The Land

Gaea Retreat Center

Heartland Magical Spaces is held at Gaea Retreat Center (often referred to as Camp Gaea, or just Camp), located in rural Leavenworth County, KS. Owned and operated by Earth Rising, Inc, it is open year-round for tent and cabin camping, as well as hosting several other events.

There are many wonderful areas to camp in at Gaea, but not all spaces are for camping. Please refer to the Facility Map below for more information. If in doubt, ask a Staff Member before setting up your campsite.

In conjunction with Gaea Retreat Center, we offer a few specialty camping areas: the Family Camping area at Coyote Run, Amethyst Camp for those in recovery or dedicated to a clean and sober camping experience, and Leather Lane, which is a restricted area for adults only.

Rules of Gaea

We follow Gaea Retreat Center’s Rules and Code of Conduct as published on their website.

Please familiarize yourself with these prior to your arrival at Heartland Pagan Festival.

Gaea Retreat Center Contact Information
25110 235th Street
McLouth, KS 66054, USA
913-796-2141

Amenities

Water

Running water is available at the top of the stairs on the Ridge and from a spout on the exterior of the Dining Hall.

Charging Stations

Charging stations are available in the Pavilion and Dining Hall. Please keep an eye on your electronics. HSA/ERI are not responsible for devices left unattended.

Ice

The ice trailers are located at the southeast corner of the Pavilion and will be open 12pm – 5pm*, Thursday thru Sunday. Monday hours are yet to be determined.

*Weather dependent

Toilets

Porta-Potties, each equipped with a hand sanitizer dispenser and a few that are ADA-compliant, are located throughout the camping and merchant areas. We have them cleaned daily, but ask that all Festival-goers do their part to keep the potties in the best condition possible. ADA-compliant flush toilets are located in the Shower House and Dining Hall.

Shower House

The ADA-compliant unisex shower house has 5 showers in the main area and 2 private showers. The shower house receives a thorough cleaning daily, but all Festival-goers are asked to clean up after themselves. No pets are allowed in the shower house.

Campsite Fires

Campfires are permitted only in designated, previously existing fire pits. Do NOT dig your own fire pit in any other location. You can use your own grill. You may not cut, break or otherwise harvest wood from standing trees, living or dead. You must supply your own firewood as HSA only supplies firewood for HSA-operated fires.

For rules on bringing firewood to Gaea, please contact the Caretakers.

Keeping it Green

Gaea Retreat Center is beautiful, sacred land. It is our shared responsibility to keep her clean.

Our goal is to have a 100% Pack In Pack Out festival. We ask that you collect your campsites’ trash and pack it out with you at the end of your stay.

Compost buckets will be available as a courtesy to help keep your trash less smelly, and less appealing to your wild neighbors the racoons. Any receptacle is fine for compost, and if you don’t have one.

We encourage all guests to pick up scattered MOOP (Matter Out Of Place). While the pirates will be out every morning on MOOP sweeps, personal responsibility is the name of the game.

We ask that you refrain from abandoning any camping equipment that breaks during fest. The Pirates will have a repair station set up for big and small repairs. We cannot guarantee a pretty fix, but we’ll have equipment and tinkering pirates available to our community after our morning run for a few hours each day. Please feel free to bring us broken things (Will only fix emotional problems for a donation). The repair station is also the Camp Gaea official Booty Inspection Station. Please get your booty inspected regularly.

If you smoke, we ask that you take your butts off property with you. If that is not possible for some reason, please utilize the red coffee tins scattered around the property. We are excited to be a part of a Cigarette recycling program, and will process the cigarette waste sustainably. Because of this, we ask that you please refrain from putting trash in these cans, and limit it to: Cigarette butts and ash, pack paper, rolling tobacco packages and papers. Do not throw your butts into ANY fire pit.

You will see many water containers around the property. Water is for everyone! We will fill these every morning and do our best to keep them full. The containers at the Pavilion and main fire pit, as well as at the safety tent, will be refilled regularly through the day and most of the evening.

Note from the Pirates: We the pirates understand that change is hard. We know this trash system is very different than it was in the past. We understand that it may impose new challenges to you and your camping experience. We hope that this can be a learning experience for us as a community to live more sustainably. That being said, we are happy to listen to community concerns regarding the changes in these systems. We ask that you bring your concerns to us in the spirit of learning and growing as a community, and not as angry problems expected to be solved. Remember this festival is organized and run by volunteers, and humans with feelings. We love you, and look forward to a wonderful festival!

Pirate Camping Tips!!!

Bring a reusable mug that can handle hot and cold temps! Use it for all your drinking needs while at Gaea and save the earth hundreds of solo cups!

Pack dish rags instead of paper towels.

One Single Water Bottle and a Five Gallon Water Bullet. This simple combo will keep literally THOUSANDS of single use water bottles out of our dumpsters. HSA also provides community water bullets throughout the grounds of the festival for refilling. We love hydrated pirates!

Precook and unpackage your foods at home before arriving at camp. Mason jars seal tight and are reusable.
For the love of all that is holy and sacred please do not bring glow sticks. If you do bring them, please do not dispose of them on the grounds. We all love glowy nights, and pirates especially love reusable LED and rechargeable glow equipment!

