There Are More Than 50 Sasquatch on the KP, Podcast Host Says

Ever felt that spine-tingling sensation of being watched when walking in the woods? Barb Hartman insists it might not be your imagination.

Hartman claims the Key Peninsula is home to between 50 and 100 Sasquatch, who move through the dense forests, hidden from all but the most observant eyes.

Hartman, the host of the “Open the Door” podcast, has dedicated countless hours interviewing witnesses across the world who have experienced creatures that science has yet to prove exist. Hartman has become a respected voice in the field of cryptid research, adding weight to her own experiences with the elusive Sasquatch.

Since moving to Key Center in 2013, Hartman’s fascination with Bigfoot, sparked by childhood tales in Pennsylvania, only intensified. Her father’s stories of the Wild Man, seen during fishing trips in Canada, fueled her curiosity.

But it wasn’t until those mysterious 18-inch footprints — half-human, half-bear — appeared in her yard one April night in 2018 that Hartman started to suspect the stories she heard as a child were more than tall tales.

“They’re all over the Key Peninsula,” she said.

Although she’s an all-in believer, her husband, Randy, is what she calls a “healthy skeptic.” To “The X-Files” fans, he is the Scully to her Mulder. But after ruling out other animals, including bear, even Randy found himself perplexed by what could have left such otherworldly prints.

Hartman’s fascination with Bigfoot deepened after a 2019 camping trip near Randle, in a remote part of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. As she and her family were sleeping in their tent one night, Hartman was jolted awake by terrifying screams that seemed to come from all directions. The sounds, which echoed through the forest for nearly an hour, were like nothing she’d ever heard. She knew it wasn’t coyotes, bears, elk, or any other animal, and “People can’t scream for that length of time,” Hartman recalled. She believes as many as eight creatures were communicating with each other in a way that left her numb with fear. “I didn’t want to wake Randy because I didn’t want to draw attention to us.”

She didn’t tell anyone about the experience the next day, and after returning home, found the “Ohio Howl,” a famous Sasquatch recording that matched almost exactly what she heard that night. “That’s when I really thought (Sasquatch) existed.”

In December 2021, their Key Center property became the epicenter of weird and increasingly unsettling events. She and Randy started noticing strange markings on their land. After a snowstorm that month, Hartman found a newly built igloo-like structure in the nearby forest, crafted from woven sticks. In March 2022, they awoke to find the hillside along their home had been dug up overnight, with deep-rooted bearberry plants violently ripped from the ground. Later that summer, while clearing dead trees, they discovered a branch on a healthy tree that had been broken and twisted in a way that seemed unnatural. Just days later, they found entire trees bent into ominous X shapes.

As her interest grew in October 2022, she returned to the wood structure she learned was often called a Sasquatch nest.

As she neared it, she heard a deep grunt that seemed to vibrate through her chest.

“When you hear them, you feel it in your body,” she said, attributing the sensation to infrasound — a low-frequency sound that some believe Sasquatch use to communicate or disorient.

Her closest encounter came in August 2023. While looking along the tree line on her property, Hartman noticed a rustling in the bushes. When she went to investigate, she said she caught a glimpse of a young Sasquatch up close, crouched low with its long arms wrapped around its knees. The creature’s long, auburn hair was well-groomed, and it had stark white circles around its eyes. “I think it scared both of us, so I just ran into my house. Maybe I shouldn’t have reacted that way, but what do you do?” said Hartman, who said she has seen four Sasquatch in the KP area.

Despite these unnerving experiences, Hartman remains curious, often sifting through hours of home security footage in search of more clues. “The sounds I’ve captured are outside the range of what an animal or human can produce,” she said, detailing how she’s documented strange whistles, grunts and mimicry of animal sounds.

The skepticism and ridicule Hartman faced when she first began asking questions online led her to create her own Facebook group, “No Drama Bigfoot and Cryptids.” The page quickly gained hundreds of followers locally, all eager to share their own stories of strange encounters. “If you haven’t had an experience, you probably know someone who has,” she said. Encouraged by the community’s response, Hartman launched a YouTube channel under the same name to share the sights and sounds of her Sasquatch encounters.

She started the podcast shortly after to provide a safe space for people around the world to share their stories. She’s positioned herself as the empathetic ear for those too scared to go back into the wild after their own Sasquatch run-ins.

“I’ve seen grown men brought to tears telling me their story. It’s very compelling.”

While Hartman said she doesn’t believe every story she hears, she remains open-minded and respectful of others’ experiences. “In this field, you’re left with more questions than answers.”