Notes on Fields is Color Outside the Lines' youth-centered outdoor education initiative, dedicated to supporting mental health through nature connection, creative expression, and environmental stewardship. The program serves foster, underserved, and low-income youth across Oregon and Washington, offering all programming completely free of charge, including transportation, meals, and materials, so that circumstance never determines a young person's access to the natural world.

At the heart of the program is Camp Field Days, an immersive youth outdoor camp hosted at Long Hollow Ranch in Sisters, Oregon. After an incredibly successful first camp in summer of 2025, we are expanding our capacity to serve more youth this summer at Camp Field Notes. These immersive outdoor camps include horseback riding, fishing, archery, art activities, campfires, stargazing, and hands-on lessons in land stewardship and sustainable farming. Each participant receives a backpack filled with outdoor and art supplies to use at camp and take home after, including a water bottle, flashlight, compass, flower seeds, watercolor kits, and a camping blanket.

Beyond camp, Notes on Fields brings youth into nature through guided outdoor adventures across the Pacific Northwest, including visits to the Japanese Garden, organic farms on Sauvie Island, and hikes on Mt. Tabor. These field trips connect youth to diverse natural environments while introducing them to organic farmers and environmental professionals who demystify green industries and open pathways to careers that prioritize the planet.

Woven throughout the program is our custom-made Connection Journal, a 100-page self-reflective tool distributed to both participating youth and additional youth in our network. Through guided prompts, outdoor education, and creative activities, the journals invite youth to dive into guided self-reflection and inspiring education about the natural world, encouraging them to get off their screens and spend more time outdoors as a form of mental health support and overall wellness. Paired with Field Notes wellness kits containing binoculars, gardening tools, and exploration supplies, the journals ensure the connection youth build with nature becomes a lasting part of their daily lives well beyond our formal programming.