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113 encounters
17 July 1996 El Dorado County, California Class A #2137

Placerville track found and cast

The witness reports discovering several large footprints near a small stream northeast of Placerville, with broken branches nearby. Only one print was clear enough to photograph, and the witness returned the next day to make a plaster cast. The cast was shown to Fish and Game staff who dismissed it, and it has since been kept in storage.

TracksTree break
6 June 1996 Humboldt County, California Class B #1665

Thirteen and a half inch track found at Fish Lake (near Bluff Creek).

The witness found two unusual footprints in the evening and made plaster casts and footage of them. Later, while sleeping alone in a tent, the witness was awakened by heavy footsteps, ground vibrations, and breaking branches very close by. Upon exiting the tent with a flashlight, the witness saw and smelled nothing, then packed up and left.

FootstepsTracks
15 March 1996 Lewiston, Trinity County, California Class A #2820

Campers describe an encounter after dark

The witnesses returned late at night to find their tent knocked over with contents spilled. While loading the vehicle to leave, one witness saw a tall brown human-like figure stand up about 15 feet away and walk toward the river. The pair left the area that night and returned the next day to photograph apparent footprints on a hillside.

Partial sightingProperty disturbanceOdorTracks
16 October 1995 Plumas County, California Class A #2226

Two sightings by locals from the town of Quincy

Two witnesses driving at night saw a large fur-covered animal cross the highway in front of their car and climb a steep bank into the forest. They returned in daylight and found large deep footprints in snow, which they photographed and displayed with a written account. The writer later examined the photos and spoke with the witnesses and found them convincing.

Full-body sightingRoad crossingTracks
September 1995 Fresno County, California Class B #2961

Witness heard a large animal moving in the forest

While mountain biking, the witness heard a large animal moving in brush off the trail but could not see it. About 200 yards farther up the trail, the group found very large detailed footprints overlying companions' tracks, which left the trail for a meadow and reappeared crossing the road about half a mile farther on. Coincidentally encountered bear hunters also examined the prints and were unfamiliar with them.

TracksFootsteps
Summer 1995 Benton, Mono County, California Class B #23319

Father and son come across two sets of tracks while hunting near Benton

The witness and a relative were hunting in desert terrain at dawn and found no game. While walking they discovered two side-by-side lines of bare human-like footprints, one very large and one small, pressed deeply into sand. They followed the tracks for some distance to a fenced paved road where the tracks disappeared. The relative left to retrieve a camera from the vehicle but could not locate it, so they walked the road to a nearby town and then back to their vehicle and left without photographs.

Tracks
August 1993 Bluff Creek, Del Norte County, California Class A #2954

A field researcher describes the events of his two week long solo backpacking trip in the Bluff Creek area

The witness was camped alone at the intersection of four logging roads in Northern California, tending a campfire late at night. He became aware of a pair of reflective eyes watching him from behind a bush about 70 feet away and watched them for over an hour as the fire died down until they disappeared. In the morning he found large foot-shaped flattened grass impressions leading to and from the spot behind the bush.

EyeshineTracksAnimal behaviour
January 1993 Del Norte County, California Class A #2956

Witness observed creature watching him

The witness was walking uphill near Hunter Creek and climbing over a large fallen tree when they saw an entity stooped behind another fallen trunk about 30 feet away watching them. After a few seconds of staring, the entity turned and disappeared behind the tree. The witness then found several prints in the forest debris and followed them uphill briefly before losing them.

Partial sightingTracks
October 1992 Alturas, Modoc County, California Class B #97

Hunter sees footprints near Alturas

The witness was deer hunting alone before sunrise in early October and crossed a clearing to a bank with patches of snow. There they found two partial large human-like footprints in fresh snow, a heel about 8 inches wide and a forefoot with five large toes about six feet away, with recently disturbed shale below the bank. Looking into thick timber about 100 yards below, the witness felt strongly watched and left without seeing, hearing, or smelling anything.

Tracks
1 September 1991 Humboldt County, California Class A #2147

Sighting by two backpackers

Two companions camping overnight were awakened by movement on rocks above camp. They listened for about 15 minutes, then watched a bipedal form cross a stream and meadow into the treeline about 200 yards away. After daylight they found a large gouge in soft earth and flattened grass, then left the area.

