Geographical Index > United States > Washington > Clallam County > Report # 82527
(Class A)
Submitted by witness Terra Filmer-Larson on Monday, August 31, 2026.
Dusk sighting of a bigfoot 40 yards behind employee housing building at Lake Crescent Lodge
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YEAR: 2006
SEASON: Summer STATE: Washington COUNTY: Clallam County LOCATION DETAILS: The bigfoot was seen roughly 40 yards behind an employee housing building near this GPS point: 48.054793, -123.796047 Seasonal employees for the Lodge have their own small cabins, but there is one building with several rooms. This building has an open-air hallway in the middle with a roof over it. As you walk through this passage the doors to employee rooms are on your left and right. The rear of building faces generally away from the lake. The witness had walked through this passage and sat on some steps on the back side of the structure. She was facing into the woods when she saw the bigfoot 40 yards into the woods. NEAREST TOWN: none NEAREST ROAD: 101 OBSERVED: I never thought to submit my sighting of Bigfoot until now, 20 years later. I believe it was the year 2006, I was an employee at Lake Crescent Lodge in Olympic National Park, WA. I was at employee housing talking to my mom on the phone. It was late in the day, around sunset, no one else was around.
I was sitting on the back doorsteps looking out into the old growth forest. She said I was talking then all of a sudden said, "hmmm, what is thaaa....." then she heard me hyperventilating. She asked what was going on but I only whispered, "I can't move." She begged me to go inside. She said I was really hyperventilating and almost crying. I then ran and started to cry.
I remember feeling sheer terror. The bigfoot wasn't very far away. It was walking very fast diagonally but not toward me. I didn't smell anything nor was there any sound. It was massive and the way it moved was very heavy as it swung its arms. The light was dim so I couldn't make out any other details. It never looked at me in the couple of seconds I was looking at it.
I ran the opposite direction then I stopped, turned back around and was suddently curious, but it was already gone. My heart was beating so fast. And that's it. Only a couple seconds of seeing the bigfoot walking very fast. I will never know why I saw what I did but the memory will forever be with me and I feel pretty lucky. I don't like to share my encounter. I did a few times and people look at me like I'm crazy. I am not the kind of person to make up something like this.
Some people asked me if it could have been a bear walking upright. Absolutely no way, I have been around a lot of bears and they can't walk like that. Anyways, my family believes me, and my mom. She absolutely loves it. ALSO NOTICED: none OTHER WITNESSES: On the phone with my mother OTHER STORIES: no TIME AND CONDITIONS: Sunset, low light level, clear weather. ENVIRONMENT: Old growth forest
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

I spoke with this witness, Terra Filmer-Larson, at length. She is very credible. She is also very certain that it was a bigfoot and not a bear, moose, etc. It was very tall, muscular, dark-furred figure with long swinging arms. She watched it at 40 yards for several seconds before she ran away crying.
It was not walking toward her but it was coming closer, moving diagonally across her view. It terrified her due to its size and how it moved so swiftly and quietly through rough rainforest terrain, strewn with fallen logs and large sword ferns and brush. A person would have trouble walking through this area but this huge creature was walking through it swiftly with ease. It moved through it much more swiftly than a person would be able to do. THAT was the real shocker to her.
The bigfoot did not look in her direction. It was making a bee line to somewhere "as if it was on a mission".
Terra was 21 years old at the time. She was a seaonal worker at the lodge, working as a waitress in the lodge's showcase restaurant on the lake. The lodge resort provides on-site housing for the workers. The sighting happened behind one of those buildings, which is hiked right up against thick rainforest.
Only after this incident did she see the Patterson footage. She said this creature moved "just like the Patterson creature".


This report jumped out at us right away because the BFRO had conducted a few group expeditions on the north side of Lake Crescent in this time frame (2006-2009). We heard bigfoot sounds and found tracks on the slopes near the lake on that side. We also heard from employees on the north side of the lake that workers on the opposite side had seen bigfoots as well -- specifically workers at Lake Crescent Lodge.

During one of those expeditions I recall discussion as to whether we should take a detour to that lodge to ask about that. We never did because there was a list of other spots to check out in this vicinity. The amazing thing about that is this witness never told any of the other workers what she had seen, so we must have heard about sightings by other seasonal employees at the lodge.
This incident occurred toward the end of the season. In 2006 the season for her ended in mid September. She doesn't know the exact date but because of the closure in September she think it would have been in late August of that year.
She did not live locally nor does she keep in touch with the other young workers who were there over that summer. Most employees at seasonal lodges in national parks are college students who want to work during summer break. They typically work at different national park lodges each summer. They can earn money and the job provides lots of time to enjoy the outdoors. Terra was studying environmental sciences at the time in college. She now lives in North Carolina.
This sighting happened on her day off. She was sitting on the steps behind the employee housing building (see description in the section above for "Directions to Locaton") talking to her mother on the phone when she saw the bigfoot.

This incident happened at dusk. It was starting to get dark. At that time the restaurant kitchen would be putting out the most scent into the air through the exhaust vents. Other employees would be most occupied in the restaurant. The smell from the restaurant may have been a factor for why the bigfoot came around at that time, although there are many reports of people seeing bigfoots moving across terrain swiftly around dusk and dawn. The commonality for all those reports -- all those areas have lots of deer. In most parts of America and Canada it would be white-tailed deer. In this particular area there are no white-tailed deer but black-tailed deer are particularly abundant. The lodge is within a national park with lots of old growth rainforest. No hunting is allowed anywhere around there. There are also elk in abundance. It is stable, abundant, protected habitat for bigfoots.
An important note about sightings at dusk. It usually means the location is near where the bigfoot was hunkered down during the daylight, and it was just emerging to go on its nightly stalking circuit. That means somewhere nearby this spot may be place where a bigfoot can remain safe and hidden during the day. Although this spot may seem very close to human activity, you don't need to go very far into woods like this to be in a totally different world.

Although the incident occurred 20 years ago, everything is exactly the same there today. It is protected old growth in a national park so the woods will be almost exactly the same as they were 20 years ago. It would not have been logged between now and then.
The woods in view of that particular employee housing building would be an ideal place for the lodge management to set up wildlife cameras like trail cams, because a bigfoot or two will probably pass through there in the future.
It's also an excellent place to visit if you want to have a sighting or hear these creatures. Dusk and dawn are the times to be in the woods in this vicinity. If you walk around in the woods looking for deer you might come across a bigfoot (or vice versa) that is doing the same thing at that time of day. Behind the employee housing building might be an opportune spot to have a long phone call with your mom.
About BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:
Matthew Moneymaker is originally from the Los Feliz District of Los Angeles, California.
- Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).
- Juris Doctorate (Law degree) from University of Akron School of Law
- Founder of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization,1995.
- Writer and co-producer of the Discovery Channel documentary "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science", 2001.
- Co-producer of the TV Series "Mysterious Encounters" for the Outdoor Life Network (OLN Channel), 2002.
- Producer of the "2003 International Bigfoot Symposium" (Willow Creek Symposium) DVD set, 2004.
- Co-host of "Finding Bigfoot" on Animal Planet Channel, 2010 - 2017.
- Current Director of the BFRO
- Available for private bigfoot expeditions and conferences. To inquire please email ContactUS@BFRO.net

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