Bigfoot Sightings and Seeker Insights
I get asked all the time about whether I’ve encountered Bigfoot. Short answer? Not yet. But it made me realize that a lot of people wonder if their walk in the woods will lead them right to Sasquatch. If you’re wondering the same thing, take a minute to explore this updated Bigfoot sightings map to figure out where you’re most likely to encounter the big guy. And if you’re craving even more Bigfoot content, check out the Wild Thing bigfoot podcast for a deep dive into the wilderness of cryptozoology.
Not a Bigfoot believer? Even so, you might think twice after seeing the map below. There have been over 5,600 reported Sasquatch sightings in the USA, in places you might not have ever expected to come across a Bigfoot. So even if you’re out hiking in, say, Mississippi, there’s still a chance you might have a sighting. Check to see how your state stacks up!
Bigfoot Sightings Map
The Bigfoot sightings map data was sourced in December 2023 from the Geographic Database of Bigfoot/Sasquatch Sightings & Reports website: https://www.bfro.net/GDB/default.asp
If Bigfoot exists, it makes sense that it (they?) would live in less-populated areas where there’s enough space and resources for a breeding population. Given that, I would have expected a lot more sightings out of Alaska, but maybe that number is low because it’s so remote, meaning there aren’t actually a ton of people up there—and thus not a lot of Bigfoot sightings to report. Also, as you can see, there are reports of Bigfoot in every state but Hawaii, which has zero—probably because Bigfoot can’t swim that far (insert laugh track here).
Most of the Bigfoot sightings I heard about while reporting for Wild Thing came from the Pacific Northwest. I’d purposely concentrated on that area because that’s where my Sasquatch-expert cousin, Grover Krantz, did his research. As you can see on the map, Washington State has the highest number of reported Bigfoot sightings. In 2018, I took a trip to the Olympic Peninsula, partially because it’s remote, forested, and protected—making it a good spot for a sighting. It also happened to be the location of some giant ground nests (like giant bird nests) that several of my sources thought might have been built by Bigfoot. (For a kid-friendly version of this story, check out The Search For Sasquatch.)
Chasing Bigfoot
Here’s the deal—my cousin Grover was the country’s pre-eminent academic expert on Sasquatch. He was also a scientist. And so I spent two years talking to wildlife scientists, anthropologists, primatologists, and psychologists to figure out if Bigfoot was real or if Grover was crazy.
Laura Krantz spent two years searching for Bigfoot as part of her Wild Thing podcast.
(Credit: Jake Holschuh/Foxtopus Ink)
I backpacked in the Mt. Hood National Forest. Checked out supposed Bigfoot nests on the Olympic Peninsula. Spent time in laboratories looking at potential DNA evidence. Heard eyewitness accounts from Native Americans and life-long outdoorsmen. I still don’t have a clear answer. But I do know that Bigfoot seems to provide people a way of connecting with the wilderness and a sense of hope that the world is still a wild place. You can learn more about this journey into the Sasquatch wilderness here: “Even if Bigfoot isn’t real, we still need him”.
What Is Bigfoot & Are We Related?
What exactly is Bigfoot? Ape? Human? Cousin Grover thought that Bigfoot was a large, massive, bipedal, hairy higher primate. He theorized that Bigfoot might have been a descendant of a now extinct genus of ape known as Gigantopithecus. And many of the Sasquatch seekers I spoke with also thought of Bigfoot as some type of primate—one that hasn’t yet been documented by science.
illustration by Christopher Button for Foxtopus Ink
But there are a few ‘squatchers—including a scientist or two—that think Bigfoot might be much more closely related to humans. There’s speculation that Sasquatch could have descended from one of our distant relatives—we have a lot of them and more are being found all the time—and then evolved into the creature that Bigfoot seekers are searching out today. In other words, Sasquatch could be a cousin and you might need to send an invite to the next family reunion.
Laura Krantz is the host and producer of the Wild Thing podcast, which explores fascinating topics on science and society. A longtime journalist, editor, and producer, she also wrote the book The Search for Sasquatch and is the co-founder of Foxtopus Ink. Prior to that, she spent close to a decade in public radio and has also written for Outside, Newsweek and Popular Science. While she hasn't spotted Bigfoot yet, you better believe she's keeping her eyes peeled.
