Visiting Expedition Bigfoot Museum (aka Sasquatch Museum) in Cherry Log, GA

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[Updated November 6, 2021] The Expedition Bigfoot Museum is a uniquely intriguing attraction in Cherry Log GA.

Located along Highway 515 just minutes outside of Blue Ridge, it’s truly a weird and wondrous must-see for anyone visiting the North Georgia mountains.

You don’t have to be a diehard believer in Bigfoot encounters to get a kick out of the 4,000-square foot museum, which was clearly a labor of love for owners David and Malinda Bakara.

But The X-Files‘ Fox Mulder would adore their expansive collection, which includes fascinating exhibits featuring all sorts of artfully displayed artifacts, folklore, and memorabilia.

Here’s a look inside the Expedition: Bigfoot Museum (also known as the Sasquatch Museum) and its hundreds of documented Bigfoot encounters, recordings of Bigfoot sounds, and Bigfoot videos that attempt to provide proof that the mythical creatures truly do exist.

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Entrance for Expedition Bigfoot- The Sasquatch Museum

EXPEDITION BIGFOOT MUSEUM INFO

QUICK FACTS: 

• Encompassing some 4,000 square feet, this is the largest Bigfoot Museum in the world.

• The main museum was opened in Cherry Log, GA in 2016, while the Expedition Bigfoot Adventure Outpost opened in downtown Blue Ridge GA in 2018.

• The Adventure Outpost includes exhibits on other unexplained phenomena, including UFOs and extra-terrestrial beings, sea monsters (including the most famous one in Scotland’s Loch Ness), living dinosaurs, and more.

• Both museums offer an expansive assortment of Bigfoot souvenirs, from t-shirts and stuffed animals to books, videos, and an array of inexpensive tchotchkes.

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Bigfoot footprint at The Sasquatch Museum in Blue Ridge, GA

HOW TO GET TO THE EXPEDITION BIGFOOT MUSEUM

Directions from Atlanta, GA: Take I-75 North to GA 5 North/I-575 North (following signs for Canton). Go 30.7 miles, to where I-575 turns into GA-5 N/GA-515 E/State Rte 515. Follow Hwy 515 for another 35.1 miles, then make a U-turn and the museum will be on your right.

Directions from Downtown Blue Ridge, GA: Head southwest on E 1st St/Old Hwy 76/Old U.S. 76 towards Church St, approximately 1.3 miles. Turn left onto US-76 W, go 4.1 miles and the museum will be on the right. 

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Science Lab at the Expedition Bigfoot Museum In Blue Ridge, GA

BIGFOOT MUSEUM BACKGROUND

The Expedition Bigfoot Museum was the passion project of David Bakara, who became fascinated by the mythology surrounding the ape-like creature as a 12-year-old boy.

“I became interested in Bigfoot while growing up in South Florida,” Bakara recalls. “I’d hear tales of the Florida ‘Skunk Ape’ on TV news, newspapers, and documentaries.”

The Skunk Ape is just one of many regional nicknames for Bigfoot, including Sasquatch, Yeti, and numerous others.

The museum includes an homage to another of Bakara’s early influences, The Legend of Boggy Creek. There’s a loop of the trailer for the 1972 horror docudrama, which follows a Bigfoot-type creature that has purportedly been haunting the area around Fouke, Arkansas since the 1940s.

David had long dreamed of opening a mobile Bigfoot exhibit to take to Georgia fairs and festivals.

But eventually his collection of artifacts and stories of Sasquatch sightings grew too big to be portable. In 2015, he got the idea to open the Expedition Bigfoot Museum near Blue Ridge.

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Sasquatch feces at Expedition Bigfoot Museum in Blue Ridge, GA

“Almost every single one of my friends are Bigfoot researchers or witnesses in some capacity,” he acknowledges. “So a full year before opening the museum, we started collecting as many artifacts from our researcher friends as we could, to go with the ones we already had.”

It’s an obsessive research and collection process that remains ongoing, and Bakara claims that he and his wife Malinda hear new stories from witnesses of Bigfoot encounters nearly every day.

You can explore the museum exhibits in as little as an hour if you have only a passing interest in the subject.

But you could easily be here a half day if you want to spend time reading the countless Bigfoot news articles, looking at sketches and photos of purported Bigfoot sightings, and examining the many casts of handprints and footprints (not to mention the Sasquatch feces pictured above).

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Native American Bigfoot Mythology Exhibit at the Sasquatch Museum in CHerry Log, GA

EXPLORING EXPEDITION BIGFOOT

As you enter the museum after paying admission, it’s worth taking the time to start in the small theater room to the right.

There you can watch a short 17-minute film that illustrates how common the mythos of this forest-dwelling creature is all around the world.

