Our Location

Pine River Institute is located in the beautiful Monadnock region of southern NH. We are located on several acres of forested land adjacent to a pond and lovely Partridge Brook. We are minutes from some of the areas most beautiful natural treasures: 13,000 acre Pisgah Park, Spofford Lake, Chesterfield Gorge, the Connecticut River, and several working farms. Many of these treasures are a short walk from the institute.

Willow Nilsen

Willow is the founding director and head teacher at Pine River. Willow is a native of NH, holds a BA in Environmental Studies, and is Wilderness First Aid certified. She has lived and studied in the White Mountains of NH and the Adirondacks of NY. Willow has worked with children in a variety of public and private settings over the last seven years and currently teaches part-time at Monadnock Waldorf School. Willow lives in Spofford with her nine-year-old daughter Sage in a house that she built with her father Kim Nilsen. Her interests include studying the nature and natural history of the Northeast, hiking, rock climbing, nature writing, sustainable living and traditional arts and crafts.

Kim Nilsen

Kim is Willow's father and he brings over thirty years of hiking experience to share with campers. He is the founder of the Cohos Trail a 162-mile hiking trail that runs from NH's Presidential mountain range to the Canadian border. He is the author of The Cohos Trail: The Guidebook to New Hampshire's Great Unknown. Kim will join Willow in leading campers on hikes. He will also share his extensive musical and storytelling talents to enliven the campfire circles.