How I Celebrated National Trails Day and Ways You Can Honor It Too
The finished steps heading up towards the summit of Mount Mitchell
National Trails Day (always on the first Saturday in June) recognizes all the great benefits federal, state, and local trails provide for recreation and exposure to mother nature. Events held across the U.S. help promote awareness of a wide variety of services the trail systems offer. The day encourages people to discover their local trails, become aware of trail issues, and get out and do good by volunteering and sharing their excitement for the outdoors.
While hiking may be the first activity to come to mind, trails offer so much much more! Trails provide access to waterways for canoeing and kayaking trips. Birders find excellent opportunities for birdwatching. Here in Western North Carolina, mountain bikers and hikers a lot of times share the same trails. Each of these pursuits creates an opportunity to spend time outside.
National Trails Day is also an opportunity to thank the many volunteers, land agencies, trail developers, park employees, and rangers for their help in developing and maintaining the trails.
Carolina Mountain Club crew chiefs strategizing on the plan to create some new steps
I myself volunteered to do trail maintenance on the Mountain to Sea Trail that leads to the peak of Mount Mitchell in North Carolina. I met up with the Carolina Mountain Club volunteers early in the morning and we headed out to the trail. We spent about six hours replacing the steps on a small section of the trail. It was quite interesting to watch and listen to the crew chief and all the more experienced folks plot and design this staircase we built out of the rocks and dirt that made up this section. The whole length of the trail was probably only about 20 yards long. It was an amazing transformation. It was also a really good cardio workout!
Other Ways to Observe National Trails Day
Get out and visit your local trails. Take a friend or your partner out with you. Try a new trail, a new activity on the trail (like mountain biking) or introduce someone new to an activity you are skilled in. Why keep it to yourself? Also, if you pack it in, pack it out (please observe the rules of Leave No Trace). If you are out, on this day, show your appreciation to those who are working on the trails with a "thank you.”
Make a donation to the American Hiking Society. This group is the driving force behind National Trails Day. There are many levels of monetary giving from individuals to corporate backing as well. Your financial support is also very much appreciated.
National Trails Day Historical Timeline
October 2, 1968 – President Lyndon B. Johnson signs into law the National Trails System Act, establishing national recreation, scenic and historic trails.
October 13, 1976 – Formed to give voice to the national hiking constituency, American Hiking Society becomes an official organization after receiving its 501(c)(3) designation, and holds its first board meeting.
January 28, 1985 – President Ronald Reagan signs executive order 12563, the Presidential Commission on Outdoor Recreation Resources Review, ordering a bipartisan commission led by Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander to conduct a thorough review of America’s outdoor recreation resources.
August 14, 1985 – The Commission is renamed President’s Commission on Americans Outdoors.
The view from the top of Mount Mitchell
January 28, 1987 – The President’s Commission on Americans Outdoors publishes its Report and Recommendations to the President of the United States. After analyzing thousands of American testimonies and contributions from hundreds of experts, the Commission asserted, “There still is a need for a strong outdoor commitment from the nation’s capital: to safeguard the environment, to expand recreational opportunities on federal lands, to protect and improve the federal estate, and to provide money to support state, local and private sector efforts.”
1988 – National Trails Agenda Project is initiated as a cooperative venture between the National Park Service and American Trails to look at trail issues and develop recommendations to satisfy America’s current and future need for trails.
1990 – Borrowing heavily from recommendations espoused in the President’s Commission on Americans Outdoors report, the National Trails Agenda Project issues its own set of recommendations in a report named “Trails for All Americans” that focuses intently on the importance of trails in America.
1991 – American Hiking Society responds to report recommendations and conceives of a program to highlight the importance of the National Trails System and simultaneously advocate for increased trail use and volunteer stewardship. The program is dubbed National Trails Day and proposes highlighting one day each year to celebrate America’s trails and their use.
June 5, 1993 – American Hiking Society, launches its first ever National Trails Day®. Hundreds of organizations participate around the country.
June 2, 2012 – American Hiking Society celebrates its 20th Annual National Trails Day®. An estimated 157,000 Americans participated in over 2,000 events.