See Bigfoot's "buttocks imprint" in Blue Ridge, Georgia

I visited the Bigfoot Museum in Blue Ridge, Georgia.

There are plenty of Big Foot Museums across the United States—in places like Willow Creek, California; Boring, Oregon; Portland, Maine (recently featured here at Boing Boing); and Ochopee, Florida—but, despite my love of cryptids, I had never been to one, until yesterday. And it was well worth the wait!

I was lucky enough to spend some time in the north Georgia mountains over the weekend, and Bigfoot is really popular around these parts. While buying some cool Bigfoot earrings from Timber Top Creations at the Blue Ridge, Georgia, downtown market, they told me about the nearby must-see museum featuring the famous cryptid: Expedition: Bigfoot, The Sasquatch Museum. Expedition Bigfoot describes itself as the "World's Largest Bigfoot Museum," containing 3700 square feet of exhibits and artifacts. It claims to have the "nation's largest permanent display of footprint casts" and the "world's only Bigfoot Research and Tech Vehicle on display."

I spent a couple of hours perusing the exhibit, which is chock full of Bigfoot sightings from all over the world, fecal samples (one, collected by Dr. Matthew Johnson in 2016 in southern Oregon is 36 inches long!), books about Bigfoot, newspaper clippings, footprint casts galore, equipment for tracking and recording the creature, loads of eye witness sketches and accounts, recordings of several Bigfoot creatures "talking in their own language," lots of displays, and even a Bigfoot "buttocks imprint" cast by Paul Freeman near Walla Walla, Washington in 1993.

Perhaps the most bizarre item displayed is in the Yeti section of the museum, where you can see a "Pangboche finger bone" that, according to the museum, "was smuggled out of Nepal via Katmandu by hiding the finger bone in actor Jimmy Stewart's wife's lingerie bag." The museum explains that "DNA testing revealed it contained human DNA markers. Fact!"

I wanted to ask the folks at the museum about the connections between Bigfoot and two texts I saw prominently displayed in the gift shop: the Bible and a copy of the right-wing and conspiracy-laden The Epoch Times newspaper. Alas, I didn't have the hours it probably would have taken to jump down those particular rabbit holes. Another time, perhaps. Instead, I asked the women running the cash registers in the gift shop, "Do y'all believe in Bigfoot?" They very kindly and generously explained why their answer was a resounding "Yes." While they had never seen Bigfoot themselves, they have spotted "Bigfoot signs" on occasion, and had the photographs to prove it, which they shared with me. One photo showed what looked like a double-twisted tree limb, and one woman explained that the limbs were too thick for a human to have done it, so it must have been Bigfoot. Another photo showed an upside-down tree which was also a sign that Bigfoot had been there. Again, she explained that neither a human nor a storm could have caused a tree to flip upside down so perfectly like that, so it must have been Bigfoot. They also shared stories of people visiting local lakes and reporting that they have seen or heard rocks splashing into the lake, when nobody was around; they interpreted these events as Bigfoot creatures sending a warning that "this is our territory, so beware."

The folks who created the museum back in 2013, David and Melinda Bakara, are also true believers. On the museum website, they explain:

We at Expedition Bigfoot believe in the existence of Bigfoot/Sasquatch either from personal experience and encounters or from witness testimony and evidence. Our museum provides a lot of that evidence, and leaves the question of Bigfoot's existence up to you. So whether you're a skeptic, believer or "knower", all are welcome.

Atlanta Magazine published an article about the Bakaras in 2022, where they share some of the experiences that have convinced them that Bigfoot is real.

The museum, which seems to be inspired by a Bible verse that's painted on the museum wall and also featured on its website—"It's the glory of God to conceal a thing; but the honor of kings to search out a matter (Proverbs 25:2)"—is also a "research and reporting center." If you have "had an encounter," they want to hear about it. They'll also keep it anonymous, if you want. As David Bakara explained to Roadside America, not everyone is comfortable sharing their Bigfoot sightings or belief in the cryptid:

David said that every day he meets visitors to Expedition Bigfoot with tales of their own Bigfoot sightings.

"I've read that only one out of every ten people who've seen a Bigfoot will report it," said David. "I think it's one out of every hundred." Apparently a lot of people have seen Bigfoot but keep it a secret.

David understands. "They don't even want their families to know," he said. "Most people who tell us, only tell us."

If you're looking for a safe and sympathetic place to tell your Bigfoot story, look no further than Expedition Bigfoot. But even if you're a total skeptic, it's super entertaining and well worth a stop. Enjoy some of the photos I took!