Category Archives: Volunteering

How (and when) to help rebuild our mountain trails

Brent Laurenz, executive director of the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, pretty much summed up the situation in Western North Carolina in an email sent to the Friends group earlier this week:

“In the coming weeks and months, we will be surveying the trail and assessing damage, but trail restoration is a very low priority in light of the ongoing humanitarian crisis facing western North Carolina … it is likely that sections of the trail will remain closed for a significant length of time.” read more

GetOut! Celebrate National Trails Day on Saturday

We get so much from our trails in a year. Is it too much to ask that we give a little back on just one day? That day being this Saturday, June 5?

For a few decades now, the first Saturday of June has been National Trails Day. It’s a day when we celebrate our trails, sometimes by doing maintenance, sometimes by simply taking a hike. In North Carolina this National Trails Day, 15 events have been registered with the American Hiking Society, which sponsors the annual event. read more

Your weekend: It’s National Trails Day — salute your favorite trail

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Volunteers build a footbridge on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail near Blowing Rock

Since the early 1990s, the first Saturday in June has been recognized by the American Hiking Society as National Trails Day. It’s a day set aside to honor our favorite trails, hiking or paddling, mountain biking or equestrian.

Around the country, hundreds of events will be held as part of the observation. At some events, folks will gather to spruce up their favorite trails, or to clear new favorites. At other events, folks will gather and hike/bike/paddle/ride. read more