Diego County Desert and Mountains will immerse you in the art and skill of reading the hidden stories of animals by examining the clues they leave across the landscape. You'll discover how to see and interpret animal behavior that was previously "invisible" to you.
What to Expect
Two Full Days of Hands-on Track and Sign Field Training
THE WILDLIFE TRACKING
EDUCATION AND
CERTIFICATION PROCESS
Sponsored by: The San Diego Tracking Team (SDTT)
​
If you’re not familiar with the international organizations of CyberTracker or Tracking Certification North America (TCNA ) certifications and evaluations, we urge you to peruse this link to gain an understanding of the depth and value of this immersive method type of track and sign training. SDTT is organizing this weekend to further their skills in state-of-the-art track and sign training available no where else in the world.
​​The entire weekend consists of field training. Our classroom is the outdoors. Our teachers are the animals themselves. Our instructor finds animal track and sign, then a dialogue ensues between the instructor and participants to provide the opportunity for everyone involved to internalize field marks and interpret wildlife behavior. The learning retention is unparalleled.
​
The training emphasizes the development of reliable field skills. No prior training is required to participate. The less you know, the more more you will learn.
​
More about our instructor, Marcus Reynerson and the other TCNA instructors:
​
"An Amazing Experience"
“Tracking with Marcus is an amazing experience because it is so much more than walking around looking for tracks. Marcus knows how to look at a the landscape with acute awareness, knowing exactly where the animals have gone and the certain behaviors one might see. Watching him work will inspire anyone to become a wildlife tracker, to learn about the natural world in a unique way."
- Rachel Bishop, WRI Community Education Lead
​
​
Workshop Leader Marcus Reynerson
Marcus Reynerson has worked in wilderness education, outdoor leadership and conservation for numerous organizations and communities across North America and Europe. Marcus lives in the Snoqualmie Valley in Washington State, just east of Seattle, where he has called home the last 17 years. He is the Lead Instructor for an internationally renowned environmental leadership immersion program for adults at the Wilderness Awareness School in Duvall, WA.
For more information about this workshop and the Tracking Certification North America tracking education, training and certification process, click here:
​
​
Training Locations &
Recommended Accommodations
​​​
WORKSHOP AND PREP DAY LOCATIONS: The training will be held in the East San Diego County Desert and Mountains centered around the Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Past locations include Scissors Crossing, Grapevine Canyon, Warner Springs, Lake Morena, Volcan Mountain and the Laguna Mountains. The exact location of the workshop will be wherever our workshop leader - after a day or two of scouting - believes will yield the best tracking experience. The starting location will be announced the evening before the workshop begins. In the event of rain, there is a slight possibility the workshop may move to some locations west of the mountains.
ACCOMMODATIONS: In light of the fact that the workshop (and the prep day) is targeted around Borrego Springs, we recommend camping in Anza Borrego Desert State Park near Borrego Springs or staying at a hotel in Borrego Springs. We recommend the Borrego Springs Resort, the Borrego Springs Motel or Stanlund's Inn - all listed on Booking.com. There are many other accommodations around Borrego Springs listed on AirBnB and VRBO.
CAMPING: Dry camping is free anywhere in Anza Borrego Desert State Park (1,000 square miles of desert wilderness). Two improved State Park Campgrounds are near Borrego Springs: Borrego Palm Canyon (hookups and electric) and Tamarisk Grove (restrooms, no hookups). There are also many commercial campgrounds.
tuition
questions?
registration
payment
wait list
free "prep day"
free "zooms"
scholarships
refund & cancel policy
contact us
cont
ac
​​TUITION
SAN DIEGO TRACKING TEAM (SDTT) MEMBERS:
The tuition for each 2-day workshop for SDTT (San Diego Tracking Team) members, donors and volunteers is $350.
EARLY BIRD: Register by by November 23, 2024 for $325.
NON-SDTT-MEMBERS:
Tuition: $395. ​
EARLY BIRD: Register by November 23, 2024 for $355.
​
QUESTIONS?