Full-body sightingFootstepsTracks
June 1990 Dutchmans Flats Area By Idyllwild, Riverside County, California Class B #5253

Backpackers report screams and camp stalking near Dutchman's Flats outside Idyllwild

The witness and a companion were camping in a tent when they were awakened in the very early morning by prolonged loud screams, followed by heavy footsteps, sniffing and heavy breathing just outside the tent. They remained inside until sunrise. In the morning they found scattered pine needles and dirt but no blood or fur, and large deep human-like footprints leading away into a wooded ravine, which the witness followed briefly before packing up and leaving.

ScreamFootstepsTracksUnidentified sound
22 July 1989 Humboldt County, California Class B #2150

Tracks found on the bank of the Trinity River across from Tish Tang Campground

Children discovered large footprints on a river beach across from a campground. An investigator visited the site days later and documented about half a dozen large tracks leading from the water's edge upstream to bedrock. The tracks were estimated to be at least two weeks old, with grass growing in them.

Tracks
September 1988 Long Barn, Tuolumne County, California Class B #2333

Family hears late night screams near Long Barn

The witness and family were camped in a mountain valley for deer season when loud screams were heard at night over four nights, seeming to come closer each night until only a few hundred feet away. The sound was described as a mix of a woman screaming and a mountain lion roar. The father and uncle later reported finding a footprint on a road that was larger than the uncle's foot. The family left camp the next day.

ScreamTracks
1 September 1986 Lakehead Ca., Shasta County, California Class B #2855

Man had deer stolen by creature near Lakehead

A homeowner had shot a deer and hung it in a tree behind the house. That night while going to let dogs out, he heard an unfamiliar scream and saw a large ape-like creature in the yard. The creature seized the deer and fled into the forest, tearing out a stretch of barbed-wire fence and leaving hair and tracks. A friend visiting the next day was shown where it stood and ran, including the tracks and hair.

Full-body sightingEyeshineScreamTracksHair
December 1985 Del Norte County, California Class A #1551

Campers hear screams, and find large footprints

The witness and a companion were walking a dog on a loop trail in redwood forest when the dog lunged up a steep embankment toward crunching and branch-breaking sounds from above. They followed a short distance to a ridge and found freshly broken lower tree branches up to about ten feet high and large human-like foot impressions in the duff that lacked claw marks. The source of the noise was gone by the time they reached the top, and they returned cross-country to the main trail.

FootstepsTracksTree break
October 1985 Humboldt County, California Class B #2176

Large footprints found by witnesses

The witness and a friend were walking their dog on a trail when the dog lunged up a steep embankment toward loud crunching and branch-breaking sounds from above. They followed a short way to the top of a ridge but the source of the noise was gone. On top they found freshly broken lower tree branches up to 10 feet high and foot-like impressions in the duff without claw marks, then returned cross-country to the trail.

TracksTree breakFootsteps
October 1985 Gasquet, Del Norte County, California Class B #4445

Campers hear late night scream near Gasquet

In 1985 the witness and a companion were remote camping near Patrick Creek when they heard loud primate-like screams and conversational voices from a nearby ridge around 11 p.m. During the night the witness heard heavy tramping and deep breathing just outside the tent while a normally bold dog hid trembling inside. At dawn the witness found the campsite duff heavily scuffed with signs of foot traffic that had not been there the previous evening.

ScreamVocalizationFootstepsTracksUnidentified sound
August 1985 Hyampom, Trinity County, California Class A #2490

Nighttime sighting by camper near Hyampom, along South Fork of Trinity River

The witness was sleeping on a river beach with companions and woke past midnight. Across the river in bright moonlight the witness saw a large bipedal creature shaking a big pine tree, then running in an arc into the woods. The next morning the witness and a companion found large four-toed tracks in the sand where the creature had run.

Full-body sightingTracksUnidentified sound
Spring 1985 Riverside County, California Class C #2228

Reference to a local newspaper article about tracks found near Bautista Road

A local newspaper reportedly published an article about footprints found in the Anza area near Bautista Road. The current author did not claim to have seen the footprints directly but referenced the article. No date, discoverer, or description of the prints beyond their location is provided.

Tracks
August 1984 Not Sure., Shasta County, California Class B #8184

Large Footprints Found, Vocalizations Heard by Vacationer Near Lake Shasta

While on a family houseboat trip, the witness walked up a creek bed and found two sizes of bare human-like five-toed tracks that crossed sharp rocks and entered the woods. That night while sleeping atop the beached houseboat with a relative, both heard two loud distant resonant screams that rose high then dropped into a gargle-growl. The relative also later reported hearing heavy footsteps, breathing and grunting along the shore before dawn.

TracksScreamGrowl