From the Himalayas (where it’s known as the Yeti or Meh-Teh) to China (Yeran, or Chinese Widman), from Pakistan (Barmanou) to Mexico (El Cuatlacas), countless cultures have their own version of this mysterious creature.

Once you enter the main exhibit area, you’ll see the display above, which includes photos, masks, and reproductions of ancient cave paintings depicting a large ape-like hominid.

The high-tech display goes into great detail on the tribal origins of the Sasquatch legend.

One sign reads, “Native American tribes have performed ritual dances in handmade Sasquatch costumes for hundreds of years. Traditionally made from Bear skin and painted ceremonial masks, each tribe had their own name for these creatures.”

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Abominable Snowman-Yeti Exhibit at the Expedition Bigfoot Museum

Nearby you’ll find a display on the Yeti (commonly known as the Abominable Snowman), part of the history and mythology of the indigienous people of the Himalayas.

The Lepcha people and some pre-Buddhist religions worshipped an ape-like “wild man” as their God of the Hunt. So the legend of Bigfoot in Asia dates back to before the 19th century.

Behind that you can see a large map of Georgia, with pins documenting recent Bigfoot sightings in the state. Green pegs denote first-hand sightings in clear conditions; yellow pegs denote brief glimpses and second-hand accounts; pink pegs indicate frequent visits to the same place.

Even if you believe that these sightings were simply bears, deer, or merely a man in a Bigfoot suit, there’s still an impressive attention to detail in every display in the museum.

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Bigfoot Mask at the Expedition Bigfoot Museum

FINDING BIGFOOT

It’s all too easy to make fun of people who believe in 9-foot-tall, bipedal, man/ape hybrids who live in the deepest depths of the forest.

But, when even a world-renowned primatologist like Jane Goodall acknowledges that such creatures may exist, it seems cynical not to keep an open mind and consider the possibility.

Bakara and his peers have clearly gone to extraordinary lengths to document their ongiong searching for the Sasquatch.

From displays on what they eat and listening stations to hear recorded grunts and growls to video interviews with people who have had Bigfoot encounters, the museum is remarkably thorough and professional in its approach.

David and Malinda Bakara (whose high-tech ATV, which they used in their Florida investigations, is another prominent display) hope that visitors to the Expedition Bigfoot Museum will come away from the experience with an interest in looking deeper into unexplained phenomena.

As for what he would say to the haters, who think the Bigfoot legends are all a bunch of hooey?

“I don’t say anything at all,” David Bakara responds flatly. “It’s a waste of time and effort. They think they learned everything they needed to learn in high school. Their minds closed down a long time ago…”  –by Bret Love; photos by Bret Love & Mary Gabbett
 

 

BEST PLACES TO STAY IN BLUE RIDGE, GA

Blue Ridge Inn Bed and Breakfast  – Historic boutique inn w/ fantastic breakfast in downtown.
The Orchard Cabin – 8.1 miles from center, pet-friendly, hot tub, 2 bdrms/2 bths • 1335 ft²
Lazy Bear Den Cabin – 4.3 miles from center, pet-friendly, hot tub, 2 bdrms/1 bth • 1055 ft²
Cozy View Cabin  – 3.1 miles from center, sunset view from hot tub, 1 king bed/1 bth • sleeps 3
Red Apple Cabin – 4.9 miles from center, mountain views, hot tub, 3 bdrms/3 bths • 2099 ft²

Leave No Trace logo

We encourage anyone who loves the Blue Ridge region to learn about the Leave No Trace principles of responsible environmental stewardship. 

Stay on marked trails, take only pictures, pack out your trash, and be considerate of others who share the trails and parks you explore. 

Remember that waterfalls and rocky summits can be dangerous. Never try to climb waterfalls or get close to a ledge to get a selfie.

When you're exploring the wilderness, it's better to be safe than to be a statistic!

The BRMTG was created by Bret Love & Mary Gabbett, the award-winning team behind the world-renowned responsible travel website Green Global Travel. Born and raised in North Georgia, Editor-In-Chief Bret Love grew up hiking and camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains with his family. A professional writer/editor since 1995, he's covered travel and culture for 100+ publications, including American Way, Destination Marriott, Georgia Travel Guide, National Geographic, and Southbound. In 2010 he co-founded the award-winning website, Green Global Travel, which is ranked among the world's top travel blogs. Since launching BRMTG in 2020, he and Mary Gabbett have visited 50+ Blue Ridge Mountain towns together. Though she lived in NYC for 14 years, photographer/Business Manager Mary Gabbett's family has Georgia roots dating back 200+ years. Her great-grandfather was President of the Western Railroad of Alabama. Before moving to Atlanta in 1989, she fell in love with the North GA mountains, where her aunt owned a cabin. In 2010 she co-founded Green Global Travel, and has since traveled to more than 40 countries on six continents. Her photos have appeared in numerous travel publications (including National Geographic and Southbound) and various textbooks.

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