Please email the SDTT workshop coordinator Terry Hunefeld by using the "contact us" form at the bottom of this page.
​
TO REGISTER
STEP ONE: First, make sure there is a spot available for the event you would like to attend by using the "contact us" form at the bottom of this page. Leave your name, phone and the date of the event you wish to attend and we'll respond - usually within an hour or two, but certainly within 20 hours.
STEP TWO: When you receive a response from our workshop coordinator clearing you to register, you will register by paying the applicable tuition via Venmo or PayPal (see below).
STEP THREE: After paying by Venmo or PayPal, please email our workshop coordinator and include a copy of your Venmo or PayPal receipt as proof of payment.
STEP FOUR: Stand by for confirmation that you are registered, paid and enrolled - usually within an hour or two. We will then follow up with more information as the event draws nearer.
​
PAYMENT
Make your payment by Venmo or PayPal:
VENMO: SanDiego-TrackingTeam (final 4 of phone number 4102). PAYPAL: SDTT92150
Payment by check can be arranged if absolutely necessary but Venmo is preferred and PayPal second preferred because we are all SDTT volunteers. Checks are a hassle for volunteer groups. Electronic payment makes it easier for everyone and creates a permanent and easily-accessible record.
​​​
WAITING LIST
If the event you wish to join is sold out, please contact us by using the "contact us" form at the bottom of this page and request to be placed on the waiting list. If you're on the wait list and we have a cancellation, we will contact you (there is no obligation or cost to be on the wait list).
​
SCHOLARSHIPS
If you're involved (work or school) in any aspect wildlife conservation and cannot afford the full amount, TCNA offers a Financial Access Scholarship Program
​​​​
FREE "PREP DAY"
Members of the San Diego Tracking Team will conduct a free "prep day" the day preceding each of the event to get your "eyes" accustomed to tracks and sign here in San Diego. Time and location to be determined (probably 8am to 2pm).
​
FREE ZOOM TRAININGS
​
Terry and members of the San Diego Tracking Team will hold twice-monthly one-hour Zoom Trainings to familiarize you with animal tracks and signs of San Diego County. Sessions will begin in January and are available to all registrants. ​
​
Refund & Cancel Policy
Finding replacements for cancellations is difficult and a lot of admin work. If there is any possibility that you may need to cancel, we highly recommend trip insurance, available for as little as $25 (see below). Our cancel policy is:
-
60+ days before = $75 cancel fee if you or we can find a replacement. We will maintain a waiting list.
-
59-30 days before = 50% refund if we can find a replacement. $75 charge if YOU find a replacement.
-
Less than 30 days before = 25% refund if we can find a replacement. $75 charge if YOU find a replacement.
-
Less than 10 days before = no refund unless you find a replacement for a $75 charge.
Refunds are given only if you or we (we will maintain a waiting list) find someone to take your place. In the unlikely event of program cancelation, 100% of deposits will be refunded.
To ask any questions about this workshop or request other payment arrangements, please contact the SDTT workshop coordinator by using the "contact us" form below.
​
Trip Insurance
Please consider trip insurance to avoid the sting of losing your deposit in the event you must cancel. Finding trip insurance is simple on the internet - there are many - a good site recommended by Forbes offers you multiple options: Travelinsurance.com. A search in September 2024 resulted in $500 of coverage for as little as $23.04.
​
​
Contact Us
The San Diego
Tracking Team
The San Diego Tracking Team (SDTT) is dedicated to preserving wildlife habitat in the San Diego region through citizen-based wildlife monitoring and environmental education programs.
Since 1996 the SDTT has conducted wildlife track and sign surveys and trainings to evaluate the health of key species,
At least annually we contract with Tracker Certification of North America to conduct 2-day certification workshops for our members and the public because they are the most powerful wildlife trainings available anywhere in the world - designed to equip participants with real-life tracking and wild-life interpretation skills. No matter what your experience level, you will benefit enormously from this training.
"Learning to interpret animal track and
sign is like wearing magic glasses...
you can see exactly what the animal was doing."