Reusable cooking sets are a great investment! Use of reusable plates, forks, spoons, and bowls will keep hundreds of their plastic and trashy counterparts off the land.

Safety

Our Safety Staff is committed to helping our attendees have a safe, enjoyable, and spiritually rewarding holiday weekend. The Safety Tent is located on the south side of the Pavilion and is staffed 24 hours a day.

If you need a RED wristband for the shuttle, please visit the First Aid & Security Tent.

If you need help, feel free to visit the Safety Tent anytime, flag one of us down, or ask any staff member (SILVER wristband) to contact us. Safety team members can be identified by the bright green shirts marked "HSA SAFETY."

In the event of severe weather emergencies, shelter can be sought in the basement of the Main Hall. Please follow the instructions of staff members (wearing silver wristbands) during weather emergencies.

During Festival, Lost & Found is located at the Safety Tent. After HPF closes and we are done with tear-down, lost & found items are put on the porch of the Dining Hall, per Gaea’s rules.

Safety Policies

Heartland Spiritual Alliance does not assume responsibility for individual personal routine health care needs or medications which must be met daily by Festival attendees. Please make sure you bring enough medications and/or health care supplies with you to HPF. Festival attendees remain solely responsible for their own health and safe behavior during the festival.

All Festival-goers are expected to follow Gaea Retreat Center’s Rules and Code of Conduct as published on their website. Please familiarize yourself with these prior to your arrival at Heartland Pagan Festival.

Attendees must wear the wristbands given to them at registration for the duration of the festival.

There are several law enforcement officers at this festival who are required by law to arrest anyone they observe violating local, state or federal laws and ordinances. Violation of laws and rules are grounds for dismissal and removal from Festival. Remember, Kansas is still a drug-free state and recreational marijuana use can result in arrest. At the very least, you will be asked to leave HPF.

Do not unplug, turn on or off, move, or otherwise interfere with any equipment. The stage, the area immediately in front of the stage, and the area surrounding the sound cubicle are Approved Personnel Only zones.

Repeated comments of an insulting, lewd, or disrespectful nature will not be tolerated and you will be asked to leave HPF.

If your children are left unattended, you will be asked to leave HPF, per Gaea’s rules.

Fighting will result in being asked to leave HPF.

Security Suggestions

Drink responsibly.
After making your purchases in a merchant’s booth, do not put them down in the merchant area. Merchants are not responsible for purchased property.
Do not leave your valuables unattended in your camp. Lock them in your car.

Getting Around

Our goal in Vehicular Management is to keep vehicle traffic to a minimum during HPF, therefore only Authorized Vehicles will be moving around the land. Authorized Vehicles are the shuttle, the compost truck, and vehicles designated with a Driving Pass.

Parking

Attendees MUST park in the designated parking area for the DURATION of the festival.
VM Team Members will direct vehicles to the parking field and also once in the parking field.
Parking in your campsite is only allowed with VM team approval.
Attendees may not park in No Parking and Staff Parking zones: the Lake, Grover’s Glen, the Dining Hall/Bathhouse, the Pavilion, and Merchant’s Circle.
Vehicles that are not parked at the proper location may be subject to towing at the owner’s expense.
If we experience wet conditions, please do your best to leave your vehicle in place. If you must leave the parking field and the field is muddy, please notify a member of the VM Team before moving your vehicle to assist you in exiting properly without causing damage to the land.

Shuttle (The Fairy Ferry)

We provide a shuttle vehicle (fondly nicknamed The Fairy Ferry) for our attendees to access areas of the Camp, since driving during the event is only allowed by authorized vehicles.

While anyone can ride the shuttle, priority is given to those with RED wristbands.
If the shuttle is full, able-bodied riders will be asked to give up their seats to those with RED wristbands.
If you need a RED wristband, please visit the First Aid & Security Tent.
Minors must be accompanied by an adult.
The shuttle is a pet-free, non-smoking, clothing-required zone.
The shuttle will run from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm.
Shuttle stops are located at the Pavilion, Phoenix Hall (Registration), Dining Hall/Main Hall, Coyote Run, and the road to First Field.
To access the shuttle, go to any Shuttle Stop, check with any HSA Staff Member with a radio, or inquire at First Aid/Security.
Please allow extra time to get somewhere when riding the shuttle.

RV Info

Our Vehicular Management and Site Coordinators work closely with the ERI Caretaker to assess the current conditions of the land and expected weather conditions in order to best park RVs where they will have the least impact on the land.

RV parking is usually along the road to Elysium, what we call RV Hill during HPF.
RVs that are 16 feet or longer OR have 2 or more axles will be charged a $60 Impact Fee.
Please be aware that in wet conditions, please leave your RV in place until the ERI Caretaker approves moving the vehicle.

We do offer a Glamping area which has a limited number of electrical hookups and space available (8-30amp plugs and 1-50 amp plug). If you have a generator or don't need the electrical hookups, there is also a level area available down by Elysium. The Glamping coordinator will be in touch after you register to help with placement.